Help, I Can't Play Fast! Avoiding The Most Inefficient Motion In Picking

[@RichardFriendartist]

it was crazy how much his (early example) picking looked like mine. Really an eye opener and his "speed cap" was/ and is basically exactly where I max out. Very cool stuff Troy thanks. I have signed up to your site...it's really amazing for people who haven't checked it out. The "guitar pro" style interface but with the picking patterns and tempo are so helpful to work on things. I really like to know if I should be doing an up or down stroke on things and can get confused at times depending on the patterns!

[@troygrady]

Thanks for signing up! Glad the case study rings true. Our focus recently has been translating all this knowledge into concrete teaching, and we're excited about the table tap tests and case studies to help make motions really work for people. The interface you're referring to is Soundslice - it's awesome for linking up tab and video.

[@MetalKabu]

Same for me. I once started to get guitar lessons because I knew something was off with my technique, but she was just focused on learning chords etc. Well thanks to corona and other stuff I stopped going there. Also my brother warned me that I am picking wrong but I kinda ignored it because it felt comfortable for me. Well I guess it's time to finally work on that problem :D

[@zenvo5841]

@@troygrady please help me man my alternate picking was good and I was flying and then I didn't practice for like two days after mastering it for quite a while i just couldn't do it again and I find myself doing this often in guitar and I don't understand its really hurting my esteem when it comes to my instrument and I sometimes feel like I should just give up and I won't ever be able to be a shredder

[@habri013]

@@zenvo5841 please don't give up interpunction

[@DudeWheresMyTom]

@@zenvo5841 I would try and set more consistent attainable goals! Don’t just aspire to ‘shred’, look at what you can play today (not yesterday or last week) cleanly tempo wise, then make your goal that same exercise a few BPM faster with proper technique. Also let go of any ego you might have as well, doesn’t matter if the tempo you can cleanly play is ‘slow’ in your opinion, be honest in your ability. If you regularly attempt it you’ll improve, keep bumping up the tempos and suddenly being a shredder will sneak up on you as opposed to being this yes/no criteria that you feel you can’t currently achieve! :)

[@goport]

Hi Troy. I suffered a stroke that affected my left side (and I am a southpaw) in 2017 that appeared to end my guitar playing days. After a few weeks of fruitlessly searching the net for help I decided to try and incorporate the picking techniques and concepts from your YT channel into my guitar picking rehabilitation. Not only has this has got me back to a place which seemed impossible 3 years ago, but I am now a better and more precise precise player in many ways. Thank you sir.

[@troygrady]

Glad to hear it! Has your motor function returned on the left side?

[@goport]

​@@troygrady Happily, the stroke is already a distant memory and I have returned 99.9% back to normal again. Obviously I am very grateful and blessed for this second chance. The only times I feel it is with strumming, which I can do fine, but its like I have lost the ease and natural rhythmic feel. And 8th note dampened chugging which is harder to lock in for whole songs without the "burn". So thats the 2021 practice regimen. Thanks for the response.

[@goport]

​@@andyo-southpawguitaruk5322 Hi - Sorry I missed your reply. Thanks for the encouragement. I am very fortunate not to have any long lasting health side effects. I still play left handed and I am all but fully recovered, execpt for what I mentioned above (and I'm working on that lol).

[@stoltobot]

Awesome 👏

[@trevorgwelch7412]

I hope you make a Full Recovery 🏆🎸🏄‍♂️✨

[@harleyosterlund5796]

WOW did you make this video just for me??? Everything you have said is spot on and that’s EXACTLY what my right hand LOOKS and has ALWAYS felt like for 32 years

[@felipeherreralopez1754]

I have played guitar for over 12 years and this ONE video has helped my to take my technique to another level. Thanks for the effort and passion you put in every lesson!

[@cryptoskywalker6000]

It's difficult to overstate what an incredible gift you've been to the shred community, Troy. Thanks for all of your fantastic work in the shred space. You are truly a guitar education innovator. And a generational talent in the guitar instruction field.

[@garrettlajoiemusic3577]

I have been playing guitar for 17 years, majored in guitar in college for 3 years and have always struggled with speed. This is the first video I have seen that addresses my issue, thank you so much.

[@jonathanrossmusic2509]

Troy Grady posts a new video, I watch. No questions asked. Thanks, Troy!

[@troygrady]

Thanks Jonathan!

[@Smittefar1]

I smash the like button, then I watch the video 😁

[@JacobNNorton1982]

I’ve played guitar since the age of 12. Only in the last few years had I taken a few lessons to learn some techniques correctly. My instructor actually mentioned this lesson. So glad to see it finally. It has improved my playing light years! Thank you both!

[@troygrady]

Right in. We learn a lot from teachers because they are always testing out new ideas with students. That’s serious work and many props to them.

[@arthurdurham]

This is one of those rare guitar instructional videos that actually teach you something valuable and functional and isn't hyperbole or full of useless fluff. It seems so obvious yet I never thought about how focusing on string hopping is counter intuitive to speed and consistency in wrist movement Very well explained and detailed, thank you!

[@troygrady]

Excellent, thanks. I coined the term "stringhopping" a long time ago in college when I was trying to figure out why my hands felt jumpy during string changes, i.e. literally "hopping" from one string to another. I had no speed issues while playing on one string, just while moving across them. At the time, I had no idea that stringhipping was a motion that a person would actually try to do on every note, even when they're playing on a single string with nothing to "jump over". It was only over the last ten years when we started Cracking the Code as a teaching business that we realized how crazy common this problem is. A very high percentage of people who complain they can't play fast, or "aren't wired for speed", especially if their maximum playing speeds are very low, are actually doing a stringhopping motion when you simply look at their technique up close. It was hiding in plain sight all this time.

[@arthurdurham]

@@troygrady It seems so obvious yet you're the first person I heard talk about it. Minimizing as much motion as possible makes so much sense

[@troygrady]

Interestingly, it turns out it's actually not about minimizing the motion. You can make a very small stringhopping motion and you will still experience massive fatigue, and a very low speed limit around 120bpm or so. By comparision, Gypsy players can make giant strumming motions over 200bpm. The reason stringhopping is inefficient is because the downstroke and the upstroke use the same muscles, so it's almost like doing "all downstroke" or "all upstrokes". The muscles don't get to rest, so even though the pick is going back and forth, it's not really "alternate" picking, i.e. the muscles are not alternating. Here's a longer, nerdier explanation ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpWvomN_i7mLg8U )

[@edinchess]

@troygrady I have exact problem, i practised to get over years to get minimal motion but didnt think about this and i can see nkw there is still this hoping,my max 16th notes is 140bpm and its not really usable. Is there a picking that is best for single string picking, to get speed to play trilogy suite 5 by yngwie? or should i said to get 170-180 bpm 16th notes.

[@disco4535]

I've been playing for about 7 months and I pick almost exactly like that "string hopping" technique, except I can do it a little bit faster. Had no idea I was doing it wrong and really limiting myself this whole time lol. Really thankful I found this video!

[@derricious]

This might actually be the best 101 video you've ever made. It's hard to find a great video to show people to demonstrate this, either it's too long or just not to the point enough. This one trims the fat. Thanks for this

[@troygrady]

I may be getting actual fatter with the pandemic, and it's extracing the fat from our videos - maybe that's the secret!

[@musicfreak1138]

Troy, you have always been the real deal. Seriously, I can’t describe how much you helped my correct my technique. I now surpass some of my friends who have been playing 5 years longer than I have and they are just now, understanding the nuances that goes into playing and pick slant techniques

[@JeremiahFernandez]

dude's still preaching the gospel after all theses years. I never really learned how to play super fast but your videos helped me tremendously when I was still starting

[@tomeasley3538]

There is very little content on right hand technique and yours is the best, I was told by an internet teacher Chris Sherland to check out your videos, great stuff

[@stevee7774]

Same, found this channel through Chris. He has his own KZbin channel as well, some seriously good content.

[@kimL93]

What kind of pick recommend for speed

[@nickcharles6530]

A heavy pick. I recommend the 1.14mm alligator picks by dunlop. The thinner the pick, it will become harder to pick fast.

[@jeremybabin7435]

@@nickcharles6530 agreed ^ the Ernie ball prodigy picks 2mm is my personal preference.

[@nickcharles6530]

@@jeremybabin7435 I used to be obsessed with the Big Stubby picks. The thicker your pick is the better for fast picking (at least when you're first building your speed).

[@romainbertrand253]

What you website help me to understand is that there's not only one technique for picking. There's a lot of techniques. Stuyding with your website help me to be aware of what I was doing, to try new thing and to finally choose a technique. Very unorthodox actually but totally fine for me. I don't really think about it now actually. It took me 2 full months only working on picking. But now, it's behind me. So thank you Troy. Very sincerely.

[@seanfitzpatrick7878]

I remember a couple years ago when I saw somebody post a negative video about Troy and I immediately assumed the guy was just too lazy to watch the videos and put the methods to work. After watching so many of Troy's videos and slowing down to a snail's pace then relearning with the correct technique and slowly building up my speed, I can say definitively that I was right on point about that guy. Taking the time and effort to do the work like Troy teaches gave me the biggest gains I've had in my 30 years of playing guitar. It works. I know now from personal experience. It works.

[@OdaKa]

"because they learned it... From some other motion using their forearm" hmmm i wonder what that might be 🤔

[@troygrady]

We have no idea what you're referring to!

[@ozzlayer]

Hahahahaha

[@stevee7774]

Lol! Sick minds think alike. 😁

[@johnsmith-pw7oj]

lmao

[@troywilliams6849]

🤘🤣🤘

[@danielmoore62]

Cocaine played a very dominant role in the evolution of fast guitar techniques.

[@madProgenitorDeity]

certainly with glenn cambell it did!

[@pjost6643]

Lol

[@zach3359]

Adderall help's me. Cocaine doesn't work long enough.

[@mattpeterson3002]

Lol! I remember the first time I saw the Impellitteri video "Stand in Line"; I was like, What the mother f@ck?!!! The fastest thing I had ever heard prior to that was Yngwie's solo for I Am a Viking. I was blown away, and devoted all my time after hearing Stand In Line to trying to be able to play that fast. I remember hearing or reading an interview with Chris Impellitteri, and he made mention of doing cocaine around the time period of that album. So, aside from spending years learning technique, maybe coke DOES help, lol!

[@stevenrogersfineart4224]

😆

[@Soloist1983]

After you wrote me back the other day, I realized I was still doing the swoop-in, jump-out, slight wrist hop thing. Even though I had trained myself to do 2-way pickslanting, I worked at doing rest strokes, basically making sure that my picking movements had ZERO lift-off and my picking transformed overnight. I am super thrilled! Not even joking, then again, it helps that I've been practicing hand sync for years, so that wasn't a problem. This is probably the most valuable video on picking ever made, funny too as it teaches you what's WRONG, rather than what is right. This should win the Nobel Peace Prize for guitar :D

[@jrose152]

I've been playing for 16 years and you finally explained what I've never been able to figure out. THANK YOU!

[@tasartir86]

What an incredible channel! Thank you for changing all our picking lives! There's a generation out there picking properly because of you.

[@SDesWriter]

3 or 4 years??? I spent my twenties trying to play fast enough to cover the '80s rock stuff and neoclassical stuff that I loved to listen to and came up far short of ever succeeding. I played from time to time but with my work schedule mostly left my guitar and its case for decades. About 6 months ago I came across your video breaking down Steve Morse's picking technique and for whatever reason it finally clicked and now 6 months later I'm playing Extreme, George Lynch, Yngwie, Vinnie Moore, and both Randy and Jake's stuff from Ozzy. The crazy thing is that the more songs I tackle the easier it becomes to learn new ones. To me the bar was set at into the fire where Lynch's ascending six note pattern was about 230 BPM per triplet. Now that I can play that I can see the potential is even beyond that If I feel like putting in the work. Then again, maybe I'll pick up this PRS I've been looking at and just spend 6 months learning SRV stuff. Little Wing and Rude Mood are high on the list of songs I've always wanted to play....

[@dashcamcalifornia5003]

It's amazing what happens when you just let loose and stop thinking about it I learned this technique in a Michel angelo baitio speed kills course that I watched recently and he told the guy stop playing so nice just really tear the guitar up don't worry about hurting it and I tried the same thing and you can go so much faster when you stop caring

[@stevee7774]

Time to SHRED!

[@dashcamcalifornia5003]

@@stevee7774 🤘🤘🤘

[@troygrady]

Mike had it right! "Can't get faster than bangin' on one note. They way you pick fastest is the way you pick best." That is the first place to start.

[@dashcamcalifornia5003]

@@troygrady I really try to use that tremolo on a single note and do triplets or quadruplets to go to another note and really try to get my ear trained to hear those fast notes for transitioning. I'm nothing special but it's more fun than playing chords I guess. really enjoy your videos man, thank you.

[@jfo3000]

Shawn Lane said he tried to play fast then worried about cleaning it up later. Yep, just go for it.

[@jsguitargeek1432]

I hope - Troy's doing as well financially - for giving the guitar-world these amazing videos - as he deserves

[@randolphpatterson5061]

You got right to the crux of the very issue that I've been working on recently. You've got this all very well sorted through, and your video will help out a ton. This is the first time I ever saw your channel, & I've already liked & subscribed. Great lesson, well given!

[@antonwilding9744]

Great Video , alot of players are using too much force which drops the speed as well . The key is to let your hand relax and shakeing it without force , its like dancing on the string with minimal contact of the tip . Also you forget to mention the most important thing : the pick itself :-) . When the pick is too soft it needs time to bounce back which costs time . The harder the pick the easier is the controll and the faster gets the tremolo picking . Picks like Dunlop Jazz III , V picks ; Dunlop Ultex or Chicken Picks are heavy (doesnt bounce at all ) and makes tremolo picking much easier :-)

[@gusgus6870]

You re a great Master...!!! After a lot of years without playing guitar, I could improve my technique just because I learned with your lessons. Thanks my friend... really thanks!!! Now I m very proud with myself just because you. God bless you. Greeting from Argentina!!!

[@mikem4162]

I finally cracked a major speed wall today, in general, but now there's a bunch of licks I'm finally playing at the right speed. I played from 13 to 24, very seriously up until 21. Got carpal tunnel when I was 21. I didn't even pick up a guitar for almost 5 years (24 to 29). I started again about 6 months ago. A lot came back quickly but what really hurt me were little things. Sure I remembered all my modes and arpeggios etc. But my picking hand was just off. And I've been struggling to get back to where I was, or as close as I can get. Your videos have helped so much. A few days ago I watched this video, and realized I was bouncing, when not paying attention. Thank you! As much joy as I've always gotten from listening to vinnie moore, Tony macalpine, Steve Morse etc. During those years though sometimes I'd get bummed because I used to be able play some of their stuff. Today, Pepsi lick, main lick in tumeni notes up to studio speed! as well as a few other yngwie style licks. I still have to do things to accommodate the carpal tunnel. I have to keep my guitar high as to keep my hand straight, which also affected my picking hand. I can't stretch the way I used to, I'm also prone to easily straining my tendons and tendinitis.

[@ellman10]

Troy, your contribution to guitar is immeasurable. Thank you!

[@pc_principal1912]

Yoooo i beeen playing for 3 years and thanks to this guy i was able to learn all by my self no need to pay when you got guys like you

[@thereallbking]

Definitely one of the best teachers on youtube. My picking has improved so much after your lessons!

[@troygrady]

Thanks man!

[@ScottyBrockway]

This is the best resource in the world for picking technique. Thank you Troy. I recommended it to my friends, students, and anyone else who asks for information on improving their technique.

[@SlowerIsFaster139]

One thing that really helped me was watching micheal angelo batio play. He anchors his fingers on the pickguard and use his whole arm to move the pick.

[@troygrady]

Mike is the best. And yes his motion is a bit of a mystery! It can look like elbow motion at times, but also a "motorcycle throttle" type wrist motion at other times, and finger motion at still other times. I think he has multiple techniques and switches between them. The finger motion seemed to be more prominent in his early instructional videos, even for fast playing.

[@Echinder]

You just unlocked a new tier in my picking with this video. I had hit a literal wall and you helped me smash right through it... Now I have a new problem, my left hand can no longer keep up with the new speed. Time to retrain my hands to sync up

[@troygrady]

Good problem to have! That's the next level. Chunking is the answer. Try repeating patterns that start on downstrokes, and only focus on the downstroke while ignoring the other notes. If the downstroke is locked, the rest will lock up.

[@douglasnisbet1189]

The problem for so many guitarists is that so many teachers suck. They simply don't know/can't do the techniques themselves. They just say "find what works and practise", but that doesn't help at all if you develop bad technique at the start.

[@troygrady]

Yeah that advice has a kernel of truth. As you can see here, we didn’t tell this player what technique to use. We just said ‘go fast’. The problem is when the teacher doesn’t recognize that you’re doing it wrong in the first place. You can put years into something like stringhopping, and it will never change. That’s not the “way that works for you”. That’s just making bad technique permanent.

[@toddwilliams8128]

My issue for my first four teachers was that they wanted to teach me WHAT to play as opposed to HOW to play. The fifth teacher had very similar musical tastes and fine-tuned some of my picking techniques which opened up everything else for me.

[@dougpage1132]

FINALLY, FINALLY SOMEONE WHO EXPLAINS PICKING WELL.. THANK YOU

[@TruthSurge]

Can ya get Matteo Mancuso in for an up-close analysis of his picking hand?

[@JimmyBags69]

What pick? 😂

[@saxwiz]

Sarge you're here!

[@daoyang223]

So many guys on here I wanna see. I wonder if he'll ever get guys like Guthrie Govan on here.

[@jasonsheppard7428]

Best picking lessons on KZbin. You’ve definitely helped me push past a personal plateau. Thanks!

[@ozzlayer]

How did you know i was looking for this? Just posted it right on time

[@dodecafono]

Same here, I’m stuck in a riff and suddenly this video appeared... Damn, sometimes internet scares me the shit out of me

[@zedd440]

This is the technical jargon I've been missing all my life. Thank you!!

[@electroKrunch]

When I switched to a jazz style pick & loosened my grip on the pick, I found freedom with my picking hand... My thinnest pick is now like 1.3mm, I generally lean towards a 2.0mm

[@hammincheese1310]

I have been looking for this exact video my entire life. Subscribed.

[@aadityakiran_s]

When I started out, I was playing like this but within a few days I could play pretty fluid. My problem is left and right hand synchronization. That is the real thing that makes you play fast, at least for me.

[@robt5108]

These videos are gold!!! They can save you years of bad playing.

[@troygrady]

That's the hope!

[@rafnaj1]

I wish that I had found your videos faster, Troy. I used to play exactly like the individual in the video, with tension in the forearm which eventually translated to tension and pain in the shoulder.

[@troygrady]

Stringhopping is super common! No shame in that. As long as you can break the habit eventually.

[@josecolindres2823]

This Is the most clear way yo Speed, this lesson Is a treasure!!!

[@HunterBann]

Your videos are always amazing buddy, your insights to guitar technique are fascinating!

[@troygrady]

Thanks man!

[@umyes5246]

To quote a famous song... You're simply the best

[@bryanchan420]

Hey Troy my man, I am loving your guitar! Every time i see it, I want it even more! Looks like a 22.2 scale length too, it must be good for smaller hand for faster playing because less finger stretching, am I right about it? Thanks team troy!

[@troygrady]

Correct! It's a 22.5". But it's not really the scale length, it's the body size and also the reach. The headstock is much closer so I don't feel like I'm making a transatlantic call to play an open D chord.

[@bryanchan420]

@@troygrady thank you Troy for replying! I learn a lot from your videos it helps a lot for my speed picking! I am 5′ 6.9″ left handed, i always want a smaller more ergonomic guitar, yes you are right about it all, the reach and body size is so very important factor too for ease of playing. Which of the two guitar shape do you prefer the duo sonic or the mustang? Thanks a lot man, you are the best guitar teacher ever, thanks a lot!!

[@therealandrecorbin4050]

I've always struggled with gaining and keeping, picking improvement, even though I practiced more than anyone. Your videos helped me understand some of the things I needed to change. I am recovering, and getting better. Thank you.

[@breidbee]

Hey Troy! I love the amount of effort you put into these videos. I have to ask- have you ever considered doing a close look at different fingerpicking techniques? I'm having a hard time keeping consistent time with finger style acoustic guitar while standing up... sitting down seems to be fine

[@troygrady]

We haven't, because we're not done creating all the teaching material we need for the picking stuff. It's one thing to know how things work, and it's another to figure out ways of teaching it that regular people can use, ways of testing when it's working, and so on. We still have a lot left to do on those fronts.

[@breidbee]

@@troygrady that makes sense! Thank you for replying

[@Geetarhed]

Troy - Number one guitar physics instructor

[@GuilhermeS990]

Ainda tem gente q da dislike num video desses.. o grande craqueador da musica dando uma mega aula

[@benearhart1224]

@Troy Grady so I'm just discovering that this applies to me. For me, it feels like the difference between a wrist based motion and an elbow/shoulder based motion. Some additional flexing of the pecs and shoulder stabilizes my forearm against the guitar so that my elbow can be use with a straight wrist. Te bicep and tricep become the two alternating muscles doing most of the work. I think that starting with heavy metal guitar tends to lead you into stringhopping naturally because the palm muting also encourages wrist anchored motion.

[@RohannvanRensburg]

You guys are one of the few channels where I hit "like" before I watch the video. It's not just the incredibly useful and groundbreaking teaching you've come up with, it's the presentation that makes me feel like I'm rediscovering the guitar again at a euphorically enthusiastic age 12. It's interesting (and obvious) how this approach to skill adaptation applies to competitive pistol shooting and other complex movements as well. The idea that you practice extremely slow and slowly work your way up is just not that efficient and given how many musicians don't actually declaratively know what they're doing, it's weird that this idea perpetuates.

[@troygrady]

It is amazing that certain common wisdom persists seemingly in the absence of evidence that it works. Some kind of selection bias, I guess? i.e. I worked hard with a metronome, and I am now a guitar teacher, therefore it must be the way. If you don't actually test these things, you sometimes don't really know why you got the results you did -- only that you did.

[@RohannvanRensburg]

@@troygrady Absolutely. You see this in shooting sports all the time, especially pistol. There are "combat" instructors that will drill slow-fire "fundamentals" all day long -- slow trigger squeeze, slow trigger reset, all focus on the front sight, etc. This may work fine for slow bullseye shooting but it doesn't translate to fast shooting, and the instructors that understand this teach the opposite -- learn to jerk the trigger without moving the pistol, learn natural alignment in such a way that you don't have to use your sights (some teachers start their students without sights), learn the difference between acceptable accuracy and useless precision, etc. I do, for the record, completely agree with your approach re: reverse engineering fast picking mechanics. Practicing those slowly (briefly) to learn the motion and understand it helped me a great deal, but that's a matter of skill acquisition, not applying slow technique in a high-speed context.

[@paulsav40]

These lessons are long winded yes - but I can 100% guarantee that they work!!

[@francheska404]

so this is great on a single string but what happens if you want to try alternate picking arpeggios? ( one note per string or something like that) and i mean quick for instance 120 bpm? you cant go with this technique you will hit the other strings how would you do this?

[@FloydManFloyd]

Exactly...

[@madden7732]

Then go for the bouncing technique.

[@nickcharles6530]

Or...economy picking/sweeping. That's a better solution in my opinion.

[@madden7732]

@@nickcharles6530 yeah, I'd also go for it, but I think the guy wants to alt pick no matter what

[@francheska404]

@@madden7732 you dont have to make it bizzare " no matter what" i was mrtlry asking because i had a specific piece in mind Steve Vais Eugenes Trick Bag the arpeggio section was alt picked by him

[@normanknier2219]

A wise man once said "Every guitar player should learn mandolin." You just described why I can't do that on mandolin and once I got it on there, it hopped over to the guitar. Thanks!

[@richardjewett7702]

Troy.....WHAT are those pickups??

[@MarkitoMagic]

Wow, the YT algorithm has strangely met me in the rut that I'm in with my playing with a rope to get out of it. I'm working on a REALLY fast solo from Mark Tremonti and I can't match the speed because I'm out here bouncing like a rabbit with my picking 😭 I'm going to try this out and honestly, Troy might have just gotten himself a new customer. Thanks for the INCREDIBLY helpful content!

[@bradthree3962]

I’ve always noticed in your picking that you always have a lot of pick sticking out. Is this something you’ve ever considered? I’ve always heard that it’s more efficient to have only a tiny bit of the pick sticking out but I see a lot of players that don’t do this, including myself. Thoughts on this??

[@kungfuman82]

Obviously I'm not Troy, but I've noticed this myself and have recently changed over to having more pick out. When I held my pick close to the picking edge, my knuckles would scrape the strings. I choked back a little and though I have more pick sticking out, I'm still only using the tip to play. I assume this has to do with individual anatomy, hence the differences we're observing.

[@marcorogani3977]

Seeing this video, a world opened up for me because I didn't realize the V I was making with the pick, I saw he did like the guy in the video you said was better, I did that and it eliminated the unwanted V problem for me. Then, since I am learning fast horizontal scales like Malmsteen, swept pick, I tilt in a pick in a slightly different way because otherwise this happens: I do an arpeggio and the notes whistle at me, I play a scale in horizontal and I realize that the notes do not they sound like I expect. Anyway, thank you again for the video.

[@leofunks31]

Okay so...how do you implement the improved technique?

[@TommoGuitar]

In this case the "improved technique" happens to be upstroke escape. So the player should experiment with a variety of licks that only change strings after upstrokes. For example, anything with an even number of notes per string, starting on a downstrokes, would work. Examples include the Yngwie 6-note pattern or the chromatic 1-2-3-4 exercise.

[@Nathankthanks]

Just to add to Tommaso's answer (in case it wasn't obvious) upstroke escape isn't the _only_ answer. Downstroke escape, or "double escape" motions are also possible. I'd suggest: 1. practice on one string. You'll be able to find a picking motion that is "true alternate picking" here, because the challenge of changing strings is usually what introduces "string hopping", or the re-use of a muscle for both upstrokes and downstrokes. 2. - practice "upstroke escape lines" (for example, play a 2 note per string scale, e.g pentatonic, starting on a down-stroke, so that string changes use an up-stroke.) - practice "downstroke escape lines" (for example, pentatonics starting on an up-stroke) - practice "double escape lines" (3 note per string scales) When practicing each of these things, don't be afraid to introduce some randomness. You're trying to "mash all the buttons" on your controller. Your body is going to find economy of motion through repetition. Randomness helps you explore the terrain of possible techniques more efficiently. If you feel like one of these motions is _really_ working, you could center your whole technique around it by using legato to force the string changes you like.

[@Nathankthanks]

@Bastian Lervik yeah, to be honest, a double escape motion is kind of the holy grail. I've been playing for 15 years, and following troy for a long time, and I don't really have one that works. Don't give up, but also don't feel like you have to pick every note. Life is too short for this shit. :) edit: also, if you are making progress with DSX and USX, you could try to incorporate legato to make string changes consistent in your lines. _Many_ world famous players do this, and don't have a double escape technique.

[@Nathankthanks]

@Bastian Lervik Absolutely man! just don't let it stand between you and being a musician :) that's the main thing

[@JohnDoe-jc3cl]

Troy Grady Thank you Troy for sharing your observations and in-depth teaching.

[@leftadrift3920]

Awesome troy! Quick question ❓ what kind of pick ups are those ?

[@troygrady]

Zexcoil!

[@gmel1084]

@@troygrady are those just humbuckery zexcoils with the pickup covers removed???

[@jocheolhun]

Thanks bro, I was really inspired by ur all videos. That's the real cracking the code.

[@troygrady]

Right on!

[@jeffreyklaproth7794]

This doesn’t happen often, but occasionally there’s a KZbin channel that is so great, it deserves much more subscribers than it has, and without question I think we can all agree, Troy Gradys channel is one of those channels. Troy has offered unique information that you can’t find anywhere else. Lets get Troy who has contributed such great information to our intimate guitar shred community by doing a minimal effort by telling your friend your band or even grandma if she’s into shred guitar :) and getting Troy up to his 1 million deserved subs. Occasionally when I hear somebody make a suggestion like this, I usually don’t do anything about it, but if you’ve been learning from his great videos, I think you would agree it’s worth the minimal effort. Troy you’re probably too humble to do the following, but please pin this message so it goes to the top. Thank you!

[@ruoiealpaeiout2103]

The simple thing about solving the p

[@m3m3sis]

your channel has changed the way ithink of guitar. i love you

[@troygrady]

Do you have a super low maximum picking speed limit? No you don't!

[@ozzlayer]

I feel like I owe money for all the content you post.

[@kidpoker007]

I’m not but what ever I do my picking sucks

[@mikesmit9770]

I used to have a low picking speed. Until I found you with the amazing ‘cracking the code’ series. I actually had to unlearn all the bad picking habits I used for 10 years. But now, a year later I can actually shred and I also felt that feeling you normally only have when you just start learning guitar. That amazing feeling of big progress! Thank you Troy for your amazing content!

[@kidpoker007]

@@mikesmit9770 did you join the site?

[@troygrady]

@@mikesmit9770 Awesome! We like that big progress feeling. I aim to have that as often as possible.

[@danielm6507]

Great stuff, happy to catch this early on in my progress. And woah, Glen Campbell was truly spectacular. Thanks for including that.

[@kruse8888]

NOTHING beats a personal teacher. Getting it right from the get go saves you years of struggle trying to unlearn bad habits.

[@felity1773]

you're right, I'm wondering how many of these "omg this video helped me so much!" comments are from people that are only self-taught

[@ShredMentor]

At least as long as the teacher you go to has built up their speed enough to know this well enough to teach it. It's not a given though, just by going "in person."

[@kruse8888]

@@ShredMentor Any good teacher can play fast. Once you have the proper technique down, all it takes is practice.

[@CarloRegadasGuitar]

It's so eye-opening, how such simple mechanics differ from player to player. The fulcrum at the wrist, with the hand anchored, seems to be the most common, although there are so many variations; from Marty Friedman to EVH to Al Di Meola etc. Fascinating stuff and great playing as always, Troy. 👍🏼🎸

[@troygrady]

Yes, wrist motion is one of the most common, if not the most common joint motion. But wrist is also used in combination with joints like the forearm and the elbow, i.e. at the same time in compound motions. In that respect yes, it is probably the most commonly used joint in picking technique.

[@danielnagy5721]

Since we moved into our house, I've been planning a wall, where I'd put the picture of people who had a great influence on my thinking. Mainly scientist, computer scientist, musicians. Once I'll create this wall, you'll be on one of the pictures. I'm serious. :)

[@troygrady]

Not worthy!!!

[@JohnOhkumaThiel]

The best instructor of anything can show you how to do it right as well as how you’re doing it wrong. Thank you so much, Shifu. MORE!!

[@doblet664]

Have you contacted Matteo Mancuso? I believe he's one of the most important guitarists alive. He has flawless technique

[@cardsjoker9239]

there must be another Troy for fingerpicking perfection.

[@kft590]

Down, up, down, down, up, down. Picking 3 notes per string is a somewhat easy way to build up speed also limiting wasted motion in your up down stroke. Eddie VanHalen was somewhat sloppy with his pick having wasted motion but he had such incredible speed that it didn't matter. I am still trying to improve but learning efficiency picking limited pick slop and playing down, up, down, down, up, down 3 notes per string made a big difference in my playing speed.

[@grqfes]

i feel like i learned a big nothingburger like what do you want me to do now? trial and error just like the other guy? and after his updated technique you show off yours which is even better like just teach me that right there how do i do that

[@dostwood5103]

Yeah seriously. What's the fucking point of this video? I don't know what he's trying to prove.

[@64siskat96]

trial and error is the way to find your most efficient picking technique (for now). Watch his other videos and try to be a little thankfull and thoughtfull. You want troy to come to your house and move your hand for you? If you can't figure stuff like that out by yourself playing guitar is not for you.

[@dostwood5103]

@@64siskat96 Or we can just watch other tutorial videos. I can't stand this guy's videos because he takes way too long to get to the point. I've been playing for a year now and I've been able to develop a good picking technique, but not thanks to Troy in the slightest. There's a benefit to having tons of other guitar KZbinrs and hiring someone to teach me.

[@64siskat96]

@@dostwood5103 no one is as detailed as him everyone talks about pickslanting which is outdated. No one forces you to watch troys videos go ahead

[@StrokedTac]

Oh god.....After 20 years of wondering why I could never break through a certain BPM I saw this video and have my answer. It isn't a great feeling knowing that I now have to completely rebuild my right hand technique but is exciting to know that I might finally be able to smash through my previous speed ceiling. Back to the woodshed. In all seriousness, thank you Troy!

[@troygrady]

I feel your pain. I started with 6 years of not really getting anywhere. It builds character! If stringhopping is the issue, the good news is that it can be solved pretty quickly. The best thing to do is to start by testing your motions to get a sense of just how fast you can move when things are working smoothly. This way you know what to shoot for with a pick. Here's one of our free tests ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmezhnaKlrN0hdk ), we have more in the Primer on our site ( troygrady.com/primer/testing-your-motions/ ).

[@StrokedTac]

@@troygrady So after a week of trying to fix my picking hand, using your videos Troy, I am well on the path. Things have had to slow down but note clarity and overall cleanliness of my playing has already improved. I FINALLY am going to be able to play Paul Gilbert stuff with efficiency. The video that did it for me was your explanation of USX. Placing my wrist "watchband" area on the strings was the key. That alone locked in wrist movement only instead of the forearm wiggle I had going on to facilitate the "hopping." Also, I no longer anchor my pinkie on the body of guitar which has allowed two way pick slanting to be a much more subtle motion. Before, the anchored hand limited my ability to palm mute and two way pick slanting was very exaggerated. I cant say thank you enough for all the hours you've put into this research and the videos you've produced. Ok, thats enough ass kissing lol.

[@ElvisPereira-ex9dy]

Tremolo picking... Drummer enters the chat: i got this -blast beats wrist motion- Lol one of the percs of playing drums for 15+ years and now picking up the guitar ;)

[@troygrady]

Drums are great, and the issues in developing technique in terms of complex joint motion and somewhat undocumented motions used by greats (Buddy Rich's single-handed rolls come to mind) offer lots of parallels with the challenges involved in learning guitar technique.

[@QZ1879]

man i love this video, this is something i always imagine, ive been wondering since i always changing picking style that is the most efficient movement, i was once a string hopper too. man i love this channel. thx troy. very deep information and scientific too, love it. you rock!!

[@hgservices5572]

An hour after explaining how not to pick …. Ugg

[@reynoldjustforfun6347]

Watching your channel .. it's like playing RPG game which in it a guitarist is like a wizard and you have to choose either to have a fire element or an ice element. You can have both but you will be a jack of all trades.

[@ubershredder1989]

Troy has an amazing fitness channel too: search "5 of the best dumbbell leg exercises you can do at home"

[@preston2636]

Eric Johnson was economy picking when you said he was alternate picking. Its an important detail for people who haven't learned more advanced guitar. I think economy picking would of been an perfect and if anything a must have in this video. At the same time I really really enjoyed this. Could you tell me how I find out my max speed for 16th notes clean

[@dostwood5103]

I'm sorry, but what's the point of this video? You didn't really teach anything at all. You just explained a common issue people struggle with but you didn't even explain how to overcome it. This video was just one big nothingburger.

[@magnuslang8147]

This is fantastic information about different picking techniques and well described the problems with the stringhopping technique and the advantage with pickslanting! The were no such info back in the 80`s when I started to play guitar...and when I picked up the electric guitar again a few years ago after 10 years of playing acoustic fingerstyle I find this info...thanx a lot! music is life!

[@serroche]

James Hetfield has left the chat

[@troygrady]

James is awesome, please come back to the chat!

[@OurTrio]

Another goldmine from you sir...i always feel special when I hear from you sir.

[@stonehouseguitars3869]

Is it just me or did he do this long ass video and not show us the right way to do it? Only the wrong way over and over.?

[@natgrant1364]

Repeats the same thing but re-worded and drags out explanations longer than they need to be. No, it's not just you.

[@Sandylaner63]

He actually does a full series of vids entitled “ cracking the code “ …this lot was recommended by Ben Eller a brilliant guitarist and teacher , so there must be some good content in there .., again long winded if you’re only looking for a quick tutorial , but he does get round to giving some great tips . I have watched them all myself , so would recommend you spend some time catching them over a period of time ..

[@bobvel7760]

Waste of time..

[@shaanrana3075]

they have separate videos on how to pick😭 it’s different between each person anyways so you need to find your own

[@Vaughinski]

I started muting all the strings with my left hand except for the one note you want to play and strum the whole dang thing

[@a_handshake_of_carbon_monoxide]

this opened up numerous possibilities to me and helped me change my approach. thanks 🔥

[@guitarbuddha74]

Something maybe silly to most or maybe just helped me was watching your videos I noticed you kept your thumb locked or at least mostly not flexed and that helped me a ton to be cleaner. The string hopping I didn't do as much but that did help a lot too. I'm still working on it though like most things. Thanks for these videos.

[@guitarbuddha74]

Just to clarify more I mean I bent my thumb and it moved around while I was playing a good bit.

[@troygrady]

That is true, I tend to prefer a straight thumb, mainly so that I have some room to flex it if I want, to get more edge picking, or to hyperextend, to get less edge picking. In other words, options. However when it's straight it's not locked, it's just not moving. When you see fingers moving, they're usually not moving because of momentum or the speed of your hand, but mostly voluntary muscle motion, even if you don't think of it that way. In your case maybe changing your grip just made you more aware of the feel of the fingers, and that allowed you to stop moving them.

[@guitarbuddha74]

@@troygrady yep exactly locked was probably a bad choice of words it's more like you said. My thumb doesn't physically bend back like I see some players either. I think maybe changing the grip changed the angle too but I could be wrong.

[@KM-co5mx]

This was really cool! Thank you for such a clinical approach and analysis. I’ve never been able to pick fast without it sounding like slop. Now I know one of the reasons why 👍

[@loupgarou39]

I love your content. It’s really insightful stuff! I was a Cracking the Code member for a couple months awhile back. It’s greatly improved my sense of picking and problem solving for speed. This makes me wanna see what new content you have in store!

[@HudsonHalloween]

This was very helpful. Thank you. Hit the nail on the head

[@tim46387]

Very much appreciate what you do. Thanks for making me a better player.

[@smbuergler]

Hey man, excellent narration/video. Very professionally done.

[@auchustos]

So long trying to overcome this problem, very good video!

[@troygrady]

Keep us posted on how you make out!

[@toemasmeems]

I love this man, this is like 15 years worth of experience (for me) where it took me so long to learn this stuff... doh! XD

[@troygrady]

When I get the DeLorean, I'm going straight back to teenage me. We have a lot to discuss!

[@quintinpace2627]

I'm super hype about getting a magnet so I can see what I'm doing. Cracking the code op. Watch the adds for the revenue fam. They deserve it. When I'm rich on GME I'll get the primer. 🖐💎

[@hiroprotagonitis]

TO THE MOON 🚀🚀

[@denalkristian2977]

Thanks so much troy..u help me alot with your education picking videos