Eugene's trick bag...PICKING????

Hi all!!

I'd like to have some advices about the picking in Eugene's Trick Bag...
is it sweeping, or back&forward or what?? I just can't figure it out by myself...
thanks
c ya

As a general rule you sweep whenever you can, as for the rest, alternate pick.

For the intro (arpeggios) part , the Am & Dm are swept throughout (play the Dm arp from the 10's position) , the A7 & G#dim have small sweeps on the higher notes of the arpeggio , and the E7 can be alternate picked throughout if you changed the e-7-| (B note) into b-12-| .

The rest of it is strictly alternate picking , with few economy picking here and there ... You can ignore those and just alternate pick if you like.

Does anyone have a mp3 of this peice that they could send to me? I'd like to give it a shot to try and improve my skills.

Thanks,

D>

you could go buy the movie "Crossroads" with Ralph Macchio. made in 1989. It has Eugene's trick bag in it.

they had a transcription of it in total guitar here in england. They claimed Vai uses strict alternate picking throughout for note clarity. But sweeping makes it about 5 times easier on the wrist!

it also sounds like alternate picking - i do it all alternately on that piece - sounds much better than swept

yeah, I DID play it that way, but I've managed to contract a pretty severe bout of tendonitis in both forearms, not from warming up incorrectly or insufficiently, I actually did it whilst lifting weights, I tried to increase too much too fast, so my alternate picking has gone out the window.
I'm totally rediscovering sweeps and economy picking to ease the pain in my arms!

I found that for Eugene's, once youve cleared the arpeggios at the start, which i sometimes sweep and sometimes alternate pick depending on how alive im feeling, that alternate picking the rest *starting on an upstroke* for each phrase really helped me play things much smoother, instead or starting with a downstroke. So if there are any bits that seem hard to alt. pick, then try starting on the oposite stroke.

nasum_human:
Just read about your tendonitis.. Hope you recover well!

~T~

If you're having trouble with alternate picking..you need to check out Michael Angelo's first instructional tape (from waaay back then, about 15 years ago). It well get your alternate picking going very easily.