See what other players are working on and learning.
Starting this with my usual standing posture since as it turns out I DO anchor differently standing than seating and this seems a lot cleaner than last night’s effort, though still far from perfect. Thanks all in advance!
Drew
I’m looking for feedback on my picking motion, mainly from a pain-prevention standpoint. I’ve been dealing with pain on the ulnar side of my picking hand — the pinky side of the hand, around the 5th metacarpal / “boxer’s fracture” area. The pain tends to flare up after a few minutes of picking exercises. I saw a hand specialist and had an X-ray. The doctor did not see any major red flags or bone issue. He thought it may be related to old scar tissue from a previous break being irritated by certain movements. He said I probably won’t do damage by playing, but recommended occupational therapy and possibly further imaging later if the pain persists. The pain mostly went away when I stopped playing guitar for about two weeks, but it has started to come back slowly now that I’ve resumed playing. The motion that seemed to set it off was a slightly outward-rotated picking motion, almost like turning a doorknob away from the body of the guitar. That motion felt faster and more efficient at first, but after a few minutes of exercises it seemed to irritate the pinky-side area of my picking hand. I’ve completed the Pickslanting Primer and uploaded a few clips. I included three licks from the Primer, plus a short solo clip to show how I naturally pick when I’m not thinking too much about mechanics. I can alternate pick around 175 bpm, but I’m not trying to become a shredder. My main goal is to find a reliable primary motion that lets me play country / chicken-pickin’ type lines, light rhythm, and general lead parts without irritating my hand. What I’m hoping someone can help me with: Do you see anything in my motion that could be contributing to ulnar-side hand pain? Am I using too much wrist rotation, deviation, finger motion, anchoring, or pick grip tension? Which motion family does my playing seem closest to? What primary motion would you suggest I try instead? Are there any obvious setup changes I should test, such as pick grip, edge picking, wrist position, arm position, or pick depth? How would you recommend I rebuild this without flaring the pain back up? I’m mainly looking for a second opinion on whether my current motion looks mechanically stressful, and what lower-stress alternatives I should try.
MichaelTapp
At certain mid tempos my shoulder gets tired and the sync becomes tricky I usually get around this using hybrid picking but want to fix it
Linkccr23
Hi, this is my go to movement for picking. here you can see me down picking. I can't go faster than 180 after 15 years of playing and I have been focusing on that the last months with great frustration. Anything I can do better? BR Miguel
Hi, I paused my subscription back in April this year and just renewed it. I haven't practiced my picking motion for months and would like to resume by submitting a technique critique first. I was practicing DSX before, but recently found performing USX is easier. I recorded myself playing tremolo with USX at my current top maximum speed. I would like to know if my current technique looks okay or if there is anything I need to adjust. Thanks!
I have 2 very different picking styles. One i palm mute (reverse dart and wrist) and can play chugs and down pick well. In it, I can't gallop real well and I certainly can't play fast lead. The other I thumb mute (forward dart and elbow morton) and can speed up pretty well for lead lines but I can't chug or down pick well. My thumb plant falls off the bridge and I lose all control. I would love help trying to find a way that I can do both with one hand position.
Dear Cracking The Code Team, I have been struggling with licks that use open string for a long time now. At the Moment I am trying to learn System of a Down's BYOB. Here I am strugglin the most with getting the intro bit up to tempo while maintining hand synchronization. The sequence is: (7000 0000 7008 0070) x3 + (7008 0070 7008 0070 ) x3 I have attached a videosof me playing the intro to that song. I watched all of the Synchronicity Course already, but with this problem it doesn't seem to help much, because I cant use the "legato only" approach for getting my left hand in regular time idependently of my right hand. I already recorded my playing in my DAW and think on main problema occurs with the "800" bit, because i lift my middle finger too slow and therefore swallow the 00 after the 8 and the main problem occurs with the "7070" bit. Those tend to be the most sloppy. However I have not figured out a way to improve on this. Right now I am using John Taylors Metronome Method where I start at 60 bpms every day and increment by 5 bpm as long as I play it cleanly. However with this approach I always max out at around 135/140 bpm. If I use the "fuck it approach", and just hammer through the 16th notes with my right hand and accept some left hand mistakes, I sometimes manage to sort of get 150 bpm like in the video. But overall definitely not good enough to play the whole song without major fuckups :D. Would appreaciate your feedback a lot! Cheers I would love to know how to work on these kind of riffs, because Im working on this song for over a month now and still cannot remotely play it reliably on the original tempo of 165 bpm.
Hey all - Thanks to previous TCs, my mixed escape/two-way pickslanting is pretty decent. I was recently very inspired by the interview with Dimitri Miles Baker and wanted to work on phrases where you have to do multiple inside picking escapes. See Dimitri Escapes vid. my biggest problem is, once i hit that last note on the higher-pitched string, my wrist refuses to simply move left to hit the lower-pitched string without it feeling like big, conscious effort is involved. it’s like some invisible force is pushing back on it. and when i do hit that string, the pickstroke feels unnaturally short with delayed timing and that i have to get back to the higher-pitched string asap. and on the low e, forget about it, it’s like my wrist is pretending to hit the string and it feels v awkward. the rest of the lick feels easy. see “regular sixes” as this isn’t much of a problem with normal 3NPS scales. that “regular sixes” lick is much more natural though. just one escape in the middle of the beat. based on my review of the Synchronicity seminar, I’m wondering if there’s a chunking issue here, as the escape in the Miles-type lick is in a pretty random part of the sextuplet. this is at a measly 80bpm too! it’s not the tightest against the click because i feel like there’s a hiccup or glitch when moving left. like zoolander, i can’t turn (my wrist) left! what am i missing? thanks all! UPDATE: If I just play 10-9-7-9-7 on the high e and then 10 on the B, it’s super easy and i can play it cleanly quite fast. but if i know i have to go back to the high e, then hitting that 10 fret on the b string all of a sudden turns into the “can’t turn left” problem….
Bigsby007
This is really a follow on to the earlier technique critique at https://troygrady.com/dashboard/tc/495/ although that technique critique was closed before I had time to upload the requested videos. (So it may be worth referring to the old critique to see what has been done before, especially if a new instructor does this critique. It was possibly worth starting with a fresh critique, anyway, since there were a lot of picking related videos on the earlier part of that critique as well). So I have videoed the EVH-style and Di Meola-style tap tests for the longer time and without a metronome. Also, using a mouse wrist rest as discussed on the earlier technique critique. I've also uploaded a new video of the elbow tap test. (Videos of the other two motion tests are on the earlier technique critique; but for a relatively short duration and with a metronome.). Anyway, still trying to sort out my best motion as I was in the latter part of the earlier technique critique? Also, I have another question - is it useful to practise these motions much - apart from the occasional video to upload? I think it was suggested the motions are fairly basic to avoid some of the other complexities with picking and guitar playing, and are normally fairly easy for anybody. On the other hand, I think Troy suggested that he had found practising the forearm motion away from the guitar to be useful. (This feels fairly abstracted from actual guitar playing at this point which I would quite like to get back to.)
Hi, this is my first time trying a TC. This is a video of me attempting a 3 notes per string "riff", but the riff is just open strings, so this speed (or lack thereof) is all my right hand, left hand is not involved. I would like to know whether what I'm doing is stringhopping (likely, because I can't get much faster than this), or properly RDT DBX. I would also like confirmation on this: if I want to do this type of odd-numbered note-per-string riff, it would be with a double escape motion like RDT DBX correct? Watching the videos on RDT though, I'm really not sure how I should try to evolve from this stringhopping to RDT DBX, assuming what I'm doing is stringhopping.
Hi guys, Glad to have the opportunity to submit for my first technique critique! :) So this is a video of me performing my current - go to - USX technique. I'm not currently in by best shape, this would normally be more polished with better left hand - right hand synch, but i think it shows where i stand. In my good days when I'm practicing everyday and I'm well warmed up. I have been able to reach around 130 bpm of clean sextuplets with patterns like this , with a limit around 140 Bpm where it starts to break and require a lot of effort and tension to be achieved. But still after watching a bit of the primer i saw Troy saying that your main motion should feel effortless , shouldn't require a lot of warm up and it should feel a walk in the park. That's where it hit me. Cause i have never been like this. Yes a have been able to play a lot of the solos and fast passages i want to play, but it always requires a lot of warm up, days of practicing and if i stop for a while like 3-4 days of heavy practices i end up with the result in this video or worse. I haven't reached a point all my life where i can pick up the guitar and play to my best abilities easily. And that always bugged me. Now on to the video. In the beginning i play what i though was a forearm wrist motion of sextuplets without palm muting, and after that i try to put my palm on the strings to palm mute and the result as you will see is pretty bad. I send this video because there are things a have observed before and they make more sense now that i watched the primer. First of all i cant keep my palm on the bridge with ease and i cant have that nice aggressive palm muting ascending scale sound, that i REALLY LIKE BTW, with a technique that is supposed to offer that. My palm has to be on the air when i play and the fastest i go the more lift off i notice, that is doubled when i descend . When i descend i cant find a way to keep my palm down at all cause then i cant move to the next string, the hand feels stuck. When i try to keep my palm on top of the strings, I cant find a constant motion and if i do it feels awkward and very tense to the point of pain sometimes. Also i see that i cant always start accurately playing on the 1st string unless my point of contact is the 2nd extended finger on the body of the guitar, you will see in the video i started in the first string and i messed up the first time. Generally i have trouble with the higher strings and require extra care to play after the 3rd string. The way i normally would play this i would start with my extended fingers gathered, then slowly my third finger would open up a bit and touch the body, and then on the first string i would switch to the 2nd finger on the body and that's by itself tricky especially going back as im descending. Also i feel a lot of my elbow moving as i'm playing. So my conclusion here if I'm not mistaken is that the motion I'm using when i want to go to higher speeds is after all elbow motion with a bit of forearm rotation ?? That's fine a lot of times but i really need to clean it up make it more accurate and at the same time i need to add that forearm - wrist rotation in my book , cause it has advantages that i would really like to use, like that nice palm muting sound that i really like, plus the elbow really doenst help when I'm playing live gigs, i always have to postion my body and the guitar in a weird angle and it's hard to do as i'm going between techniques. Also i can't play 2 notes per string fast, i can only use this technique with patterns hat have 4 or more notes per string, my guess is this happens cause its easier when i stay on the string longer but when i have to cross strings in a faster rate i lose the tracking. When play 2 notes per string and need to go faster my hands do something that looks like a double escape motion but that's for another critique i guess. I should say that conserning forearm rotation that's a motion i can do , but only if i have a really flexed form , gypsy style or EVH style. So i can use my forearm. It's just that's the motion changes to this when i don't have my wrist flexed and i have to go really fast. Now I'm trying to follow the primer with Troy talking about the anchor points etc but when i speed up the motion goes back to what I'm used to. I can do it slowly but i guess it doesn't matter as long as i can't really speed it up and start getting the hang of it. If you have any advice for me, would be awesome. Thanks a lot in advance. Regards Jim
It blows my mind to 'finally' see inside my pick technique. I've just received my 1st magnet and already feel like I've learned a lot. I'm a 64yr old 'has-been' still trying to get my right hand fixed BEFORE I go knocking on Heaven's Door. I positioned my grip in various styles because I'm still wrestling with what feels most comfortable and ergonimic. I've recently discovered the EVH 3 finger grip works an absolute treat for 'rhythm' playing, and I'm in the process of trying to re-program my action. However, even though this feels very natural for strumming, when picking, it still feels kinda comfortable, but erratic in terms of accuracy. I still don't quite know which direction I should be focused on, because my other grip has developed into a smoother tremelo.
MickeyT9
Tring to determine what my picking technique is, from what I can tell I think its stringhopping. I am having difficulty changing strings and cant seem to nail down why. Played a few 2NPS, 3NPS and repeating patterns (kidna sloppily, I know I need to move my arm more).
Hi! I’ve been working with the team for a while now and am checking in to get some feedback on what to keep working on. I’ve added a couple face on and picking hand videos for review. On a single string my triplets and chromatic 16ths feel better and faster and I think my picking technique is improving. My biggest struggle is the 16th not box that I’ve been practicing on adjacent strings. Example would be D string 7 to 9 then G string 7 to 9 & repeat. I’ve been stalled there for several months around 120 bpm and am not sure how to progress. It feels like my picking gets really hoppy at speed and doesn’t feel like my single string picking. It feels like I’m just stalled out here and don’t think I’ve improved in a couple months. Overall any feedback on what to do next would be really helpful. Thanks!
Hey! My name is Theo, and this is my first TC with CTC. I'm looking to fix my right-hand accuracy and speed, and some guidance as to where to start and what to practice to get to my goals. For starters, I've played for 14 years since 2012, and I went to learn jazz guitar for some of those years. I always had difficulty playing fast and technical stuff. I would get tired when playing faster music, and completely avoided bebop lines or anything high-tempo. I used to play with a 3-finger grip, but switched over during my education and relearned new muscle memory for picking. My current goal is to play Cliffs of Dover by EJ as well as Troy's "Cliffs of Doverkill"! 13 Pentatonic Trademarks" licks. I am also wondering why it is that my initial motion tests had my fastest speed with the EVH style picking? Anyway, below are some videos of my right hand using my Magnet. I would greatly appreciate some assistance, especially on what to practice and a strategy for where to proceed from this point, and how to reach my goals. Thanks, Theo :)
Hello Tommo! Back again. As recommended, arpeggios at speed. Feedback and recommended next steps please. Best regards, Mike
I'm not sure if I can identify my picking motion. I want to say it's either dart thrower or reverse but I'm not sure. I've been experiencing wrist pain for the last year+ and I'm desperately trying to diagnose the cause. I have a teacher who I'm working with but we just started and I wanted to get some other perspectives. I've sent him this same video. In it, I'm just doing the classic chromatic exercise on my 8 string. I tried to do this without thinking much because I think whatever motion I do that causes the pain tends to happen when I'm no longer able to think about what I'm doing. It doesn't help that I still don't feel like I understand what I'm doing or what my ideal motions should be despite the year long effort. I have three videos, in one I switched from the Dunlop Flow pick to the smaller Jazz III. I switched from Jazz III's after the pain started and it's impossible to know if that's helping. But I decided to include footage of using the smaller pick to see if someone can see a distinction in the motion and, hopefully, which motion seems healthier. I also included some string skipping on the lowest strings because this is the easiest way to cause an amount of pain that means I have to stop playing for at least a week. I took these videos yesterday and I'm icing my wrist today. So I think this footage shows whatever my incorrect motion is. I just can't identify it and more importantly I don't know how to correct it. I have an older TC from about a year ago that shows me earlier in the process. I've made almost no progress since then despite going to physical therapy, now two teachers, and receiving that TC feedback. I need help and I'm beginning to thing no one can provide it. The conventionally attached video is old, this is the one I'd like you to watch: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SrPUQ05bqpwUdGJPq7IAxDwUQkOb5nMH
I’m trying to assess the motions and escapes tha I already do, before starting to study any particular technique. However, I have a hard time figuring out on my own what I am doing in terms of escape motions and wrist vs forearm motions. Any help and corrections are much appreciated!! Thanks!!
Hi there! A little context: I was a CtC member some five years or so ago. I believe I used to be DSX but I dont have any video from that time. Back then I wanted to learn DBX (still called TWPS) and went on a USX first journey. Because I admire the Winter Madness solo since my youth I practiced USX so much that it is my primary technique now. I was doing what i thought to be DBX at the same time as well, but I came back to CtC because I felt something still lacking so I wanted to improve my USX and that's my focus right now. I went into a rabbit hole of insane insanity, trying to figure my or any picking technique at this point because I thought I forgot everything about picking. I experimented a lot with different pick grips, angles and posture in general. Now, I think I arrived at some USX variant of RDT but I sometimes lack consistency in the picking. I notice it falls apart especially on the high E-string. It is noticeable right at the beginning of the first video where I seem to have like start-up problems that get better as i continue to pick on the string. I dont have this on the G-String I believe. Then when I continue on the ionian ascending run I start to feel stuck or running after that high E-String and I think this is noticeable on the empty strings but gets even worse when the left hand joins in. While I belive to know that this is partly a sync issue I think it's not the only issue, as it's already evident in the empty string picking. The second video shows the same scale and depicts that problem more clearly as well. Now, watching this I think I don't always escape the string on the upstroke which might also lead to feeling a lack of fluidity (that is also evident in the videos) which is often the case. All in all this sometimes disappears (and sometimes doesnt) as I warm up more so I believe it might be related to micro adjustments in the different angles that play a part but I can't seem to figure this one out myself. I hope this is not too many problems confronted but I feel it might be rooted in the same cause. Really sorry for the long text and for the mess. I hope you can make sense of it! Thanks in advance Felix
fliximus
Hello Tommo, In first video, I wanted to confirm USX motion, with second video to confirm sync with DiMeola 6s on single and multiple strings. For third, I wanted to see if scalar chunk is synced and how I'm changing strings. For fourth video, I wanted to see if 3nps scale is synced and how I'm changing strings. For fifth video, I wanted to see if PG lick is synced and how I'm changing strings-downstroke start I am trying to swipe, upstroke start feels like it is cleaner, but I'm not sure
AustinK
Hello! I share my 1st video to check my motions. I uploaded a video playing a short run, trying to don't get stuck between strings. My primer motion is USX and I'm trying to apply and get used to DBX. Let me know what you think :)
manugon86
Hi everyone, I’m posting here because I’d really like help figuring out what my primary motion should be. I’ve been playing for many years, and in the past I was able to play “okay” — not super clean or relaxed, but I could get by and play fast-ish lines. The problem is that I was using a mix of techniques (wrist, forearm, even fingers) and a lot of tension. About 8 months ago, a teacher told me to switch to a more wrist-focused technique. Since then, things have only gotten worse. I’ve been trying to follow that approach, but I feel like I’ve lost whatever I could do before. At this point: - I can’t even do a basic single-string tremolo consistently - my motion feels blocked at the string (the pick hits but doesn’t go through) - my thumb and index interfere a lot - the pick rotates in my grip clockwise It feels like I’m overcontrolling everything, and I don’t have a clear motion anymore. Another detail that might be relevant: I’m left-handed for writing, but I’ve always played guitar right-handed since the beginning. Right now I feel like I have a “mix” of ideas in my head (wrist, forearm, USX, etc.), and I don’t know what to commit to. I’ve basically gone backwards over the last months and I feel quite lost. Honestly, I just want to enjoy playing guitar again, but this whole situation has become extremely frustrating, to the point where I’m even thinking about giving up. Could you help me identify what my natural / primary motion might be, and what I should focus on instead of trying to force a specific technique? Thanks a lot 🙏 P.S.: I would like to add that I am using Jim Dunlop flow max-grip 3 mm picks
So, I am quite new to the shredding stuff. I find 115-120 bpm area gives me trouble - which seems far from the demonstrations of lines on ctc, which I’d like to reach myself someday I know I can tremolo pick way faster, so that’s not my concern. My concern is the left hand. How can I test its potential? I am afraid of being stuck at low tempo due to left hand problems My hope for this critique is to give me confidence in my left hand and understand how it develops into faster tempos.
DSX Elbow player here practicing the Pepsi Lick in order to develop the habilty to change string on an upstroke with the help of a secondary motion (forearm rotation) with no improvement at all. Decided to open a TC to get some advice on how to aproach the practice of lines with mixed scapes/string skipping. P.D: sorry for the bad english,not my first lenguage.
I am looking to figure out what exercises I should be doing to improve this. I think I am obviously string hopping but not sure how to start fixing it. Definitely feeling "speed stuck"
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