In Viewer Decode, we take the best viewer submissions we receive, and break them down in a close-up examination of technique.

The keyboard is a useful tool for exploring questions of harmony, improvisation, and more. We’re also interested in the many ways that the processes of learning and playing the instrument differ from guitar. Pull up a chair, grab your drink, and join us on a journey from fretboard to keyboard and back again.

We do all our production in-house, from video editing, to custom soundtrack, to motion graphics animations. In these videos, take a look behind the curtain for details on various aspects of our production process.

Lessons and features from the Cracking the Code Studios.

We spoke to Siv Lie, founder of the Initiative for Romani Music at NYU, about the cultural context of Romani/Gypsy music, Django’s singular influence on the genre, her research and fieldwork in France, and how Gypsy jazz has evolved post-Django.

Dr. Benjamin Givan is music professor at Skidmore College and author of The Music of Django Reinhardt. We spoke with him about his studies of Django’s music and it’s origins in jazz tradition, Django’s musical evolution, the improvisatory vocabulary of Gypsy jazz, and how he transcribed 200+ Django solos.

We sat down with Dr. Ellen Winner to talk about the science behind musical learning and prodigy.

Dr. Ellen Winner is Director of the Arts and Mind Lab at Boston College, and author of the book Gifted Children: Myths And Realities. She studies cognition and psychology in the arts, with a special focus on the development of creative talent in gifted children.

This wide-ranging discussion touches on prodigy learning, creative cognition, brain development, and music education, and a host of other fascinating topics.

We sat down with Dr. Pietro Mazzoni, director of the Motor Performance Laboratory at Columbia University, for a fascinating discussion of the science behind motor learning.

Nashville studio ace and bluegrass flatpicking champion Carl Miner tackles scalar and arpeggiated phrases with startling ease in this revealing discussion of his flawless crosspicking fluidity.

For our second interview, in 2015, we came armed with specific questions about Carl’s unique crosspicking movement. Thanks to Carl’s quick mind for mechanical concepts, we had one of the most specific and revealing technical conversations with a player we’ve ever done.