Pickslanting: How To Unlock Shred Speed and Fluidity
Why Your Alternate Picking Isn't Working
Are you stuck, watching your favorite virtuosos blaze through lines while your own picking hand feels glued to the strings?
If you are struggling to progress with your alternate picking technique, know that it might not be your fault, many intermediate and advanced guitarists hit a wall, finding that time and consistency alone are not enough to achieve effortless speed.
The truth is, high-speed fluid playing is not just about raw talent; it's about applying specific, optimal geometries of the pick's inclination. By learning these concepts, you can optimize the pick's trajectory and inclination to reach a speed and fluidity that previously seemed impossible.
This amazing mechanical solution, popularized and decoded by Troy Grady through his Cracking the Code series, is called Pickslanting, get ready to learn the secrets that will help you finally unblock your technique!
Section 1: The Core Mechanics – Understanding Escape Motion
Why Pickslanting is Necessary (The Physics)
The single biggest challenge in alternate picking is moving smoothly from one string to the next.
When using standard perpendicular picking, the diagonal movement required to switch strings causes a problem known as the garage spikes issue, one side of your alternate stroke gets trapped, digging under the adjacent string, creating friction and preventing you from playing fast.
Pickslanting is the solution because it ensures a smooth pick attack when a diagonal motion is used, reorienting the pick so that it is actually perpendicular to the direction in which it is moving, creating an escape path for the pick tip to free the string plane and pass easily to the next string.
The Two Fundamental Slants (DWPS & UWPS)
The orientation of the pick relative to the strings is called pickslanting, and there are two primary types of slants that dictate which stroke is free to escape:
Downward Pickslanting (DWPS)
The pick tilts toward the floor (the tip of the pick is
angled slightly upward, pointing the ceiling). With DWPS, the
downstroke is trapped between the strings, while the upstroke is free, meaning the upstroke escapes
above
the string plane, making the upstroke the ideal string-changing stroke.
Upward Pickslanting (UWPS)
The pick tilts toward the ceiling (the tip of the pick is
angled slightly downward, poiting the floor). This is the inverse: the
downstroke is free, and the upstroke is trapped, making the downstroke the ideal string-changing stroke.
Crucially, the slant simply refers to the pick's appearance, and assuming the correct body positioning for the desired escape motion is often enough to create the correct slant automatically.
Downward pickslanting animation
As you can see from the image, when there is an even number of notes on the same string, with downward pickslanting the pick ends up free, above the strings after the last stroke, the ideal condition for a fast string change.
Upward pickslanting animation
With an odd number of notes, it works exactly the opposite. To have the pick free at the end of an odd-note sequence, it’s better to use upward pickslanting, as you can see in the animation below.
Section 2: Applying the Rules of Escape
The Golden Rules for Single-Escape Playing
To maximize fluidity, the rule is simple: change strings only after the free stroke, assuming you start a phrase with a downstroke (a common practice):
- Rule 1: Even Notes Per String: You must use Downward Pickslanting (DWPS). If you play an even number of notes (like 2, 4, or 6), the final stroke before the string change will be an upstroke, which is the free stroke in DWPS, this is mechanically optimal.
- Rule 2: Odd Notes Per String: You must use Upward Pickslanting (UWPS). If you play an odd number of notes (like 3), the final stroke before the string change will be a downstroke, and UWPS provides the free downstroke required for that escape.
Addressing Odd Note Groupings (The Workarounds)
What happens if you run into an odd number of notes, but your technique favors DWPS (like the Malmsteen style)? You can use non-picked techniques to adjust the stroke direction.
The Legato Trick: Incorporate a slide, hammer-on, or pull-off to arrive at the desired pickstroke direction for the next string change, for example, when playing a descending three-note scale, you can use down-up with a pull-off to ensure the last stroke is a non-picked stroke, landing you on the correct starting stroke for the next string.
Section 3: Advanced Concepts – Combining Slant and Speed
Two-Way Pickslanting (2WPS)
When a pattern constantly requires alternating escape strokes, such as going from an odd number of notes to an even number, you need Two-Way Pickslanting (2WPS).
- Definition: 2WPS involves continuously changing the pick's inclination from DWPS to UWPS and vice versa within the same phrase.
- Virtuoso Examples: This complex but necessary technique is utilized by phenomenal players like Paul Gilbert, Steve Vai, and Michael Angelo Batio.
- The Challenge: While effective, 2WPS can be difficult to use when improvising, as it requires quick thinking to determine which slant is needed for the pattern ahead.
Pickslanting's Role in Economy Picking
Pickslanting is not limited to alternate picking; it is also fundamental to Economy Picking (or sweeping), which combines alternate picking with sweeping, allowing a string change to be performed with the same stroke direction (e.g., two downstrokes).
The Angle of Attack: In sweeping, the pickslant enables the pick to slide smoothly in the direction of the sweep, with the angle of attack becoming less than 90 degrees, promoting sliding rather than catching.
One-Way Economy: This approach combines alternate picking motions that share the same pickslant with sweeping:
- UWPS Economy: Combines Upward Pickslanting (UWPS) with downstroke escape (DSX) alternate picking and upstroke sweeps, pioneering sweep master Frank Gambale uses this system, which he refers to as Gambale Sweeping.
- DWPS Economy: Combines Downward Pickslanting (DWPS) with upstroke escape (USX) alternate picking and downstroke sweeps, Oz Noy is cited as an expert using this approach.
Two-Way Economy: Combining both DWPS and UWPS approaches allows the player to seamlessly transition between downstroke sweeps/upstroke escapes and upstroke sweeps/downstroke escapes, often flipping the pickslant with each change in direction.
Section 4: Practical Mastery and Troubleshooting
Achieving the Right Physical Setup
Many guitarists ask if they need to completely change their grip for pickslanting, the answer is no.
- Grip Flexibility and Tension: It is perfectly fine to use two different pick grips, one comfortable for chords/strumming, and another slightly adjusted for pickslanting/soloing (just look at Paul Gilbert!). While some virtuosos appear to hold the pick firmly, you must maintain a crucial balance and avoid excessive tension, or you will definitely slow yourself down.
- Edge Picking: To further improve smoothness and reduce resistance, you can integrate edge picking, which involves rotating the pick slightly on the floor-to-ceiling axis, making the pick's edge act like a ramp against the string.
Overcoming the Muting Challenge
When shifting between slants, muting can become difficult, especially when attempting DWPS.
- The DWPS Arching Problem: With DWPS, your wrist often has to arch up high, which can pull the heel of your hand away from the thicker strings, leaving them unmuted and causing your pick motion to flail.
- The Muting Solution: If you are struggling with muting during DWPS, try to rest the whole pinky side of your hand against the strings, this position should allow you to maintain muting stability even when playing on the top strings with a downward slant. Be aware, however, that UWPS can make muting the high strings difficult.
The Mental Leap: Programming the Motion
Pickslanting works, but it feels awkward at first, guitarists who have succeeded say it takes very little time to reprogram the brain and were able to play things previously out of reach for years.
Practice with Direction: Simply practicing with consistency and determination is not enough; you need a clear direction on what movements to focus on to maximize learning results.
The Three-Tempo Programming Method: Avoid the classic mistake of relying solely on the metronome to increase tempo gradually, as this often leads to developing bad technique that fails at high speeds. Instead, use three tempos to program your hands:
- Slow: Used for consciously exaggerating the movements and getting the basic components right.
- Fast (Bursting): Used for checking that the technique works up to speed, making the motion as effortless as possible.
- Mid-Tempo (TV Mode): Used for burning the motion into muscle memory, at this tempo, you focus less on individual notes and more on the overall feel of the correct movement.
Chunking (Phrasing): When practicing, break down lines into small melodic fragments or chunks (ideally 3–4 notes), focusing maximum concentration only on the first note of the chunk and allowing the rest of the sequence to play automatically, this is how the brain processes complex language, and it's how virtuosos execute fast phrases.
Conclusion: Achieving the Magic Hands
If you adopt these mechanical insights and embrace this focused practice method, you will finally stop second-guessing your right hand.
By optimizing the inclination of the pick, your fluidity will increase, and you will finally understand why some guitarists seem to have those magical hands.
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