Troy Grady Thread

bingefeller

I thought that I'd make a thread to chat about Troy Grady's teachings on picking.  

Anyone here subscribe to his site or have some of his lessons?  

What are you working on at the minute and has it helped improve your picking?  

What kind of a pick slanter are you?

stratman3142

I currently subscribe to Master Of Mechanics. I would say it has helped me by being able to think about my picking and by trying different things for different situations. I'm interested in the science of things and think Troy Grady does a remarkable analysis job, plus he can clearly deliver the goods himself which gives added credibility.

I think I'm predominantly an upward (or close to level) pick slanter but move to a downward pick slant for certain things such as that Johnson/Bonamassa descending backtracking pentatonic lick. However, my picking isn't that great, probably because I'm left handed playing a right handed guitar and I tend to use quite a bit of legato. But I continue to work at it.

I have noticed an occasional swipe sound after recording a fast picking part and slowing it down, which means I don't always completely clear the strings, but it made me feel better about that when I heard from the Troy Grady videos that it happens with other players as well.

bingefeller

stratman3142 said:

I currently subscribe to Master Of Mechanics. I would say it has helped me by being able to think about my picking and by trying different things for different situations. I'm interested in the science of things and think Troy Grady does a remarkable analysis job, plus he can clearly deliver the goods himself which gives added credibility.

I think I'm predominantly an upward (or close to level) pick slanter but move to a downward pick slant for certain things such as that Johnson/Bonamassa descending backtracking pentatonic lick. However, my picking isn't that great, probably because I'm left handed playing a right handed guitar and I tend to use quite a bit of legato. But I continue to work at it.

I have noticed an occasional swipe sound after recording a fast picking part and slowing it down, which means I don't always completely clear the strings, but it made me feel better about that when I heard from the Troy Grady videos that it happens with other players as well.

If you're an upward pick slanter have that means you're hitting the strings on licks which change strings on a downstroke.  Have you ever tried starting those licks on an upstroke?  Or pulling off to the last note to give you time to get over the string?

bingefeller

Strunz and Farah interview coming soon!

stratman3142

bingefeller said:

stratman3142 said:

I currently subscribe to Master Of Mechanics. I would say it has helped me by being able to think about my picking and by trying different things for different situations. I'm interested in the science of things and think Troy Grady does a remarkable analysis job, plus he can clearly deliver the goods himself which gives added credibility.

I think I'm predominantly an upward (or close to level) pick slanter but move to a downward pick slant for certain things such as that Johnson/Bonamassa descending backtracking pentatonic lick. However, my picking isn't that great, probably because I'm left handed playing a right handed guitar and I tend to use quite a bit of legato. But I continue to work at it.

I have noticed an occasional swipe sound after recording a fast picking part and slowing it down, which means I don't always completely clear the strings, but it made me feel better about that when I heard from the Troy Grady videos that it happens with other players as well.

If you're an upward pick slanter have that means you're hitting the strings on licks which change strings on a downstroke.  Have you ever tried starting those licks on an upstroke?  Or pulling off to the last note to give you time to get over the string?

Sorry, I've  just seen I didn't answer your question. I don't worry too much about the 'swipe click' because it only becomes obvious when I analyse what I'm doing by slowing down the audio clip. Also, as Troy Grady explains in one of his videos, it occurs with other players (even Al Dimeola), not that my picking is close to that level.

bingefeller

@stratman3142 I email Troy a few days ago and he said he suspects that Jorge Strunz uses a lot of swiping, so it will be interesting to see the analysis.  

mudslide73

I'm a big fan of Troy. My slanting is very similar to the recent "sort me out" video but I'm able to descend without problem on the bass strings but have to really think about the trebles. I was doing a lot of the CTC stuff unknowingly but not joining it all up properly until I saw the shows. He's made me think about picking in general and nothing is insurmountable without a bit of thought and practise. 

Lewy

Since you pointed me at his material on my last thread here, I've been working through some of his stuff. I have the Carl Miner pack and the Pick Slanting Primer. Ironically, as a bluegrass/flatpicker, I've found more useful application for his insights into the rock/metal players than the Carl Miner material.

Based on his definitions, I'm a Crosspicker, but am starting to introduce two way pick slanting on a tactical basis for passages where I'm struggling to get up to tempo. It's working because licks I've been struggling with are much quicker now.

The challenge with applying this stuff to acoustic is that some things (like upward pick slanting) are real acoustic tone killers - for example, a downstroke with an upward pick slant - so picking out and away from the guitar - sounds very weak compared to a downward slanted rest stroke.