Uploaded June 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
One of the coolest picking "mistakes" we see in picking technique is what I call "displacement". It's when your picking hand subconsciously moves pickstrokes to a string *other* than the one you're fretting, to make a particular phrase easier to play. Here's an example of this on the classic "Paul Gilbert Lick". You can't play this with single escape motion, right? Think again! In this clip I'm using USX motion, which can only make upstroke string changes. How do we play the downstroke string change required by the PG Lick? Sometimes, the only winning move is *not* to play. Notice what's happening here. Instead of picking five notes on the D string and one note on the G string, we've switched to being four notes on the D and two notes on the G. This is an even number of notes, only upstroke string changes, and makes the phrase work out for USX motion. Why does this sound passable? The final note on the D string is supposed to be picked, but instead, it's a hammer. But there's still the sound of pick attack — it's just coming from a *different* string — the G string, which is muted by the fretting fingers. How cool is that? Even in slow motion, it's amazing how smooth this can sound for how "wrong" it is. Like many things in picking, mistakes evolve because to some degree they actually work. Displacing this pickstroke makes the PG Lick playable with a motion that technically cannot do odd-numbered string changes, and easy and fast on top of that. Players who come to us for help do this *all time time* without realizing it. Keep in mind also, I'm filming this with the phone mic. Through an amp, you can get good enough at this to never hear it. Getting good at mistakes! Who would thunk?
One of the coolest picking "mistakes" we see in picking technique is what I call "displacement". It's when your picking hand subconsciously moves pickstrokes to a string *other* than the one you're fretting, to make a particular phrase easier to play. Here's an example of this on the classic "Paul Gilbert Lick". You can't play this with single escape motion, right? Think again! In this clip I'm using USX motion, which can only make upstroke string changes. How do we play the downstroke string change required by the PG Lick? Sometimes, the only winning move is *not* to play. Notice what's happening here. Instead of picking five notes on the D string and one note on the G string, we've switched to being four notes on the D and two notes on the G. This is an even number of notes, only upstroke string changes, and makes the phrase work out for USX motion. Why does this sound passable? The final note on the D string is supposed to be picked, but instead, it's a hammer. But there's still the sound of pick attack — it's just coming from a *different* string — the G string, which is muted by the fretting fingers. How cool is that? Even in slow motion, it's amazing how smooth this can sound for how "wrong" it is. Like many things in picking, mistakes evolve because to some degree they actually work. Displacing this pickstroke makes the PG Lick playable with a motion that technically cannot do odd-numbered string changes, and easy and fast on top of that. Players who come to us for help do this *all time time* without realizing it. Keep in mind also, I'm filming this with the phone mic. Through an amp, you can get good enough at this to never hear it. Getting good at mistakes! Who would thunk?
