Pickslanting EXPLAINED! Techniques, practice tips, and MORE

This week, all my Patrons, even at the $1 a month level, are getting a TON of downloadable stuff to go along with this video! Practice tracks at various tempos, midi files so you can make your own perfect practice session, and Guitar Pro files so you can play all day!!! Sign up today and get 'em!!!

@troygrady blew the lid off the secrets of alternate picking with his now-legendary Cracking the Code series, in which he showed us how speed demons like Yngwie Malmsteen, Eric Johnson, Vinnie Moore, and @andywoodmusic are able to navigate alternate and economy picking at extremely high tempos with ease through the use of upwards escape (USX) and downwards escape (DWX) picking (formerly called downwards and upwards pickslanting). These ideas completely revolutionized my playing and taught me so much about my own strengths and weaknesses! But how did i practice them, and how do you start to incorporate them into your own playing? Like this!!!

In today's video, i'm going to show you an EJ-style B minor hexatonic lick in 2 variations: one to practice your USX picking, and another to practice your DSX. With these two picking styles mastered, there's going to be NOTHING you can't play! I'll be using my Magnet camera mount that Troy Grady gave me to let you all see straight down the barrel of my picking. After i show you the lick, i'm going to break down both picking styles in detail, and give you a ton of tips to make sure you get a successful slant happening STAT! I'm still working on these concept, too, so i'll be hammering away at this stuff alongside you all! Be sure to grab all those practice tracks from my patreon page and get to working on becoming an alternate picking MACHINE!!!
Gear:
Les Paul with Suhr SSH/SSV pickups
Axe FX 3
What do you want to learn next on Weekend Wankshop? Let me know in the comments!

[gorz]

"Shreddy Kruger" is the best thing I've heard all year

[robertominozzi]

it is fair to reckon that this is Troy's idea, but your communicative skills make this whole slanting thing much clearer and ..'learnable' for me.. you are the definition of what a proper teacher has to be.. bravo!

[BearSharkDude]

Troy Grady videos should be required viewing for new players. And not new players. And regardless of whether you want to shred. Just super helpful to finally have someone who actually wanted to go in depth into the mechanics of playing rather than just saying “uh, practice slow and do whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Thanks for this insight Uncle Ben. Appreciate it

[vonmilash]

Being a longtime player, I always instinctively knew I had to pick slant to cross strings but I could never do it. Then I saw Grady's vids with MAB and tried something like what he does. Now, chicks love me for my angled in-out motion and attack.

[Rynan]

Holy crap Ben! I used to be a student of yours when you were giving lessons at the Fret Store back around 2007, but had to quit going because I broke my leg and couldn't climb the tiny staircase that place had. I find you here just giving all this stuff away for free now!? Jokes aside, good to see you're still shredding man!

[theeouapolal]

Dude, I hope you're doing well, 'cause damn, you're articulate, intelligent, eloquent, straight-forward, and probably one of the best teachers by this kind of medium (online video) out there... Let me tell you, I'm probably old enough to be your great grandfather... just so you know... I've seen A LOT OF TEACHERS!! REALLY APPRECIATE THIS!!!

[doomcue]

This is why odd groupings on adjacent strings are a challenge for me (without using economy or mini-sweeps). The constant wrist motion to go from outside to inside (and back) string changes and up/down escapes is still something I have to work on every practice session, even after 20 years of playing. Andy makes it look effortless, but it's work for us mere mortals.

[ShredmasterScott]

best lesson on alternate picking ever muhaha

[rickfeith]

This one time, at Sweep Picking Camp, I learnt the art of slant pickin and cross combobulating. Highly recommended.

[Stringprodigy]

Chris Brooks also covers this extensively in his book Neoclassical Speed Strategies for Guitar. Highly recommended.

[newmexicosaint]

Uncle Ben...your ability to articulate/communicate is off the charts in effectiveness. Your humor is the icing on the cake brother. Signing up for patreon right now.

[jrsmoots]

This didn't make a lot of sense to me until about 15:00, and then suddenly I got it. Thanks for posting this vid!!

[hksonx]

When you said "Do it with BIG DUMB motion", it totally opens up my mind. I have been doing it with minimal motion because I am afraid of hitting other strings. It ruins my groove and articulation. I just tried playing with bigger swings for 10 minutes and it feel 10x times better already. The key is to have the right slanting angle.

[johnmello]

Why was I literally having trouble with this last night and lookin for a guide. Little did I know I would be blessed the next morning!

[terribletommm]

Always impressed by the tasteful exercises you come up with to accompany the videos, Ben. Very memorable and easy to digest. Keep up the great work!

[Arazmithin]

Uncle Ben always taking time to Picksplain things the great do for us. Thanks Ben!

[yogxoth]

Turns out I'm a downwards escape kind of player and I've also been mostly playing metal, so you were spot on Uncle Ben! Unfortunately, my picking style makes palm muting difficult (I'm a beginner too). Super interesting video anyways.

[BrianBadBass]

Dude you've literally revealed something that's been frustrating me for years! I'm a "flat" picker, and even after watching some of Troy's videos I still couldn't quite grasp why until now. Thank you!

[forprogress]

Fantastic lesson. Such an important one; if you can’t pick properly, you can’t do the first thing u need to learn on guitar. If you’re already starting with bad technique...

[RumzDizzle]

So you're saying I've been doing it wrong my whole guitar life... nice, knew there was a reason I stunk