I can only imagine how much time and effort goes into producing videos of this quality. The entire guitar community thanks you!

Deconstructing Eric Johnson's style is not easy. This is a tour de force lesson. Laying it out in animation is totally over the top. Now intersperse slow-mo video of Eric himself and then, for emphasis, put it together and see the instructor using his "decoded" concepts to play. This is truly generous and beyond belief. The idea that ten people gave this a thumbs down is freakin' ludicrous. We are so fortunate to have videos like this one and the original source material. Awesome, the best conceptual lesson I have ever seen. Brilliant.

OMG HOW IS THIS FREE... THIS IS THE MOST VALUABLE VIDEO ABOUT GUITAR I HAVE WATCHED FROM THE DAY I WAS BORN UNTIL THIS VERY MOMENT.

This is the coolest instructional guitar video I've ever seen...I only wish I knew what he was talking about.

Troy, you have done a PHD analysis of picking technique , something that was sorely lacking! This depth of research has been common in the harmonic analysis of Jazz and Classical music, and also in the mechanics of various other instruments, but never for our beloved electric guitar! Thank you so much, and the work is brilliant and profound!

Hey Troy, I'm a teacher/ Performer by trade. I make my living with a Guitar. I want to say I enjoy your videos.It's very obvious that you are educated and are not on utube just to be on tv. You have done your research and it shows. Keep it up. Its nice to see a guy work hard and it's about the work not just to hear yourself talk. Keep it up bud.

What makes a lot of Eric's stuff so difficult is that he'll choose to play something in an area of the neck purely for the different tone it gives, as opposed to the most logical for ease of playing.

I don't think people appreciate enough the amazing 8 bit segments, nor the 8 bit music programming (all in Eric Johnson-esque melodic sequences). That took a lot of work I bet!

These are the most ridiculously well produced, informative guitar videos ever created. How did I only now discover them, and where the fuck were they when I was 14? Kids these days have such an unfair advantage. :)

This is possibly the best thing I've ever seen on KZfaq

Cracking the Code - "Guthrie Govan". Please man, keep the wonderful job

I am amazed. Not only do you know this technique inside out - you've also mastered the art of making a graphically complex but intuitive and inspiring video lesson. I also like how the audio bits 'weave' together here - those droning chords you've put under Eric's lines, and so on. Very cool.

Troy is brilliant.

Without a doubt, this is the single best video on explaining advanced guitar technique of all time. If every instructional video was like this, we would all be experts. Bravo. This was 10/10 craftsmanship in this video!

it's like im watching an Illuminati video

I can't believe how good your videos. I've been playing for almost 20 years just recently started taking lessons again, my teacher said to watch Yngwie and I stumbled across your vids thank god!

jesus this is straight up a list material for every guitar nerd on the planet! i just can´t get enough of this stuff! more episodes please! it felt like an eternity to wait for this new episode, thank you thank you thank you sooo much!

I've learn't more this afternoon watching this than I can believe. Its so well done and has been a pleasure to watch, I wished I had watched it in 2014. Many thanks for the massive amount of effort you have put in generating this content.

Brilliant teaching and presentation as always, and I think the soundtrack for the episode is your best yet. Love the work you guys are doing.

Love the “Landron Lodge” haha that’s epic. One of Eric’s best solos on Musicom

This is what class and school should be like - regardless of subject. Made with love by true experts and delivered in a brilliant way. Very fun, interesting, capturing, educational, inspiring, etc. I could go all day. One of the most amazing eduactional pieces I have ever seen, and Troy Grady's lessons have changed my life by multiplying my love and inspiration for the guitar. Thank you so much to Troy and his team, and if anyone out there is considering buying his lessons. You have no fucking idea. Just do it.

You're too damn smart. The drones are on their way. You have exposed our secrets for too long, Mr. Grady! We tried to hide the sweep picking and confuse players with the Eric Johnson vid but you've meddled where you shouldn't have! Now... you leave us no alternative. Upstroke, downstroke, it won't matter soon. MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH

Ack!!! I just got to the part in the "Cascade" performance notes where you show how EJ vaguely ruminated about two-way pickslanting way back in "The Fine Art of Guitar". He always struck me as a sincere and likeable guy, and he seems to genuinely be trying to share his wisdom, but the difficulty in sussing out his intended meaning from those videos was agonizing. I can only imagine what a person could have learned from some private lessons with the guy, where followup questions and elaborations/demonstrations would have been possible. But you would have had to know the right questions to ask too. So glad you've been able to decipher this for us, and in retrospect, it all starts to seem obvious, though the state of guitar today shows us it really wasn't so obvious. Better late than never, though!

Cracking the Code's editor deserves a medal for giving me goosebumps on the piano playing E major with Eric's descending pentatonic lick!!

Wow, this is amazing. Never thought I would listen to someone talking half an hour about picking technique. xD The work that went into this video has probably been exhausting. Awesome that you shared this with us, and in such detail. Thank you very much and cheers!

Troy's power lies in those massive calves he has :)

Bravo!! This by far is the best tutorial/lesson/analytical whatever video I've found on KZfaq land. You sir, I salute you for your time and effort. Thank you!

Troy, you are to teaching the guitar what Jimi Hendrix, EVH and Yngwie are to playing the guitar. Light years ahead of everyone else! AMAZING!

Oh my gracious goodness! I just discovered this, and it is exciting, fascinating, brilliantly produced and 'light years' beyond any other guitar tutorial I have ever seen! I'm just a life-long E.J. fan, and without really aspiring to play like him, I always get a thrill out of just listening! I've always been fascinated by the 'math of music' and to me it was obvious that E.J. had some very intricate arrangements woven into the math of his picking patterns. But just listening was good enough for me! (As far as playing, Rock N' Roll rhythm guitar is where I'm at...) Nonetheless, it's awesome, illuminating and thoroughly entertaining to watch your presentation of 'cracking this code'. Thanks and Rock On!

I’m literally only 2.5 minutes in and I’m already blown away by the quality of this video. Fantastic work.

Troy Grady, the teacher for all teachers, guitarist for all guitarists... And to top it all off, we're all having fun! Incredible... I've been binge watching these episodes and learned more than I ever have the past 8 years of playing guitar... To you sir I tip my hat. Live long and prosper and may the shred be with you!

Eric likes to "pick out" for tonal fullness.. I suspect this is why he prefers to stringhop on slower runs, switching to sweeps when speed is required. He's choosing the right technique for the intended effect. these videos are priceless... knowledge is power and you're giving it away freely. Truly awesome.

Sherlock Holmes once said that genius was an infinite capacity for taking pains, and by his definition you sir are a bona fide genius!

The thing that makes E.J so special is he's able to play these incredible things at warp speed, but always making it melodic and musical at the same time. That's what's always drawn me to his playing, along with his amazing tones! Keep up the great work Troy!

This is the first episode I came across. I am now 100% going to go to episode 1 and work my way through. You've done a fantastic job on putting this together.

Troy Grady: Yesterday I watched all of Seasons 1 & 2 in one sitting. (Slow day here at the office.) Very impressive, indeed! And it all made so much sense. My thoughts went to how many years I'd spent maintaining strict alternate-picking, working towards keeping the pick perfectly perpendicular to the guitar (though I WAS using edge-picking). Despite seeing Eric J., Yngwie, etc. all slant their guitar picks....it never registered in my brain. When I got home yesterday I tried a few scales and patterns with the slant method......you can guess the results. You deserve much credit for pursuing this and 'cracking the code'. I also posted a link to Season 1 Episode1 on my FB page. I told all of my guitar buds what you'd accomplished, and that they should really watch all of these videos (regardless of their own musical taste/style.) Well done!

This is the greatest gift to all mankind. Amen

I'd love to see something on Kiko Loureiro's picking. It's incredible technique.

Makes me appreciate my guitar hero’s even more now, thanks Troy our guitar decoding genius!

Troy is the guitar community Big Brothers every young Player wishes for

Hi Troy! Just wanted to thank you for posting these lessons. I've been playing professionally for about 17 years now, and I've always felt that my picking technique is my achilles heel. I'm now reevaluating everything I do with the pick thanks to your awesome lessons! I can't tell you how much my speed and overall facility has improved just in the last few days. :)

I was ALWAYS tentative playing the 5 note rolling descending runs. I never stuck with 1 way because they never felt 100% consistent. Sometimes they felt right and sometimes they didn't. It anyways depended on what preceded the lick. I've also always utilized downward slanting just because early on it seemed to make sense for playing certain types of phrasing, especially with pentatonics. I used it when playing those EJ runs, but it didn't change the fact that sometimes playing them in those runs sometimes just didn't feel right. Id watched the 6 minute video on playing those runs. Then the segment that slowed it down and then had the animation showing what was going on and why it worked well came on. Unexpectedly, after watching that few seconds of animation, and it suddenly clicked. I picked up a guitar and played a few attempts, and i was playing it better than i ever had before, or at least without that inconsistency that always made it feel like i was "fumbling" the run instead of "playing" it was gone. It was just a matter of seeing it gave me an "intent/purpose," and it was immediately beneficial. I can only think of 2 other things that paid off that quickly: realizing that i was string-hopping too much when i was playing something requiring more speed than your average classic rock or blues riffs, and; focusing on playing notes and chords ON TOP of the fretboard and not THROUGH it, when i transitioned to thicker/chunkier necks.

Next stop: Steve Morse. :)

I only just discoverd your channel after Ben Eller mentioned it. These videos are ridiculously good!

Amazing video on many levels. Just your attention span a lone in being able to analyze the live footage with such depth and detail is remarkable, and one of the reasons why you're better at guitar than me.. haha And I see what you did there at the end with "trademark". ;)

wish videos like this would have been around when i was 15-17....lots of years of exploring could have been saved....anyways such a great effort doing this!..thank you very much troy!

Fantastic mesh of Yngwie and Eric's style in harmony...🤘

Wow. Concepts that have flabbergasted me for years, eluding my burning desire and efforts to learn and understand them on a conceptual and modular level, now suddenly completely broken down and presented in easily digestible chunks and illustrative animations, best of all to the definitive recording of this legendary staple in any student of shred/virtuosity in guitar; what's more, incorporating analogous demonstrations from previous lessons without sacrificing a lick of accessibility in doing so. Cracked the code you have indeed, sir. Bravo to you for diligence, vigilance, and uncanny penchant for explanation and presentation using just the right balance between lay- and tech-speak. Even though I put down the electric guitar and the flatpick now a few years ago to devote my studies to the percussive multi-part methodology of the solo fingerstyle acoustic guitar movement, the day will come when the itch for the electric returns. And when it does, your series here will be indispensable in finally breaking down the barriers I was so frustratedly facing in advancing to a truly virtuosic command of the entirety of the fretboard (who knew, too much Tony Iommi and early Jimmy Page would eventually reveal itself a nigh inescapable shackle to in-the-box pentatonics, give or take a blues scale chromatic here or there, for leads and melodies...) and the picking techniques that for so long embodied the greatest adversary of my legato-centric style's bag of tricks and fake-outs, only realizing after it was too late the degree to which they had turned into more technical crutches than tools of a well rounded and diverse repertoire when relied upon instead of tastefully reserved for economically spaced moments of excitement and accentuation (because accenting *everything* really provides no *accent* at all). Anyway, thank you for the obvious mountain of time and effort you invested in analyzing and mastering the techniques, and then creating this outstanding video for guys like me who just couldn't make sense of it before. Made an instant subscriber out of me. Looking forward to catching up on the rest of the series, and eagerly waiting for any upcoming additions.

That is why, Eric Johnson is a master guitar player and one of my most favorites. Nice job on the work you did to share with us all.

Has anybody else noticed that Mr. Grady had managed not only to phrase a la EJ´s but he´d mastered his ingenious "two distinct downstrokes in a row" sweep as well?

I've watched every one of these so far, and I'm starting to see what was advanced in my early playing and what I was naively trying to muscle through.

Simplicity is the trademark of genius. Well said!

I've never thought about re analyzing everything I do, but these videos are a complete inspiration to nit pick everything I do to assure I'm doing everything efficiently, and maybe absorb any of all these styles to improve my own. These gotta be the most important videos right now. And the production.... absolutely fantastic.

Troy I'm so glad that the project I came across all those years ago didn't just disappear into the ether. I remember thinking about it every now and again and saying to myself 'damn that would have been so useful'! It's awesome to me that you've managed to elucidate and breakdown mechanics that I've been struggling to crystalise in my mind for years. I've only recently started to be able to pick fast and I had no idea what had changed but watching your stuff has made me realise that its because I've started downward pick slanting, meaning I can clear the higher string as I go for the upstroke in an ascending lick, something I've always struggled with before. I will be buying all the material you've published and spending the next (?year or two) getting it under my fingers. This right here is the holy grail of some of the most mystical and inexplicable guitar techniques out there. Awesome work dude.

The ideas laid out in this video are going to take my playing places I never thought I could go. Thank you so much for this!

I can't begin to express my excitement for this series; it, along with the Season Pass and Master's in Mechanics, improved my playing so much in a very short period of time. I always found the segment of Eric's instructional video analyzed here to be a baffling head scratcher. Bounce? The heck is he talking about "bounce?" He's not bouncing at all in the example! I'm glad I'm not the only one who found this to be a bit of a road block. Thankfully, Troy's done a wonderful job of breaking it down and clearing up the fog (which was surely unintentional on Mr. Johnson's part). Thanks for your unparalleled work in guitar instruction, Troy and the rest of the Cracking the Code team! Everybody else, go spread the word!

Your videos are top notch & entertaining as hell. I’ve been able to iron out flaws in my right hand technique that I was not even aware of for 20+ years, and make ridiculous progress in a just couple of weeks. Right on!!!!

Troy, this series is amazing! I can't wait to start employing some of the code into my practice!

Well done, sir! My mind is sufficiently blown once again! After I recover I'll go put this new information to use.

Thank you. Had the same tape with mr Johnson, and I couldn't figure it out either. This makes sense - and shows that he's a genius. Great inspiration as allways. And funny to recognice the struggles you describe you had. You are a very generous man, and a great teacher. The visuals are extremely helpfull as well as entertaining. Thank you again!

One third of the views are from me i am sure of it..

The Eric Johnson vs Yngwie "duel" part is really fucking kick ass :D

The time and effort for putting these videos together with animations and everything alone is so impressive... Thanks for sharing such an in-depth analysis of this man's genius - it will save many years of work trying to replicate Eric's technique!

This is great! I love the excellent dissection you did. Quite logical and very simple... But you are the first to do a really awesome video on it all. My father got me that EJ video when I started playing... It was 1990 and I was 15 (could be off by a year or 2 + or -) I am also a graphic designer for the last 20 years, so the combo of the video graphics and the nostalgic euphoria I got watching this was such an entertaining accidental surprise that I clicked on your video. Glad I did. It's Excellent!!!

Oh, also before I forget. I think that the "space" that Eric Johnson tries to go into is so important, it resonates like an important part of all of us. I am so glad that he fought to go there, and I think it is too important for that to be lost if we lose Eric (everyone dies eventually). You seem to really "get it" and I'm pleased that this style will not be forgotten if only to live on through your playing.

Troy,you are such a genius.I like you animated illustrations.

This is a fantastic video. Excellent production and very inspiring too. I love the attention to detail in these videos.

Incredible work as always Troy! Slowing getting the hang of some Eric licks, no easy task, but made a hell of a lot easier with this videos! Keep making them, each one is a gold mine of information!

Thanks Troy! Glad to see somebody has rolled their sleeves up and done the hard work.....not only just to figure this stuff out, but to do even more hard work to share it with others. I too have been traveling the road/path learning these things....albeit I'm going slower as I just hobby play to keep my skill up or maintain.....but I'm actually getting much more than that out of what I'm doing as I make sure (because I am 1000% convinced) that what ever I'm doing should and therefore NEEDS to feel as simple and as natural as strumming the guitar. Shouldn't really be too hard and should never have to tighten up and thrash any part of your arm or hand to play fast.....actually it should be the opposite. Your hand or control of the pick only needs to be tight for the nano second it has resistance from the string....just to counter the strings resistance, and thus ultimately retaining a neutral feel at the pick. People need to realize that this stuff is certainly attainable to most everyone. You just have to want it and be able/willing to open your mind and rewire the way you thik about it and approach it. Many who have learned this stuff or know it had to figure it out themselves. Edward Van Halen was already a highly skilled piano player (near virtuoso) when he started playing guitar. So what the hell do you do when your brain is so highly advanced and your hands (picking had at the least) are noobs to the game? Ed made his hands catch up and catch up quick! Many who pick the guitar up have NO idea where to begin....sure it's overwhelming. But Ed had a genuis brain and an inept picking hand day one of his guitar learning curve. But the way Ed held the pick solved this & gave him extreme control (3 finger grip) and he can be seen angling the pick on a 45 degree both forward direction and cocked backwards too. Ed didn't have to actually dissect all this picking out (nor do I think most of these guys did?) but just keep playing and beating the same stuff to death (to have a comfort zone & a bag of go to riffs) and then expand outwards from there. Again, thanks Troy for putting this together (best instructional videos I've ever seen!) and putting it out there for people to find. I sure wish YT was around (and Troy Grady instruction) back in 1984 when I got started playing. Would have shortened my learning curve by 20+ years!

I like the "CSI" type investigative theme with the whole eerie background music going on and all. Good stuff!

Troy Grady. You're an absolute legend.... Every video is a absolute masterpiece.

It's a brilliant breakdown. Some of the things I knew in some of the things I had no idea about. I could see why I was never able to pick up his style no matter how many tabs I read or videos of people trying to show you I looked at. Very nice work. Thanks....

Just stumbled onto this. Actually one of the best deconstructions of how to play faster picking stuff I've ever seen. Thank you. This has given me so much to practice.

This is absolutely great and generous, selfless effort. I was particularly moved when you had gained a "critical mass" of information and technique so as to channel Eric Johnson at about 27:30. Not only did you convincingly get it, you seemed to capture what I consider is the most moving and emotional dimensions, the quieter passages. I love the way you added the minor droning background for it, just beautiful. I felt bristling with the intensity and emotion of your breakthrough.

You work like a detective. Great fusion of mind and emotion.

Just can't let this pass- this episode was the best yet. Absolutely brilliant fusion of instruction, narrative and stylized presentation. You get a standing 'o' from me! Yeah!

Troy's videos are the most technically in depth and entertaining videos out there. If you don't learn anything from these videos then you never will. I can watch these all morning haha

By watching this video i realized that i have been doing this type of techniaque for a while, this helped me to understand it better and to master even better the tech, amazing video

Troy, if they had a Nobel prize for world class guitar tutorials, you would certainly win. Your work is inspirational and philanthropic to the guitar community. Thank YOU!

That is the first real look in to EJ's style I've seen that actually looks at exactly what, why, and how. Thanks for all your work Troy.

Congratulations to you and your team Troy ,thats some great work there and it stands for all your episodes! Thank you for the knowledge and enlightment!

This might be the greatest thing i've ever seen

So I just took a few of the licks from these episodes and followed the ”rules”... aaaand I'm shredding for the first time. I feel like I progressed a ton in just a couple of days, it's amazing. Thanks for the insight, I never thought my picking was terrible.

BEST. EPISODE. EVER. Thanks a lot, Troy! Cracking the code is an adventure to guitar enlightenment!!!

This is fun and funny. I'm 61 and went through a lot of these frustrations in the 70's....But I still got paid. One peeve though. Eric Johnson was playing these licks and styles in public long before Malmsteen came on the scene. I used to see him often from the early 70's through the 80's here in Texas.

Yes, new episode! I seriously check every week to see if there's a new one and I forgot this last week lol.

Amazing animations of the strings. Very well done -- I've never seen anything like it.

I come back to this video every year, it always blows my mind. I mean, it is almost illegal that this is free. Troy is a truly master of diving deep on technique, and the quality of the content is mouth dropping!

Love the production in this. Very unique method of instruction. The mix of retro and new visuals, sounds. Bravo!

These videos are absolutely over the top in terms of production - it is what makes them so goddamn entertaining to watch and learn from. They are so unique in the big world of guitar lessons! AAAA+++++ Would watch again and again.

Thanks. Ive played a long time and practiced like crazy and have never been able to even think about coming close to approaching light speed like you or some of these players. Now with what you're teaching, I think I have a shot at it.

Man.. I love your videos, you see the guitar with your colour/fashion/mode (bad english) like a duty for the evolution of all of us, musician's souls. You take the best exemples, you make a FREAKING video montage/editing, You talk about Van Halen, Malmsteen, E.Johnson, Crossroads Blues.. You play well and take it seriously. All of your videos are gold nuggets. Thank you for that ! Your channel should be called "Nota Codex" :D Big Respect from France =)

Good catch! When I used to teach, I taught this picking method...but couldn't play like this lol. Great pick demo graphics too!

man, your videos are just awesome. you cover many aspects i've never imagined that would be covered by someone one day. keep the good work, you just got a new subscriber.

This is great stuff, Troy. Very very well put together.

Thanks Troy, you're amazing!

4:05 Eric hammers in the screws, the threads are gone and all passengers are doomed!

Great Job!!!!! Mr Grady, I never miss an episode of Cracking the Code. The best online series for guitarists.

Nice one man. Eric is a massive inspiration for me and this vid has real helped me see the parts of his style I have overlooked. Also loved the way you pulled it off. Good job.

Incredible amount of detail and very clear discriptions (especially like the slowed down video,very cool idea). Oh and it also helps ,that you sir ,are an amazing player. Thankyou from all guitarists everywhere.