I am utterly speechless at the level of production in your videos Troy. Wow.

Michael Angelo Batio is not only a very, very good guitar player, he looks like a really nice guy.

This video is insane. It's not an instructional video; it is an academic dissertation on rock guitar in the 80s. The amount of information presented and the level of detail is mind blowing. This video should be in the Smithsonian for cultural, historical, or aesthetical significance.

The fact that it's the end of 2019 and this colossally amazing video isn't even halfway to a million views after being out for 3 years shows that there really aren't that many Shredi Knights left in the world.

Wow!!!!! One of the most comprehensive videos on two way pick slanting yet! CTC continues to deliver the way, the truth, and the light of the Shredi Knight. Also loved the 8-bit version of Freight Train. Thank you all!!!

Storytelling: 10/10 Video Editing 10/10 Content 10/10 I subscribed, I can't remember watching a video on youtube that I could relate to as much as this! cheers mate.

I would bet a lot of these shredders actually have no idea they're employing these subtle techniques. That's why so many of the VHS training tapes are less than helpful. This level of analysis is really cool.

Troy Grady is worth his weight in gold for this, super-intelligent analysis!

I watched Michael Angelo Batio's speed kills two hundred thousand time myself but I never saw what you saw.. I am really thankful to you for this video it's gold! Subscribed/ liked .... Thanks :}

This video is a masterpiece! AMAZING!

I'm a drummer who will never pick up a guitar. I still watched till the end with a big smile on my face!

I was the radio promoter for the Thermometer label and Mike was one of our acts in 1995. I got his No Boundaries album played on 53 radio stations! The secret to Mike's awesome talent is his dedication to practice! It's not hyperbole when he says he rehearsed a riff a thousand times! He's also a fantastic painter and creative artist!

This video is a masterpiece. Holy shit, how long did it take? The production value was insane. Great animations, wonderful effects and transitions, and beautiful lighting and composition on all those shots. I'm really impressed - all your content is great but this video came out of nowhere. A half hour just breezed by like it was 3 minutes.

I've been playing guitar for 35 years and I've learned more from this video in 20 minutes than I have my whole life. Great job friend. Brilliant presentation. Fundamentals are everything. Keep up the good work.

Man I’m 34 and played music during MySpace days. I got sucked into adulting and put music aside for 10 years thinking guitar was dead. I’m just now discovering the whole internet guitar community and it’s so amazing thanks to you! Thank you so much for your work!

MAB is an absolute beast. He’s that one guy at the crossroads you wouldn’t want to go against.

so we just got the keys to the lambourghini

WHY ISN'T THIS CHANNEL BIGGER?! THIS IS SUCH A HIGH QUALITY VIDEO!

Can’t believe this is 7 years old and I’ve only just come across this and your channel. Amazing video… Mike is one of the greatest unsung heroes of guitar. I was always a sweeper instead of a shredder until I saw his solo at the start of speed kills vol 1 but always struggled to get close to his speed. In work at the moment and can not wait to get home to practice! Thank you 🙏

Many others have said it already but I just have to thank you for this awesome Video! This is so incredibly well made and you must have put so much effort in those animations, its just unbelievable. Really thank you so much!!

This video is fuckin gold! Michelangelo might be the speed God but you sure had the intelligence and ingenuity to understand the physics behind Michelangelo's speed. You sir are just as much of a God in your own respect. Don't settle for this video's fame, you must keep educating the world with your new discoveries! Not every bright person on this planet has the gift of perception you have so you better use it to help musicians!

Dude, the time, energy & the effort you put into this (and your other vids) is freaking beyond me.. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

At 29 years old I've been playing guitar more than half my life. I've watched and practiced with all the same instructional videos shown in this series. After hearing your name mentioned by Ben Eller numerous times I finally decided to check it out. I watched each episode back to back. In all my years playing I've never come across anything as helpful, informative and so well put together as what you've made here. I enjoyed every minute of it & I regret not watching sooner. Thankyou for all the hard work you put into this and for putting it out there for people to see.

I have to agree with others here, the production level of this video is insanely good. Multiply that times the fact that the information is well-presented and it is off-the-charts. I'm just a casual player, but seeing under the hood like this has inspired me to try to up my game with this technique. Thank you for creating such an entertaining and informative piece of work.

Troy's impeccable standard of excellence in his work is a sheer delight to behold and an invaluable contribution to the field of guitar study. Many thanks, Troy!

It took me years of 2 note per string practice to get here... I could have saved myself a ton of frustration and problem solving if I had just found Troy earlier.this unlocked so many doors,,

After watching hundreds or maybe thousands of videos about playing guitar, this really blew me away, so comprehensive with such an amazing production, thumbs up to you, and thank you so much for sharing with the guitarist community, we all are in the same boat.

I am mind blown at the fact that MAB allows someone to film him this way. Just speaks volumes to his passion for guitar and metal. Most other would have hoarded their knowledge. Thank you Troy and Thank you MAB!!! PS: I really want that Dean Hardtail

This video is so absurdly good in both content and editing quality. Thanks for taking the effort to make it.

The production quality of this video is truly stunning. I've seen BBC/PBS/History channel documentaries with animations well below this. I think with this video, I'll finally be able to master Smoke On The Water.

Wow! 40 years of playing and my mind has only just opened up to this thanks to your video. Wow! I'm so glad I found MAB recently which ultimately led me to this video. Thank you so much.

MAB gave me the keys to the lamborghini a long time ago. Thank you Troy for the driving lessons.

Troy. I just have to thank you for your work because I don't know who else would have been able to figure out what players like Michael Angelo do. It is the combination of your guitar skills, passion and command of technology what has brought some light into my playing (and hopefully into thousands of players). Since I watched your videos I have been able to improve dramatically my playing. Thanks again, man.

I watched the entire video, I can't believe you cracked the code, 10 years ago I was looking at the same thing wondering how he does that, but I didn't go down to the rabbit hole, amazing content!

IMO troy grady is the greatest electric guitar teacher i've ever come across. Completely changed my way of playing.

Michael Angelo Batio's an amazing player, and a terribly nice guy. So humble and soft spoken, but his technique is truly freakish. Analyzing his technique could not have been easy. Hats off Troy!

Troy grady, i love you so much. This is beautiful. This is everything I've ever wanted as a guitarist. I figured out the regular pickslanting myself, but I was in college, and didn't have time to analyze it. I freaking love you. You are just so beautiful.

Thank you so much for this video. When I watched it yesterday, I thought little of it. I just thought it was a cool way that a shredder figured a way to get just as good an outcome as economy picking. Man, I couldn't have been more wrong. I was just warming up today on my guitar and played a 3 note per string scale, but the particular lick I was playing required you to play some of the strings twice. This caused my economy picking to fall apart, and I needed to outside pick, compromising my speed. Then I remembered this video and tried slanting my pick. It feels just like economy picking, it gives you the ability to have that fluidity in alternate picking situations with multiple string changes; something I had been pretty much avoiding. I now know that with this information, my guitar playing will forever be enhanced! I can't thank you enough. I paid $50 a month for lessons to learn economy picking, and you gave me this priceless lesson that I doubt my guitar teacher even knew for the price of 30 minutes of my time!!! I now know that I can and should integrate this into my playing. No more do I see economy picking as the sole way to play. No longer will I avoid music simply because of situations that cause my economy picking to fail. With all of this, you even video edit. It felt like I was watching some amazing lost VHS documentary. You have definitely earned a subscription!

This honestly may be one of the most useful and informative videos ever made for any guitar player looking to play with speed. It's a total eureka moment. Answers a lot of questions, and gives you the clear ability to overcome the issues with fast alternate picking. Amazing. Bravo.

All I can say is WOW!!!! You really have an excellent analytical mind to be able to look at the videos you bought with all the different guitar players and piecing together how they were attaining such lightning speed. I have been making a living as a guitar player for over 50 years and had pretty much given up trying to play fast. Thanks to these amazing videos I can now see a path towards increasing my speed. On top of that, all the incredible graphics and slowed down videos demonstrating what you are talking about. Simply outstanding!!! All the best to you and take care.

Troy Grady, I beg you Sir to please do a 'Cracking the Code Episode' on Jason Becker!

I subconsciously do this and didn't even realize it until I watched these videos. This has to be the most useful and entertaining collection of guitar videos on KZfaq (or anywhere else). I wish I knew this back in the 90s when I started.

Thank you Troy, I'm playing guitar for 8 years and I was at episode 8 in terms of the technique after all these years, Cracking code all alone by myself, it was unbelievably good how the next 4 videos save next 8 or more years for me. I totally appreciate your time and effort and generosity to share your knowledge with others. best of best of regards.

Been playing since I'm 14 years old. 37 now. This is the type of stuff it was impossible to find out back in the day if any of you remember. There were few books on guitar, and I never saw a guitar teacher use this technique. I saw speed kills back in the 90's. I remember slowing it down on VHS but I couldn't see what he was doing. Big kudos to you for posting this video. You will help generations to come...

I find that the effort that goes into the presentation of your videos is utterly mind-blowing, Troy. The old-skool video game stuff just had me grinning from ear to ear. :D

Regardless of the information being displayed, the graphics and editing job on this video is astonishing. He could be showing how to plant turnips in your garden, it doesn't matter. Brilliant videography and audiography.

Batio’s discovery of this technique and your analysis are both genius. Also your video production is unprecedented and deserves millions of views

Troy Grady, I just went to a guitar clinic held by Michael Angelo Batio 5-28-19 in Havelock, NC. He is real cool about technique questions. Thanks for everything Troy. By the way, this series reintroduced me to my childhood guitar heros. John

production = fire content = fire! This is a great video.

Man this video takes me back to 80s and a better era. So nostalgic. I actually had batios speed kills video lesson in the 90s when i was advancing thru the ranks but never discovered what his exact picking mechanics were. I actually emulated much of his technique but never discovered the two-way pickslanting part! So NO! he never did give the real keys to the Lamborghini! But you have! Thanks Troy!

That was the best guitar lesson I have ever seen in my life. THe clarity and explanation of what you were teaching was phenomenal. Thank you so much I cant wait to try.

This video was incredible. Both the revelation of the picking technique and the production quality. The way you explained it all was brilliant.

This actually made me laugh out loud a few times! Funny as well as informative!

TROOOOOOOY. You beautiful man. thank you!!

Wow. I’ve been playing almost 50 years now and this is probably the greatest instructional video I have ever seen. Incredible. Phenomenal. Subscribed.

I still come back to this video. I was watching Michael Angelo playing live and your video popped up next to it. It only had a couple thousand views. I am so glad I watched it. It changed my guitar playing honestly overnight. THANK YOU!

Simply Amazing! I watched your videos last night - all night. I tried this technique and in about 10 minutes added about 20 bpm to 16th string triplets and without feeling tensions in my right hand. Now it feels more like it's a coordination thing that I need to take care of as opposed just picking hand speed. By far the best ever instructional video I have ever seen! Hands down THE most important quantum leap ever in speedy playing. I would suggest maybe doing a piece on Zakk Wylde and Robert Fripp.

Love that you describe Yngwie technique as “Earthy” and “Bluesy”, I always thought that myself...but people I’ve talk to (and they hate him...jealous buttheads) most of them see him as “Super technical, and no heart.”

Not only can I learn a ton from your guitar playing and techniques, but the production value you put into each video inspires me to do better on video editing as well. Thanks! I am a new subscriber!

hats off to you sir, this series was some of the greatest guitar instructional content I've ever seen. i was always skeptical when I saw ads on facebook of people offering to teach guitar secrets on how you can unlock your potential and whatnot due to the fact that they wanted money for it. after seeing this, I've realised that a lot of stuff I was practicing was actually harming my ability to play guitar, and the fact you give it for free and with such excellent production quality is amazing; you truly deserve a medal for this

Ive been wanting him to make something like this again, like cracking the code. Just awesome. i love it.

Great detective work! It's amazing how each shredder not only learned their own way to work around the physics involved but they did so in a way that fit in with their own style. Like Yngwie, who loved arpeggios and the Hatmonic minor/Phryg dom scale, realized that sweep picking, economy picking, and 4 notes & 2 notes picked per string were the keys to doing all of that as fast as possible. For Michael, who obviously loved the popsicle stick caught in the spokes sound, realized that strict alternate picking while changing the pick's slant was the key to doing that as fast as possible. I always loved Reb Beach's smooth tapping style(pull tapping). He realized when he tapped with his middle finger, his ring finger could then pull the next string to continue the run. He actually thought everybody did it that way. Bottom line, the power of problem solving through deductive reasoning is a beautiful thing. All this time, we've been thinking these guys were like superhuman athletes, when they were more like well practiced magicians. (Which is equally impressive).

I do believe this series of videos, “cracking the code”, is the single most well researched, produced, written, and executed lesson on fast guitar playing in existence. You flawlessly broke down the technique from Eddie Van Halen to the most hard to mimic players out there such as Yngwie and Eric and the information on pick slanting and rotating is literally the key element to unlocking the speed they play with. You break it down so elegantly. I watch this masterpiece once a year at least for the past 6 years perhaps.

This is, no exaggeration, one of the most impressive and engrossing things I've ever sat and watched on KZfaq, ever. Partly because of the intensity of breaking down this technique in such painstaking detail, partly because of the next level video production. Unreal. Count me a fan!

the ultimate proof how real his playing is and what a guitar god he really has been all this time.

i had the same videos when i was young i live in south France it's amazing we had the same hobbys :)

Watched all 12 episodes. Blown away. This is my main academic subject, music education, on steroids. It is one of the most rewarding things I have ever watched. I cannot thank you enough. My old Jackson Performer, with Kee Marcello’s handwritten autograph on the headstock, is back out of its basement. My chops are returning, 80’s rock in back in my living room and I actually dare to start teaching guitar playing because of watching this series. Thank you.

Thanks a lot Mr Grady & team. You put all of your hard-acquired knowledge from years into a series of just 4 hours. Amazing work. Guitar community will be thankful forever.

Great vid man! Amazing production quality! Do one about Shawn lane please.

Wow dude you actually scientifically went after it! Your video editing and compositing are at equal with your thirst for guitar technique. I think what's important here is, I actually don't think MAB figured this out? I think his massive repetitive nature naturally made the "pick slant" happen without him analyzing why or how it just naturally happened for him. Truly amazing. Let's not forget to apply all this to music. Is it music(art!) or is it training for the olympics??

This show is so incredibly involved, it's almost unhealthily obsessed with picking -- and so much energy spent on such clever visuals! I cannot criticise anything here, it is clearly a labor of love.

I remember all these "instructional guitar videos" from when I was a kid. They were more like, look how amazing I am on the guitar, than actual lessons on how to copy them. This series is a complete masterpiece and by watching the whole thing I am now able to play much faster than before. Thank you Troy :)

Wow, this video really took me back... I had the privilege of hanging out with Nitro when they played the Button South in Fort Lauderdale. I was in the champagne room with some friends that were in a little band by the name of Warrant!! Also, I had seen Michael Angelo at his guitar clinic about a year earlier... The fucking 80's rocked!!

Wow. Great video. Eye opening (and I admire MAB's ability, genial nature and just being a downright great -- and underrated, rocker). On a scale of 1 to 10, as a guitar player some 30 years ago, I was about, say, 0.62. Not even a 1. This guitar player that I greatly admired, Fred F., once invited me over to his house to hear a couple of his latest recordings. I went over, listened to them, and they were good. Quite good, and very innovative. Then he said, "Want to jam?" I blushed so much I must have turned bright red. He handed me one of his guitars and I was completely lost and just froze. I suppose he sensed that so he said, "Let's play to this" and banged out some three- or four-chord progression. I was hopelessly flustered but thought, "You're in a fix now, buddy. Just play some notes as he plays rhythm." And I did. After a few minutes of "jamming" [read: me being an abject fool on guitar] back and forth I noticed that he had this very perplexed look on his face. I thought, "Oh, Jeez. I know I suck, but THAT BADLY? How humiliating!" Fred said, "I've never seen that before!" I said, "What haven't you seen?" He said, "You pick UP! I mean, every other guitar player I have ever seen picks down, but you pick up!" I thought about that for a moment (quite embarrassed because now I am this deviant musical alien) and realized that, yes, when plucking a single note I pick upwards. I don't know why. I tried to explain that I was completely self-taught, with no chord books or anything, and that was just how it "worked" for me, but he interrupted me and said, "You don't have to explain at all! I think it is GREAT what you're doing!" Although my guitar skills may have ultimately reached about 0.63 on a scale of 1 to 10, I smiled that my self-taught and quirky style of picking inspired him and opened his eyes. I suppose the moral to this story is: play in a way that works for you; be happy pursuing your dreams. Be happy that others may find some appreciation or inspiration in your self-expression or technique -- that is Really the highest compliment of all. Above all, Be Your Self.

I come back 7 years after this video’s release to thank you troy for introducing me to this buitiful guitar wizard. Changed my life, although i’m in that beginner-intermediate phase so I don’t have the speed or stamina to actually use this technique.

oh my god that was incredible, so enthralling and utterly engaging. Amazing production value, wow!

also, what about a Jason Becker video?

Man, I love his videos so much. I could listen to him narrate for hours.

Learning to play guitar at this level is truly a science of paying attention to detail and applying it from the brain to the hands and fingers. Hat's off to you Troy for translating your ability to crack another code for guitar players like myself, and to keep me from scratching a hole in my head trying to figure it out on my own.

This has got to be one of the best videos I've ever seen on KZfaq, period! I mean...the research, the effort, detail, easy to understand, production.... everything! You have re-inspired me to go back to playing guitar seriously! Thank you and congratulations for this video!!!

Words cannot describe how I feel about this video

Oh, man! Troy Stetina! I remember getting Speed Mechanics when I first started playing because I figured, "Sure. I want to shred. I'll just get this book and learn how!" That didn't quite work for me the way I thought it would (my fretting hand probably got some benefit from it, though). Thinking back to the exercises in that book now that I understand pick slanting just cracks me up.

It's been 3 mins of watching this video and I'm already in the comment section agreeing with how good the production quality of this video is. It's better than TV tbh. I hope you go far doing what you love Troy Grady! Thanks for this awesome video!

You rock, Troy. This Cracking The Code series is so cool. It's frickin' genius. I haven't watched it in a while, but it never gets old.

Yaaaaaaaaas!!!!!! New vids!

wow the quality of the content and the video is amazing! Thanks for sharing this amazing knowledge... Please study Chris Impelliteri he has very original picking skills as Michael Angelo...

I am floored by the super high production value of this video, and equally impressed with the content. Extremely smart and polished!

This video is BEYOND incredible! Thank you soooooooooo much for the effort!!! This video is sure to help millions!

how dont u have more subs your work is amazing

You're doing an amazing work! Are there any plans to record and dissect John Mclaughlin's picking?

You are extremely talented and gifted to teach Man!!! In other cultures they don't even want to share the poor traces of "knowledge" they think they have... May God gives you the greatest blessing You ever get to conceive...!!! Thanx again!

Holy shit!!!! This level of dedication is unparalleled!!! I loved everything about this video!!! And that you got to film up close with Michael himself like that!!! This video contains decades of work!!! Thank you so much for making this, it is truly priceless!!!

But what about the biggest mystery about MAB...his hair...real?

Wow I am addicted to your videos Troy. You have some great indepth analysis that i didn't think was possible. I had mentioned batio and you said you did some analysis on this one hence I was looking at this. Great stuff. Have you seen Randall Padilla? He is known as the current fastest picker and ALL he does is move his thumb and forefinger. It is like a pencil and he is scribbling but the string changes are so smooth, I wonder if he is doing this up/down slant as well... The speed and clarity is crazy, I think you should watch a couple of his vids even just for entertainment to see a very different picking style. Thank you for doing these Vids!!

Thank you so much for making a lot of effort to share this to us.

Just finished whole series. This is just unbelievable unbeatable work! Thank you, Troy!!!

One Title ... “ George Lynch : Guitar Bible “

Samus from the good ending of Metroid for NES at 12:20

Troy keep up the good work man, I'm sure I speak for most of the viewers here that you give hands down the best insight into picking technique on KZfaq, and help many of us out with that feeling of getting 'stuck' between strings. Cheers

I'm on a 90-day lesson study plan watching this video and the Eric Johnson video that you produced and just soaking up as much as I can practicing as much as I can. The great thing about your precision of detail and especially the slowing down of the difficult Parts enables me 2 move ahead and learn one millimeter at a time. From a crawl to a walk to a jog to a run, thanks greatly for posting. One cannot produce better quality videos more informative than you have. Bravo five stars. F*** that six stars