"Did I just play that?" I love that feeling.

This took a lot of dedication and effort to document a clip like this. You should win an award for this.

"Cracking the Code" series is one of the best thing that happened to guitar tutorials this decade

This is the best instructional video ever.

Dude absolute sick video !

Wow, I never thought that after watching a 20 minute video I would be able to play an Ynwgie Malmsteen lick, and after 12 years of playing I never realized how many little things I was doing wrong. Thank you so much for this video.

This video literally changed my life and made me a happier person. Thanks Troy!

This guy deserves a medal. He explains picking in so much detail. Even Paul Gilbert would be impressed 🤔

Well goddamn. I make incredible guitar lessons videos, and I found this to be an INCREDIBLE guitar lesson video. Love the animations. Thanks man.

I think I'm gonna cry this is the greatest instruction of technique I've ever seen; I've thought about Yngwie's picking technique for years; thanks a bunch for breaking it down so beautifully

wow ... my mind is blown! As an engineer who plays guitar, this is exactly the type of instruction I've been looking for on how to learn the technical skills needed for fast playing! What a great teacher!

this is the greatest video i have ever seen.

Troy, you must interview Yngwie and put the guitar-cam on there! I'd also like to see his reaction after you play his lick. This stuff is awesome.

This was the most incredible video I’ve ever seen when it’s come to guitar. Absolutely insane. Everything was explained perfectly. It’s very rare, those “aha” moments playing the guitar where you feel like you unlocked some secret that changes everything and was hidden away. This video however gave me another one of those experiences.

Just here to thank you for Cracking The Code. Been playing guitar for a year and I can play Yngwie licks now thanks to this video. Thank you Troy!!

This is so cheesy it's unbelievable. Fucking Awesome.

Your video production is amazing, It is edited perfectly, the info is entertaining, humouris, educational talanted and accurate. Your a legend!

Hahaha I'm almost too amazed with the video editing and the way you visualize things to pay attention to the actual topic. Great work man!

Dude with all the passion and hard work you put into your videos, I honor you the Pick of Destiny...although all I have is a Fender medium.

Hi Mr Troy I'm a guitar player with more than two decades working hard on the guitar. You just make me aware of something I've been doing but never make it concious. The way You describe things is both genius and fun. You are a very inteligent man, you apply what scientists do. My gratitude for you is way far from just say thank you. All of my guitar students will see this videos. Your work is priceless, God bless you!

I can't believe i came across this by accident a couple of days ago, this channel is so comprehensive, even before finishing a video i subscribed, nothing comes close to how well the information is relayed, totally refreshing and full of life, the graphics are incredible, absolutely awesome :)

Really good job Troy, entertaining and educative, I'm thinking about ordering the second season even though I think I'm a decent picker. Your episodes sum up all my goals over the picking technique about the years and it's great to see about 20 years of study and investigation that well packed in your cracking the code episodes. Thanks for your cool work.

This vid will be nothing short of life changing for many who happen upon it. The whole time i was watching it i couldn't help thinking "why tf didn't Yngwie explain this stuff in his supposedly instructional video?" Eh, that kinda answers itself. Good on you for sharing the techniques and knowledge that you had to wrestle and fight the guitar in order to discover. Your selflessness here can't really be overstated. Much respect.

THE MOST AMAZING GUITAR-INSTRUCTION-VIDEO I HAVE EVER SEEN!

wow, you tube should have a two thumbs (double like :) ) option!!! Troy, this is like watiching the discovery channel for guitar players!!!!

The highest praise I can give is that I stumbled across a few of the points you're making by myself, but was never aware of it, never really pushed it, and never linked it to the pick slant - even though I was starting to try some basic double slanting on my own. We were cohorts finding a stone here and there, but you discovered the whole ancient city layout. Kudos.

Your videos are pure gold! I can't believe how much i used to neglect my picking. I could play a lot of shred licks, but none of them were ever consistent and they always seemed to feel really awkward. Everything you demonstrated pretty much changed my picking immediately. I've been working on these techniques for less than a month and I feel like I've made at least a year's worth of progress. Simply amazing stuff. Thank you!

As you stated in another video, some of the elite players aren't elite instructors. Your insight and instruction is amazing and really fills the gap! Thank you.

Troy I have never come across a guitar video that has explained the exact scenario, and wall my playing has hit. This is nothing short of a revelation for me, I am now busy transcribing my favorite licks to conform to the downward pick-slanting rules and am now( already within days) seeing a huge leap taking place..... its amazing man. I can't thank you enough, I'm 41 and been playing since 12... THANKS.

rare serious explanation with serious animation .. thanks very much

Been practicing these picking techniques for about 2 months now and I've made an immense amount of progress. Thank you so much for helping me out of my years long rut! Your videos are a god send.

Wow. I haven't seen a video of yours since I saw that "Now Your Ships Are Burned" solo years ago. At the time I thought, "Damn, this is the only guy who can nail that Yngwie vibe convincingly". Super surprised when I stumbled onto this video last night, and now I'm making my way through the rest of the series. You've done it man. What you're doing here is something that's been absolutely absent and lacking in the rock guitar arena of ongoing education and analysis. This is everything I've needed and wanted as a player since I was a teen. Thank you SO much. I'm sharing this with all of my guitar friends.

I feel so grateful about this video. It breaks my bottleneck after playing several years.

Nice!!! And I think Yngwie may have also been motivated to pick 2 of every 3 notes (at those strategic points) from Uli Roth's (Scorpions) "Sails of Charon" solo, which showcases that approach. AWESOME LESSON maaaan!!!

I had a "did I just play that" moment today. Thankfully I recorded it and there are some places I went by mistake or without knowing which blew me away after taking a second listen.

History will look back on your videos as monumental to guitar technique. You're really doing the guitar world a service by interpreting so many different styles in such a substantial manner.

You know, I never got into "shredding". I'm just an old time rocker. I was happy if I could crank out a Jimmy page solo, but a lot of the metal shredding just sounds way over my head and beyond my reach. But I have to say this was a really great eye/ear opener, and totally fun!. I'm only up to part 9, and am totally amazed at how you've demystified all of this so well. I believe you've actually taught me my first official "shred line", and based on harmonic minor no less... VERY KEWL!!! More important, you showed me I could actually play some of this! I know you mention freely improvising, but it has to start somewhere, and having this neatly chunked pattern to start with makes it an actual "do-able" target. What's interesting too is the way time compresses when you're playing compared to listening. After a few hours working on this pattern you finished here at around 5:46, I got it up to around 152, which is quick for me, but still not stellar. But the pattern works so well it didn't seem that impressive to me, till I turned up the distortion and recorded it on my looper pedal. When I came back and listened later after resting, I felt like "Damn!!! Did I actually play THAT??". So thanks man. You're really teaching an old rocker some new tricks! By the way, I have to send you a private email to tell you about the alternative for the angled diagonal picking you describe. Something i came up with several years ago that opened some speed and accuracy doors for me. You surely won't need it, but maybe one of your students will find it works for them.

thanks Troy i own a music school in Shirley NY i have tutored many a great guitarist, you really helped to clear up and document some wonderful teaching techniques i can't wait to round them all up, i want to applaud you and your efforts thank you from jeff denny's Music Station

This whole video series is so stellar and well put together and this is by far my favorite so far. I now actually seriously believe I can develop my own guitar superpowers. All thanks to a dude who sat down and spent countless hours analyzing the very fine aspects of how these guys, Malmsteen in particular, play. It's a remarkable video series.

Finally someone who is able te decipher Yngwie's licks. I think I destroyed the rewind button of my VHS at the the time, but couldn't figure it out. This is awesome, thanks a million...

Ya I have to say, I binged the entire series just tonight and it's 5 am now, and let me say, this series is pretty much my life in partial animation and reenactment form. I see this lesson series helping out many people exactly like me, what's funny is that I was born in 1990, and it's still identical. This episode in particular, I never realized that the down-slanted pick was the "keys to the Lamborghini" as MAB would say.. I just did it and never realized it, and so I had no immediate access to it.

Very cool video!

Troy!! i cant thankyou enough for how much your teachings have helped me, i didnt fully understand what you meant by up and downward pick slanting, but now i do and literally with in an hour my picking improved drastically! it really works! i owe you man!

The is the single best analysis on guitar mechanics I ever saw. Brilliant!

best youtube channel ever!!

Watching this episode again makes me realize.....tons of hours of practice WASTED since high school!

Amazing. Thanks for this and all of your other videos, Troy! It's crazy how much you don't realize when you're playing. This helped with my picking a TON in just the 20 minutes I was playing and watching the video. Keep it up man!

Woah. I play guitar for about a year now, some weeks ago I learnt the first solo. It took me incredibly long to link to specific bars, and I just didn't get why. I changed the way I play it now to apply what is explained in the video. Bam. Thank you!

This is my favorite youtube channel.

Wow this was very very interesting

I have spent most of a day watching this series (between bouts of real life) and am still hooked! Such a well made bunch of videos and actually helpful and memorable!

Man, everytime I watch your videos, they are making more sense each time. You are doing some great work here.

Wtf.....this is amazing. I said “what the f***” out loud at least 6 times while watching this Yer a wizard, Grady.

who the fuck clicks the unlike button...!!??? this vid is awesome...!!!!

Troy I just have watched like 4 of your videos and I have learnt so much in 1 and a half hour, more than in my 10 years of playing the guitar, thanks for existing, thanks for being so meticulous and dedicated to do this

This has been an incredible breakthrough in my playing. I'm still processing the whole chunking thing, but the picking alone just makes a huge difference. Thank you Troy.

i would love to hear yngwie respond to this!!!!

"Patterns with even chunks" yeah... tell that to Michael Romeo 😂

The best guitar instructional video I have seen by far. Incredible. Even more unbelievable was that this was made in 2014 ! Thank you very much for the hard work and hope you are still making videos. Subscribing, liking and sharing this video.

Troy. .....so awesome. Way to go deeper than any instructor I have come across. Kudos for uncanny insight, unparalleled creativity, and a killer sense of humor in your lessons. Bravo. .....

This feels like it's 3 decades too late, it would have perfect in the 80s

dude you are actually brilliant. but whats with the poptarts..coffee..and above all...Richard marks?

This is some of the most quality entertainment I have ever seen. I'm addicted to these vids

This video is so groove this guitar teacher did not even know about the little difference this makes. He told me down up on the e string but it leaves your pick on the top of the e string and not near the a string. Great awesome video

Troy, your "cracking the code" series is awesome. But if it's possible can you remind me the song's name that you play on 18:18 of this episode ?

you look like the starship trooper guy

Oh man this goes beyond being a guitar lesson, this video is a true work of art.

This video has reignited my awe of the instrument. Thanks may never be enough.

I TRIED THIS ..AND NOW I PLAY SLOWER...I AM SUING SOMEBODY

But what about 3 notes per string ascending / descending licks?

You are seriously the most underrated guitarist KZfaqr, this series is a masterpiece to say the least.

Troy. You're explanation, analysis, and presentation is amazing. You are a guitar genius yourself.

If anything, this made it more confusing!

I found this very interesting as an analysis of one's style. But the way the analysis is conducted makes it look like this is the only way that works. There are more mechanics that produce the same result. I use a lot of wrist motion with almost no angle on the pick, but I get similar results and I can play a shit load of Yngwie's music. Still, this is a very interesting video and I definitely will be checking it out again.

How the BGM interacts with content notes is simply AMAZING! this is gotta be the best guitar video on earth!

Man, your videos are really really great !! Haven't seen this level of detail in trying to explain technique anywhere. I really love them , thanks for the great job !!!

you should be a producer and video editor for fox news

The riff at 18:20, I can't remember what that's from and it's driving me crazy...any help?

the best lesson i've seen in i don't even know how long maybe ever... The visuals, especially in the beginning are so clear and helpful it's insane. Thank you so much for the video.

I just realized how entertaining, informative, and inspirational these videos are. It all came to me when my high school started making us do this online crap called COMPASS LEARNING and its like Cracking The Code videos in that they are partly animated but still have instruction from an actual teachers. But the videos on compass learning are completely lame and boring which makes no one want to learn from it especially sense we have a teacher in the classroom. After all that I'm just glad that we have someone who is teaching great material in a fun and interesting way. So thanks a lot Troy Grady I greatly appreciate it!!!

This is so over-edited and cheesy, it actually scared me. I mean I think I might end up crying myself to sleep at night after that...

Troy -- have you heard from Yngwie at all? He really should buy you breakfast.

Absolutely the best guitar instruction videos ever. Excellent job!

Shawn Hannity has the best guitar instructional videos on KZfaq. I love this guy.

If you want a migraine, watch this video...

it is robotic and repetitious

Man and I thought I put thought into picking. Way to do this man. I hope you keep making content. Your obsession is a gift to us all! Cheers!

You are one of the most talented and creative KZfaq's I've ever seen

This is the best instructional series I have ever seen. This lesson in particular improved my playing so much I can´t believe it. You sir, are an amazing player and a great host for this entertaining series! I wish I had found this earlier. Greetings from Argentina!

I know this video has been around for a while, but it is quite possibly the best speed picking instructional video on the Internet. I am 42, I have been playing the guitar since the age of 8 and more seriously since the age of 18. Self-taught until I went for a lesson when I was 21 - and was offered a job teaching the guitar by the teacher the following week. I only had the lesson because I wanted to know how to play faster. I later passed my rock school grade 8, studied music for a while, and most non-guitarists, and many guitarists think I am pretty good guitar player - however, I was put off by seemingly reaching a plateau and unable to improve. Most of my lack of improvement was around lack of progress in gaining speed. Nobody seemed to be able to teach speed. I got back in to playing again seriously this year, and with the benefit of KZfaq, I have increased my picking speed so I can play practiced licks beyond 16th notes at 120bpm, comfortably, rather than at at a struggle, but last night, I watched this video, and just now, I made a little adjustment to my pick, and played a circular lick, and using chunking and holding my pick at an angle described in this video, it came together with ease. I haven't had the chance to try this around many patterns yet, but I could instantly see that with only a slight adjustment of my right hand picking technique, I was playing at speed with ease. A kind of eureka moment. Of course I have subscribed, as I really like your analytical approach to teaching. It helped me, an experienced musician who wanted to play faster - it may not be for everyone, as your approach requires attention to detail, but it worked for me, so I am sure it will help countless guitarists on their journeys. Keep it up!

Dude. No. Fu**ing way. I've been playing for 30 years and wondered why I still struggle so much with alternate picking across strings. You just made my life complete. Insanely useful. Wow. Wow. Wow. Thank you. Top-notch video production as well...outstanding job.

This is amazing!! Your Cracking the Code project is a fantastic idea brilliantly executed, I'm looking forward to watching more episodes!

Oh my god that´s a LOT OF WORK !!! Not only the material but the animations also ! Good job !

Amazingly informative (and original) video! Probably the key to the whole series right here!

!this series changed my life best thing on youtube great edit as well keep it up!!

This series really have made me feel like a super hero.. The guitar pick slanting and downstroke upstroke techniques and chunking all make total sense.

The chunk size analogy is something I’ve noticed that I do. I realized it when I was learning Scuttle Buttin’ from SRV. I just focus on hitting certain key notes, and the other “filler” notes just fall into place. Like magic.

Epic effort putting these videos together.

Awesome animation for a way more than useful video! Thanx and true gratz, Troy!

TROY I FINALLY GOT IT. I watched this video several months ago and I've been practicing and practicing. I FINALLY got it today. FINALLY! THANK YOU!