Troy Grady - Cracking the Code

[MarkRhodes]

Troy Grady has studied the picking of many great players who can play very fast---Yngwie Malmsteen, Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, among others. By study, I mean taking bits of video and slowing them down to the point one can see exactly how the pick is angled and moved, and also by filming players as they play so there is a tight focus on the picking. He has learned a lot about what many fast players are doing---and that many fast players have found different ways to achieve the same end when picking.

Here's Troy's intro to the series "Cracking the Code".

The Benson picking thread has devoted a few pages to Troy's videos. I think a separate thread is in order because many people are concerned with picking who aren't concerned with Benson picking. (Most of the players Troy looks at use a fairly conventional grip, not a Benson grip.) Also, many players come here from a rock background (-I am such a one) and will be familiar some of the players Grady takes an in-depth look (Steve Morse, Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Shawn Lane, Paul Gilbert, Eric Johnson.)

[MarkRhodes]

An overview of "four essential motion mechanics".

[SamBooka]

Been following the troy grady stuff for about a year now.. great stuff!

[GuyBoden]

Been following the troy grady stuff for about a year now.. great stuff!

Yeah, I've been following them since he put the videos online, interesting stuff, although I'm not interested in playing particularly fast, the close up of techniques used are great stuff.

[fumblefingers]

Are there bullet point summaries regarding optimal plectrum technique?

[MarkRhodes]

Are there bullet point summaries regarding optimal plectrum technique?

Not that I know of. There's more than one way to "get there".

[Frank67]

I noticed lots of reststrokes, except for circle picking

[Dioxic]

Are there bullet point summaries regarding optimal plectrum technique?

I would buy his downward pick slanting bundle. In that he breaks down all the different motion mechanics like in the video and has a bunch of literature on how to apply different things to different scales and in context with licks.

[Pocket Player]

all the video's are online it kind of goes thru the different picking motions as he moves thru the different players.Really great stuff no mater the style you play.

[Moonray]

Troy has a Mike Stern session that he put up quite early on in his Cracking the Code series.

I like Mike's playing and I bought that particular set of what turned out effectively to be a series of lessons.
You get PDF's of each lick/phrase with correct fingering [LH] and of course the close up and
personal shots of the picking.

Highly recommended.

I also recall a promo of a Jimmy Bruno session that was great....but I don't think Troy has
offered that series for sale.

Must have another look.

I'm enjoying ....and copping quite a bit....... from what I initially thought was a bit of a gimmick project.

[Zip09]

I'm enjoying ....and copping quite a bit....... from what I initially thought was a bit of a gimmick project.

This encapsulates alot of players out there I bet, certainly myself-- there was something about the presentation of the videos that seemed almost as though it was a Discovery channel show on sasquatch or aliens. Mixed with the way he at times...'hams' it up a bit, I definitely felt initially there was probably not-so-much gold in them hills. I actually 'bought' into it all more when I saw that 'Four Essential Motion..." clip months back, because he seemed less animated, and more just as a regular guy teaching you things he's obviously known for years, but is divulging now to the rest of the world via youtube, and not the woeful once common print/book form.

Would love to know specifically in the future whether on one of those google 'hangout' clips or elsewhere, he does more of a live presentation of the Morse technique. Like he mentioned, it's probably like the moonwalk/riding a bike, but I don't have all the movements down yet. He does however cover things at times in a sequence that likely makes sense to him, but not necessarily the viewer, which can distract from an overall focus. But the meat of what he's getting is still almost always in the clips.

[AlsoRan]

Man this guy has produced some wonderful, eye-catching videos. His use of computer graphics and special effects are brilliant! What great videos!

[Moonray]

This latest clip is interesting from the point of view that he's actually saying that he didn't
formulate these techniques to deal with certain situations that turn up in the run of play.

But rather, it was a matter of just playing stuff, and then much later observing what he was
doing with his picking hand ....different hand positions, thumb altering its grip etc etc .

So his OTTness in the earlier clips were probably a genuine excitement about what the technology
he cobbled together was able to expose as to how some of his favourite players picked.

He ends up suggesting that it would be a good idea to just play and observe what you're doing
making changes to the pick technique when required.

.....I find this funny really.....that's all I've ever done.

[MarkRhodes]

Most of what I've seen so far---by no means all Troy has to offer---features solid body guitars and a player who anchors on the bridge. I play an archtop and don't anchor that way. Some things might "translate' to what I am doing but so far, not as much as seems to be the case with other viewers. I still find some of this fascinating, though.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Most of what I've seen so far---by no means all Troy has to offer---features solid body guitars and a player who anchors on the bridge. I play an archtop and don't anchor that way. Some things might "translate' to what I am doing but so far, not as much as seems to be the case with other viewers. I still find some of this fascinating, though.

At the moment, this is true, but in the proposed season 3 for Cracking The Code, he's going to broaden his horizons. Tommy Emmanuel, Jimmy Bruno, Carl Miner, and the one I'm most excited about, Stephane Wrembel

[ecj]

Most of what I've seen so far---by no means all Troy has to offer---features solid body guitars and a player who anchors on the bridge. I play an archtop and don't anchor that way. Some things might "translate' to what I am doing but so far, not as much as seems to be the case with other viewers. I still find some of this fascinating, though.

I think most of it translates pretty well. It's not earth-shattering, unless rest-stroke picking and string switches on downstrokes is a revelation to you.

The lesson on alt-picking was a good one, showing you how to get the pick out of the plane of the strings.

[MarkRhodes]

At the moment, this is true, but in the proposed season 3 for Cracking The Code, he's going to broaden his horizons. Tommy Emmanuel, Jimmy Bruno, Carl Miner, and the one I'm most excited about, Stephane Wrembel

Sounds great! I'd love to see the material on Jimmy Bruno. Guy can fly. I've spent time in his "workshop" and am now working through his book "The Art of Picking."

[Shadow of the Sun]

I know that we have the Benson picking thread, but I'd like to suggest a reason for why Benson picking is particularly useful, at least in my opinion with regards to what Troy is teaching.

If I'm holding my pick normally and using downward pickslanting, I can do a sweep from the 6th string to the 1st string easy. Just rest-stroke down and push through. Sweeping from the 1st to the 6th requires an adjustment of my wrist position.

Holding the pick in the Benson grip, however, makes that a lot easier. I can sweep from 6th string to the 1st string, and without having to adjust my wrist, sweep back because the first knuckle of my index finger breaks backwards slightly and the pick rotates in between my thumb and finger into an upward pickslanting angle without having to readjust my wrist position or anything, allowing me to rest-stroke up through the high E to the low E.

I think this is what the people in the Benson thread called the "pick flop".

[MarkRhodes]

I know that we have the Benson picking thread, but I'd like to suggest a reason for why Benson picking is particularly useful, at least in my opinion with regards to what Troy is teaching.

You might want to post this there as well. Some there find consecutive upstrokes hard to do with the Benson grip.

For me, when I use the Benson grip, the tip of the pick (at a pretty steep angle) is pointed toward the neck pickup, not toward my face (-which would be downward pick slanting) or the floor (which would be upward pick slanting.

I realize that however one grips and moves a pick, one must avoid getting "caught up" in the strings. There are different ways to achieve this. They say there's more than one way to skin a cat----I think avoiding getting caught up in the strings is the cat. Benson (now) works for me.

[christianm77]

Most of what I've seen so far---by no means all Troy has to offer---features solid body guitars and a player who anchors on the bridge. I play an archtop and don't anchor that way. Some things might "translate' to what I am doing but so far, not as much as seems to be the case with other viewers. I still find some of this fascinating, though.

The pick slanting stuff is useful across the board. Troy makes reference to gypsy picking and benson picking which are both floating hand dwps strategies. The yngwie technique is basically electric style gypsy picking with Palm muting if you like :-)

Incidentally I find playing an archtop at loud gig volumes with a floating hand very problematic. I've gone back to more electric style playing on archtop. Do you find this to be a problem? If not how do you get around the strings ringing problem?

[MarkRhodes]

Incidentally I find playing an archtop at loud gig volumes with a floating hand very problematic. I've gone back to more electric style playing on archtop. Do you find this to be a problem? If not how do you get around the strings ringing problem?

Well, I don' t float. I anchor with the pinky and third finger on the pick guard.

Now, Jimmy Bruno does float and he plays archtops at gig volumes without a problem.

Here's a clip of Jimmy live with Peter Bernstein. Not a burning tune, but it's nice to see these two together.

Here's Jimmy in a duo setting playing "Joy Spring". Dude is "crisp and clean with no caffeine".

[Shadow of the Sun]

After watching Troy's videos and examining my own playing, I've found that I tend to upward pickslanting as my main "grip", and that I use a side-to-side wrist motion at lower speeds and switch to playing from the elbow/forearm when I get faster. I also "anchor" by using the meat of my thumb on the lower strings, usually.

A technique that a lot of people isn't particularly good, but what I appreciate about Troy's videos is that he's showing examples of excellent players that are using the entire gamut of techniques- while he does tend towards shred metal players, I think that's not unexpected or unfair, because I don't think there's as big of a community that cares about guitar technique as the shred metal guys.

[Irez87]

The pick slanting stuff is useful across the board. Troy makes reference to gypsy picking and benson picking which are both floating hand dwps strategies. The yngwie technique is basically electric style gypsy picking with Palm muting if you like :-)

Incidentally I find playing an archtop at loud gig volumes with a floating hand very problematic. I've gone back to more electric style playing on archtop. Do you find this to be a problem? If not how do you get around the strings ringing problem?

I have the same problem, but I removed my pickguard long ago because it got in the way of my picking (early Eastman model, the pickguard was right up against the freaking high e. Still love the guitar). I float and occasionally mute with the palm, but there are still problems.

Jimmy Bruno, and Howard Alden also float. I once emailed Howard about his playing and he got back to me, might try reaching out to him about that question. Also, I heard that Jimmy Bruno is also nice about responding to emails. I really like how floating feels, especially when I play chords and lines and such. Gonna keep at it.

[EDS]

Hey everyone, I've really been interested in Troy's Cracking the Code series. I feel I need to overhaul my technique to allow for more economy picking since I'm a strict "alternate picking + slurring" guy right now.

I'm having trouble seeing many of the things Troy points out though, in my own playing. I can't tell if I pickslant or not (sometimes I think I do upward and other times I think maybe its actually downward) and I can't tell if I'm "bouncing" from the lack of pick slanting (something Troy points out)

From the video , to me its looks like no slant.

If anyone who knows about this could watch this 20 second video and tell me what they think is going on, I'd be grateful!

[Irez87]

I responded on the tube. Gonna look it over with my teacher on Monday and see what he says. He's big on forearm rotation.