Pickslanting Primer
The Pickslanting Primer is our complete, step-by-step guide to efficient picking technique. Learn how fast picking motions work, identify the motions you already make, and build a technique that fits your hands and the music you want to play.
A complete path through picking technique
Begin with simple motion tests, learn the mechanics behind the results, and develop the movements into techniques you can evaluate and use in real playing.
Stop guessing. Start testing.
The Primer gives you practical tests for the motions you can already make, then shows you how to turn the most efficient results into a reliable picking technique.
Find a motion that works
Test wrist, forearm, and elbow motions, choose a comfortable grip, and recognize speed, smoothness, and unnecessary effort.
Synchronize your hands
Use chunking, fretting diagnostics, and clear error checks to coordinate the picking and fretting hands.
Understand string switching
Learn how USX, DSX, and double-escape motions move the pick between strings and shape picking patterns.
Put mechanics into music
Study complete player technique systems and connect mechanical choices to rock, metal, jazz, bluegrass, and acoustic styles.
Who the Primer is for
New players building the basics
You can tune the guitar, play some basic material, and want to develop efficient picking habits from the beginning without years of guesswork.
Developing players ready to play fast
You already have some command of the instrument and want the speed, synchronization, and string changes needed for demanding musical styles.
Long-time players who never cracked picking
You have played for years—or decades—but fast, accurate picking has never felt as reliable as the rest of your playing.
Advanced players, professionals, and teachers
You already play or teach at a high level and want a clearer way to diagnose a stubborn motion, explain picking mechanics, or expand the techniques available to you and your students.
Advanced lead-playing skills are not required. Follow the guided core sequence, choose the technique path that matches your results, and use the detailed reference material when you want to go deeper.
Built for learning
The Primer is delivered in the Cracking the Code course player, with a guided lesson sequence, progress tracking, search, bookmarks, and simple previous-and-next navigation.
Use it on desktop, tablet, or phone whether you buy the Primer individually or access it through membership.
See why we built the Primer
Watch Troy trace the discoveries that shaped the Primer, share examples from the videos behind it, and explain how the course turns years of research and filming into a practical approach to learning picking technique.
Where the Primer fits
The Primer teaches the core system. Seminars explore focused techniques and musical subjects, Interviews document how elite players move, and the technical reference goes deeper on individual concepts. The Primer is where we recommend beginning.
Two ways to get the Primer
Buy the complete course once, or get the Primer, the full library, and Technique Critique with membership.
Already have access? Open the Pickslanting Primer.