Martin Miller on Alternate Picking Anything

THE MAGNET CAMERA MOUNT IS NOW ON KICKSTARTER! Film your own playing just like we did with Martin! www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
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The amazing Martin Miller can alternate pick anything, right? So it's surprising when we take a picking pattern that Martin plays very well and render it temporarily unplayable just by changing the *fretting*. And this reveals a core truth of expert-level picking technique: picking and fretting motions are memorized together. What looks like a continuous motion in the picking hand is actually more like a sequence of flipbook images of both hands operating simultaneously. Change one of them, and they can sometimes both stop working - at least for the moment. Watch the complete Martin Miller mechanics workshop here! troygrady.com/interviews/marti...

[@espjoshua]

The fact that he was vulnerable enough to try something on camera that he didn't necessarily "have down" yet, and work through it in front of everyone is incredibly impressive to me.

[@troygrady]

Martin is the best!

[@bassheadjazz2708]

Guitarists afraid to be vulnerable keeps the instrument in the box that was established in the 80s, where technique and speed created this idiom of sweeps and pentatonic 3 note per string runs that EVERYONE does to excess. Thats what i like about your comment on Martin, and what Troy is doing for guitar. In a way, by revealing how mechanical and repetitive alot of this stuff is, people create more unique and fresh ways of combining notes that are outside the vocabulary of your average metal shred/fusion player when its established as a "beginners guide" to speed and runs. Now we all know where this vocabulary comes from , and how played out and trite it is.

[@kennydunk]

True

[@fugginchuggin5604]

@@troygrady damn right! this is probaly the coolest thing.

[@Pughhead]

"vulnerable" lmao this isn't therapy, he's just playing guitar

[@cryptoskywalker1714]

This is something I've wondered how many people struggle with. It sounds like everyone does. It's one of the reasons I think guitar is one of the most difficult instruments. You can be amazingly great at one aspect of guitar, and still suck at something you're not familiar with. Once you're good at guitar, you learn things you're not used to playing much quicker, but you still have to learn it, and then it's not like riding a bike. You can't just learn something, and then not play it for years, and then suddenly access it at will. It's a never ending journey working on your guitar skills.

[@rainofficial1924]

First learned alternate, then sucked at rapid downstrokes, then sweep, then tremolo, then some shredding patterns, then some handpicking styles, then this. I think about what will be next. Btw did anybody noticed he sometimes used alternate picking combined with middle finger finger. What the hell?!

[@gusreece4713]

@@rainofficial1924 Hybrid Picking

[@meadish]

@@rainofficial1924 Practice funk to mastery level and then merge it with your other techniques. Get that groove that most shredders lack, and the reason why their audience is always predominantly male. Chicks wanna dance. Learn how to move people's butts, and then you can sneak in your virtuosity runs while still making some money and not only generating the interest of other shredders. Just my two cents, naturally, in the end, we should all do what makes us happy.

[@ikbendusan]

@@meadish > implying chicks want to listen to anything but reggaeton

[@RudyAyoub]

I love these videos so much. Martin is a god

[@zokalyx]

oh my god look guys who's here lol

[@juny5563]

The Sheet Music's guy

[@RudyAyoub]

lol

[@freddiemercury4552]

There you are

[@iganpparamarta8813]

But you play Glass Prison faster than him (and Petrucci)

[@MrMetalhorse]

Watching this makes me feel better about my skills with alternate picking. Watching someone in the level of Martin still have a bit of trouble with this is really inspiring. And you're right Troy, the guitar wasn't built for this kind of insanity. Haha.

[@interestingthings8598]

Mr. Metalhorse and knowing that Yngwie can’t pure alternate pick at all

[@MrMetalhorse]

@@interestingthings8598 sounds so crazy when you say it like that.

[@troygrady]

Lots of examples of pure alternate picking in Yngwie's work, like the big scale run from the "Trilogy" intro. Any time you're doing even numbers of notes per string that move across the strings in one direction, there is no way to sweep/economize that, and Yngwie will alt pick it.

[@interestingthings8598]

Troy Grady hi Troy; yes, I meant 3 notes per string and crossing strings at the same time, something like Batio, that is what I meant by “pure”, maybe I should have said purely; anyway I’m getting better and better without even consistent practice, all thanks to you!!

[@troygrady]

Well, if you use a 3nps fingering but you double up the notes on each string, now you're playing sixes like DiMeola, and you need pure alternate for that because again you can't sweep an even number in a continuous direction. Sweep / economy is great for a straight scale, but the minute you want to play something more interesting, now you need to know how to mix and match alternate and sweep. Options!

[@DavidDiMuzio]

One of my favorite musicians in the world. A master of the guitar.

[@SharpEdgeStandardOfficial]

Troy, your channel is beyond valuable because you're always turning other players on to new ideas AND players!! I love this guy's playing and his sound is just amazing! You're awesome Troy! Keep it up and Thank You!!

[@bobchurunkle9921]

Stunning and inspiring, i struggled with picking for most of the 42 years ive practiced for so been a legato player mostly but watching Martin Miller and other top players is really good for my beginner picking technique, thanks Troy again, hooked to your interviews and the dissection and explanation of what ive been overlooking for all these years, 👍🎸🎸🎸

[@KRayxKodessA]

Martin is ridiculously good.

[@stringbenderbb]

Did it. Not as clean as Martin and took me 20 min (with breaks) to dial in. But did it. I am 43 by the way and got most of my right hand technique from cracking the quote. Meaning built it up in the last years. IT IS NOT AN AGE THING! Thanks Troy!!!

[@mattgilbert7347]

Yeah but how long have you been playing?

[@stringbenderbb]

@@mattgilbert7347 27 years.

[@georgegordon8859]

Hey, out of interest, when you say "built it up in the last years" how many years are we talking about (roughly)? Cheers.

[@noobynoobytv4508]

@@georgegordon8859 Stringbender here writing from the pc of my son...but it is me. Generally i would say 2 years, but some techniques are harder to mantain (Alternate Picking), some easier (swybrid)I. Also started learning the bass pizicato rest/stroke technique… the same time....also took two years for being able to play something like Jaco Pastorius Kuru. But it is far easier to keep the chops than with Alternate Picking...Maybe because the fingers move in a more natural way. Even monster pickers like Ewan Dobson say About Alternate picking: The last to come, the first to go

[@faustoorieta]

dmn right it's not, everyone can learn it.

[@fromthethicket4370]

Crazy to see such an amazing player have to work on something seemingly simple. It really highlights the importance of hand mechanics and need to apply that knowledge strategically when writing licks and playing . I love this channel.

[@danielsantana5126]

I love Martin Miller's Ibanez Guitar. And I love his tone

[@chipperhippo]

Martin is so articulate, and such a great resource as far as online teaching. His videos are fantastic for developing actionable practice routines.

[@sonatedaquiTFM]

the first clean tone you play... it's one of the best I've heard dude, u nailed it

[@lordviewer7305]

You have gathered many awesome and diverse players already Troy. Your site is like no other. Keep it up.

[@Hassan_Omer]

This is the coolest and most authentic channel about learning the mechanics of guitar picking. More power to Troy Grady and I hope to see Brett Garsed on this channel too!

[@shredgd5]

This "picking mechanics" series of videos is purely fantastic, it will make history!

[@roba1899]

Martin Miller is an excellent player .. I truly hope Troy will be able to get Guthrie Govan at some point.

[@zackcoffmanguitar]

Rob A or Rick graham

[@bingefeller]

I don't think Guthrie is interested in this level of analysis of his technique.

[@TechMetalRules]

From all the footage I've seen, Guthrie seems to tend upward-slanting with two-way where needed. He also seems to do a bit of cross-picking when the speeds aren't blazing. Interestingly, I've got two instructional books written by Guthrie some time ago, with a section where he talks about arpeggiating chords using alternate picking. He doesn't get into the mechanics the way Troy does but it seems cross-picking is what he was getting at.

[@russellward4624]

Rob A dude!!! He’s got to make it happen!

[@axe2rock]

Yeah, guthrie and rick graham would be awesome!

[@imacashew.]

The further you go with technique in any discipline it becomes so fascinating

[@Gregorypeckory]

Great player, great channel. Thanks for all the great things you do for the guitar community, Troy, not to mention, the hard work developing your own playing, which is impressive as hell!

[@troygrady]

Thanks Greg!

[@erikceman5354]

Martin is a Monster

[@KSherwoodOps]

It’s crazy to me how fundamentally profound CTC’s categorizing and itemization of picking techniques is contrasted to how many people recognize it. Ive watched every video they’ve put out and they all pretty much negate every guitar how-to thats out there.

[@troygrady]

Thanks man! We're getting there... or trying!

[@valerienatesmolina9769]

Thanks Troy for this great interview!

[@roborob767]

Man.. what a great player. You gained another fan, Martin.

[@johnsmith-pw7oj]

holy shit, watching the great Martin struggle face pretty much hook me up instantly, this video is great, it reveals sooooo much

[@JoaoGasparGuitar]

Congrats Troy !! Best in analyzing and helping guitar players !

[@axe2rock]

Very nice video, really good insight on Martin's picking technique, kudos!

[@Free_Falastin2024]

Thanks for putting me on to Miller. What a phenomenal technique he has.

[@HHJoshHH]

Martin Miller is awesome! Mana is my favorite song! Great job Martin and Troy! Killin it guys!

[@royyan29]

always good to watch martin miller. really a big fan of this guy

[@victoza9232]

0:35 Introducing the new Industrial-strength Martin Miller Signature Big Ass® capo. No job is too tough for this bad boy. In music stores everywhere.

[@hartchillvibes]

Wow! Thanks for having him!

[@brownsfan7753]

fantastic playing!!

[@valerienatesmolina9769]

Thanks Martin for this great video!

[@israelcanova]

As always, I'm imensefully greatful for this video 🙏

[@NikolajChristensen]

This will be an interesting video. The string tracking is a somewhat overlooked aspect. Martin actually does it a lot than he thinks when doing the two string outside picking. Almost to the point where the tracking takes care of the full displacement of the center of the motion (so he is basically just tremolo picking one string).

[@martinrosschou]

Amazing channel, so good I even watched the end of it.

[@troygrady]

Thanks Martin!

[@HansAaraas]

Tremendous player. His playing is so clean.

[@waltzguy14151]

I really like this guy. Kudos for being ego-less enough to try something he doesn't know on camera. Nice playing too. Phenomenal touch on the instrument.

[@fociz]

Fantastic video. Thank you.

[@GusDrax]

Excellent! Really great right hand technique.

[@Strings-jg2to]

Beautiful. I love my AZ too.

[@paulyoung4781]

First time I've heard this man wow? Absolutely brilliant

[@Soloist1983]

I've been at this for 2 years now, since going through the entire Troy Grady thing. I haven't kept up on the latest developments in the last year, but I've taught myself 2-way pickslanting, which totally blew my mind, concept-wise. Just a few days ago, I've found that adding a rotational component to the actual pickstroke (keeping the same 2-way pickslanting mechanic) you glide through the strings even easier, it gives my picking a more circular feel to it, reminscent of a figure-8, rather than just an up/down type mechanic. I call this idea the "quadrature phase rotation" as it keeps the same 2-way pickslanting idea but rotates the entire mechanic such that the tip of the pick is approaching the string at an angle about 20-30 degrees clockwise with respect to the top of the guitar forward; studying RF/Physics waveforms, quadrature was taking the entire wave function and rotating it by approximately 45 (obviously my idea is less than 45 degrees, but it's the same basic idea. Man, this picking stuff is so complex, I envy the people that figured this out automatically in their youth. It's taken me until almost age 40 to finally get to the point where I can actually play some of John Petrucci's scarier solos, and I can honestly say that this pickslanting stuff is what got me there. Before finding your stuff, I was doing 4hrs a day with a metronome for almost 4yrs and got absolutely nowhere.

[@shaunmcinnis566]

This is why I believe learning as many sequences as possible is a key factor.

[@johnhendricks1998]

Awesome playing

[@rayberczik7251]

Whoa!! This guy is phenomenal !! Enough said.

[@edwardtalavera6449]

That would be great if you interviewed Anton Oparin. His alternate pucking is mesmerising.

[@hilaryhahn]

Love this video ...big thumb up and suscribe !!

[@nethbt]

Martin is simply one of the best all rounders today. Can play metal all the way to fingerstyle jazz. A true guitar god

[@AdvShooter]

de mis guitarristas favoritos Martin Miller... saludos desde Mexico

[@simonpsychosis2812]

The first 32 seconds of this video is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard.

[@anthem3560]

beautiful player

[@toneseeker87]

Truly an inspiration. 🙏

[@lancegould]

That guy is a beast. Killer tone too.

[@gabrieloalgo]

I´m saving money for your course. I´m struggling to not spend that on another pedal... Killer videos!

[@Moodymongul]

Martin keeps playing the intro to Steve Morse's Tumeni notes! T'is a good picking primer ;)

[@enigma-g5549]

Good stuff!

[@woobi4739]

great video

[@user-er3zw8ti9c]

Amazing!

[@frankiethewolf7712]

Thank you!

[@marclevac412]

Very nice technic a real guitar player bravo

[@AaronBowley]

not only is his playing fantastic, the tone is as well!!!

[@silviomp]

Awesome!!

[@kravvall4869]

Finally someone talking about this, who is really good. Was wondering if "good" players can just pump out different Rhythm that they haven't learned in exactly that way.

[@tonyflorez703]

Man martin is a real beast !!

[@flamen89]

martin miller is the absolute man!

[@gw2031]

I love this guy , technique for days but he plays real music,beautiful songs, screaming solos and never forgets the most important lesson,,its all to entertain !

[@Arnytet1]

Amazing

[@agamhamzah2924]

Very interesting 🍁

[@ScottMartinD]

Unusual choice of guitar for that style of music.

[@DeathBringer769]

I love how the title is "Alternate Picking Anything" but within the first few seconds of the video he's already using hybrid picking instead of jumping the pick down there with pure alternate, lol. Amazing video and amazing player though. Just was a funny thing to see that right away, haha ;)

[@bingefeller]

Martin is really awesome, his technique is spot on. BTW, when will the Joe Stump interview be up?

[@MsDavo123]

I immensfully enjoyed it

[@troygrady]

Ha - thanks for watching the the whole thing!

[@MsDavo123]

Troy i love your show and plus Martin Miller is a gigantic virtuoso hahaha and i got to know about him first time thanks to your channel!🤗You are doing smth very important i hope someone will continue your legacy

[@Ghaos]

Troy, please mass produce the Magnet.

[@meprobinson]

I get so much out of this series. Thanks!

[@telecasteroil]

Just realized he points his pointer finger like I do Alot of teachers said I should have tucked it in! I've realized that we all learn from wherever we are comfortable.

[@neuk01642]

Dear God! His hands are mesmeric!

[@izzate7]

I’m trying to work out this Stephen Taranto luck where this two string outside picking mechanic is prevalent. It’s so hard to get clean and fast like Martin and Stephen can.

[@Nedwin]

Martin is awesome!! If I may request, please get Andreas Oberg to analyze his picking technique.

[@songmule]

Studying IS enjoyment in my book.

[@sullyluther5519]

I have no idea why anyone would down vote this video. One of the best in the business is giving us tips. How is that bad?

[@michaelcraig9449]

Can you post up some tabs for this, as it is not easy stuff, thanks.

[@kennydunk]

Haha playing guitar is funny like that he says....hmm let me figure this out.....so true. So frustrating at times too haha. Great job love your content Troy picking is so important can make you sound great or sloppy.

[@patrickfouhy9102]

"alternate pick anything" video starts with hybrid picking. haha. :p

[@troygrady]

Touché!

[@patrickfouhy9102]

Troy Grady fantastic video though, as usual. Love your stuff. You’re videos have helped me break through a lot barriers in my technique.

[@apocalypse299]

Finally I see someone else using a stubby picks. Was always afraid they'll stop production if no one well known uses them!!

[@ItsMe-qq4lg]

Michael Angelo's speed picking is insane

[@1kroz1]

Can you do interview with Julian Lage?

[@ericquevedo8055]

Where do I get one of those fretboard phone holders?

[@Utubesuxmycock]

beautiful Ibanez dat yellow

[@Sandemose]

I would love to see a jazz guitarist like Lage Lund (his right hand technuiqe is fantastic) in a video like this.

[@paulvinova]

@ 07:52 oooft, that sounded nice.

[@aleekazmi]

tumeni notes from steve morse. its somewhere in the first 1:00 of that song

[@chrischoir3594]

thanks, what guitar does he play?

[@LUckybones25]

What a monster!

[@troygrady]

Martin is the best!

[@TomatePasFraiche]

One thing that blew my mind about my own technique: I felt I was an even slower than other beginners at first and put that on the fact I'm a lefty that learned right away as a right handed (my parents asked my in order to buy my first guitar cause they were way cheaper) and I had an "open hand" picking technique not so far from what Martin does. Eventually I found I didn't have enough "tension" to go fast (that was wrong) and after a couple years I forced myself to learn picking with a closed fist and while I gained speed I always had to work extra for accuracy I thought. When I saw this video when it came out I saw Martin would reach speed without issues with his open hand and so I decided to try again and it turns out my brain has an easier time focusing on index and thumb movement when they are not as tightly squeezed and when my other fingers are out of the way, this instantly made my string skipping faster and more accurate and years later it made everything better. Thanks Troy for exposing all of that technical goodness to us for free!

[@abhishekvoodoo]

Can a six string 1nps typical sweep pattern also be done using this technique?

[@CarlosCepinha]

wow there are several bits where he plays the changes to the standard "my funny valentine", nice chromatic enclosures, etc... hints Misty at 10m. We need Wes Montgomery thumb tecnique :P that would be pure madness.

[@guitarfever898]

What should I say about his picking speed a woodpecker pecking a tree or a hummingbird flapping it's wings....a great guitarist who has mastered the legendary alternative picking😎😎

[@guitarkirby]

What song is at the very beginning of this?

[@cmd3668]

What is he using to record his hand??

[@tman6495]

So there seems to be tons of topics on Alternate picking, pick slanting etc. But has anyone done a vid coordinating the fingering hand with all this pick hand knowledge. There I would think a formula to put both hands together to allow it to flow smoothly. Unless it's my chording/fingering hand that's lagging in speed!....lol