First video using a Magnet bought from Troy Grady

[MarkRhodes]

First, what is the Magnet and what does it do?

The Magnet is the red horseshoe-shaped device on Troy's guitar neck. It needs a chunk of surface to grip securely, so it mounts, as The Pretenders put it, "Up The Neck." If holds a smartphone so that it focuses on the picking hand and can provide a better picture of 'what are you doing down there?' than you get from looking down at your hand while playing. Especially if you record in slow-motion and play back on a computer screen. (I recorded my video in slow-motion but uploaded it at normal speed.)

FWIW, I find the Magnet easier to mount on my Tele than my PRS, but I use the PRS here because it is currently my main guitar.
Also, the Magnet costs about $50.
If you watched any of Troy's "Cracking the Code" videos, you've seen all manner of players captured by the Magnet (-perhaps Jimmy Bruno and Mike Stern would be of most interest to members of this Forum.) Sometimes, what players say (and think) they are doing is not what they are actually doing.

Here is a humbling video of what I'm actually doing this morning.
A few points of order. I didn't warm up before recording this. It's not a video of playing (such as a tune or a solo) but of picking mechanics first thing in the morning.
Tremolo picking on the D string, then the G string, and then a two-string speed lick that is neither fast nor clean.
O well.

https://youtube.com/shorts/2aKDIjyGJ...yybevetWLZUelj

[charlieparker]

First, what is the Magnet and what does it do?

The Magnet is the red horseshoe-shaped device on Troy's guitar neck. It needs a chunk of surface to grip securely, so it mounts, as The Pretenders put it, "Up The Neck." If holds a smartphone so that it focuses on the picking hand and can provide a better picture of 'what are you doing down there?' than you get from looking down at your hand while playing. Especially if you record in slow-motion and play back on a computer screen. (I recorded my video in slow-motion but uploaded it at normal speed.)

FWIW, I find the Magnet easier to mount on my Tele than my PRS, but I use the PRS here because it is currently my main guitar.
Also, the Magnet costs about $50.
If you watched any of Troy's "Cracking the Code" videos, you've seen all manner of players captured by the Magnet (-perhaps Jimmy Bruno and Mike Stern would be of most interest to members of this Forum.) Sometimes, what players say (and think) they are doing is not what they are actually doing.

Here is a humbling video of what I'm actually doing this morning.
A few points of order. I didn't warm up before recording this. It's not a video of playing (such as a tune or a solo) but of picking mechanics first thing in the morning.
Tremolo picking on the D string, then the G string, and then a two-string speed lick that is neither fast nor clean.
O well.

https://youtube.com/shorts/2aKDIjyGJ...yybevetWLZUelj

Nice view. I think I pick basically the same way. Downstroke escape.

[joeUK]

Always interested in trying one of these - helpful to get feedback when grooving anything. I am sure I bounce so much my pick would be off screen. Probably need to subscribe for a month or two

[MarkRhodes]

Nice view. I think I pick basically the same way. Downstroke escape.

I do that most of the time though sometimes I do the opposite. For many years I was frustrated because (without realizing it) I would sometimes use a 'downstroke escape' motion and sometimes use an 'upstroke escape' motion (-which may also be called "rest-stroke picking," where a downstroke comes to rest on the higher adjacent string.)

The latter is much more common. Either way works, but going back and forth (unintentionally) can cause a problem. Certainly did for me!

Some guitarists consciously change the pick direction to facilitate certain lines or phrases. Maybe I'll become such a one someday.

[MarkRhodes]

Always interested in trying one of these - helpful to get feedback when grooving anything. I am sure I bounce so much my pick would be off screen. Probably need to subscribe for a month or two

Well, if you bounce THAT much, you can see it with the naked eye.

For me, the challenge is with things I learned without thinking about picking at all---things that are now habits. Those are tough to change.

[Cunamara]

And is this helpful to you? I'm both intrigued and a little puzzled. I am not sure what one would do with this information. People have been able to learn picking technique without video camera feedback for centuries; I'm not sure what this device would add to that (duh- never having tried it, of course I'm not sure ).

If you can play what you want to play, who cares how the pick or fingers are moving as long as they get the job done? I remember practicing alternating picking 45 years ago when I was first learning, but really haven't thought about it much since.

I think my fear is that I would end up like the centipede in the parable, trying to figure out how to walk.

[MarkRhodes]

And is this helpful to you? I'm both intrigued and a little puzzled. I am not sure what one would do with this information. People have been able to learn picking technique without video camera feedback for centuries; I'm not sure what this device would add to that (duh- never having tried it, of course I'm not sure ).

If you can play what you want to play, who cares how the pick or fingers are moving as long as they get the job done? I remember practicing alternating picking 45 years ago when I was first learning, but really haven't thought about it much since.

I think my fear is that I would end up like the centipede in the parable, trying to figure out how to walk.

Fair questions all. I'm glad you asked them. (My answers are just mine, of course, and others who have used the Magnet might respond differently.)

Yes, it has been helpful to me. It confirmed something I thought was true but now we can "go to the videotape." Also, I can make another recording in a month or so and see how I have (or haven't) improved.

That said, it was not necessary to buy this. It's not something everyone needs. I think teachers might find it useful. ("Timmy, this is what your hand is doing while you play---see all that wasted motion?") If these things had been around when I was a teen, I can easily imagine a couple buds and I going in together and buying one to pass around to each other.

I think anyone who can play whatever they want without giving it a thought should steer clear. (If it ain't broke, don't fix it.) But that was never true of me. It still isn't! At least now I can see why. I need to find work-arounds for many things so that I can consistently play them at the tempo needed. (And some things I don't have work arounds for yet----I have a hard time with Wes' "Fried Pies" head, for example. I can play it but it doesn't flow the way I want it to.) A lot of the guitarists I like ----Charlie, Herb Ellis, Wes, Barney Kessel----didn't pick the way I do. It turns out that John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola do and both are great, but I really don't want to play like that. (But I can see why they DO play like that----it kind of follows from how they pick.)

[starjasmine]

Yeah, @Cunamara, check out Troy Grady's videos on youtube to see what all the fuss is about.

I never bought a magnet but I did subscribe to the Cracking the Code site for a while. Troy has really codified the mechanics of picking in an evidence-based way that nobody has done before. I found it really helpful, and those slow-mo videos of fantastic players' picking techniques are very informative. There are many different ways to attain fluency and control in the picking hand... not just "one right way".

I think the operative phrase in your question is "If you can play what you want to play ..." For many players, picking is a black art and right-hand technique holds them back from playing certain more-difficult things. I certainly found that to be true for me. I found Troy's videos and interviews with various players about their picking technique to be very helpful.

[starjasmine]

Hey Mark,

Congrats on getting a Magnet, and thanks for sharing your video.

https://youtube.com/shorts/2aKDIjyGJ...yybevetWLZUelj

I noticed that your picking hand gets tired within the first few seconds. You have a nice clean tremolo on the D string, and for part of your attempt on the G string, and about halfway through the G string attempt your muscles say "That's it - I'm tired!" and things fall apart. Troy talks about this in his picking mechanics primer. Basically, you are using muscles you don't use much, so they get tired quickly. I think you'll find that as you continue to work on getting a good clean tremolo picking technique down, those muscles will get in better shape and you'll be able to sustain that "good motion" longer.

[MarkRhodes]

Hey Mark,

Congrats on getting a Magnet, and thanks for sharing your video.

I noticed that your picking hand gets tired within the first few seconds. You have a nice clean tremolo on the D string, and for part of your attempt on the G string, and about halfway through the G string attempt your muscles say "That's it - I'm tired!" and things fall apart. Troy talks about this in his picking mechanics primer. Basically, you are using muscles you don't use much, so they get tired quickly. I think you'll find that as you continue to work on getting a good clean tremolo picking technique down, those muscles will get in better shape and you'll be able to sustain that "good motion" longer.

Thanks for watching.
I posted this video at Troy's site and have received comments on it. One was from Tommo (Tomasso Tuffarelli) who did the course on DSX picking ("Metronomic Rock"). He said that lick I was playing is incompatible with strict DSX picking. He gave me an alternative that works fine. (So did a few other players there.)
F
As for tremolo picking, it has always varied with me. The G string is my best, the low E my worst. (I work more on the low E because that's the one I really need for a few things.) The high E is not so good either. I think it has more to do with hand placement /position than anything else (--and that's impact on the wrist motion).

My picking is more like the bluegrass players than the shredders. I had not expected that.

[Mick-7]

I don't get this.... To me using visual cues to refine one's picking makes no sense because it usually requires physical adjustments that are too subtle to see, they must be felt.