I think Troy Grady deserves a Nobel Prize or the Guitar Equivalent !! It' so entertaining as well as informative and practical. What an incredible gift to the guitar world he is!
Testing I know, right? I think it just goes to show you how chill these guys really are. We've had the great fortune of meeting some really nice people doing this.
Notice that the Hairball Swede didn't show up for an interview. From what i've heard he said something along the lines of "You released the fucking fury" and left the building so Troy had to figure it all out himself with the old tapes. Did a pretty good job tho!
I've been listening to Albert all this past week and wondered if you would ever do a segment on him or any of the other country guys. What great timing!
I have been trying to simplify the complex mysteries of guitar playing ever since since I was a kid. As a result, I've watched a lot of guitar technique videos.These are the most logical, best presented videos I've ever seen. Your work does just this precise thing: It breaks down the complicated and presents it in simplified segments that I can understand. Outstanding work Troy, very well done. Thanks for taking the time to do this!
Brilliant ! I've been playing for about 20 years (nothing special) and have just discovered this a few days ago. I will never be a speed player, but understanding "scientifically" what happens with picking technique in this detail is a real revelation. Bravo !
Hey Troy, that slide at the end, going into the resolution tone is one of the secrets of a swinging sound. Don't underestimate the bEbop influence in his playing, probably via Western Swing. It gives the line additional momentum... it just swings more. Albert is a giant, thanks for covering him !!
Troy is like you said to me in the last Cracking the Code live session. Using the combined movements I'm almost achieving what I want, the amazing Morse Mechanic! I've started with the tip you gave me, I'm picking "diagonally" to the strings and using the 3-finger-picking I started to achieve that Morse "U Shaped Miracle" It's amazing! But I hope that you soon could post more about Morse. And Albert Lee is a legend! Thanks for your Work!
When I started playing, I used the 3 finger pick grip. It felt comfortable, and I started getting a bit faster, but I'd always hit a wall. Then, I started reading a bunch of articles and watching videos and tried to force my hand to hold the pick differently. It's like learning to walk again and I feel like I'm going crazy. I appreciate your videos and am trying my best to keep an open mind as I attempt to demystify my own playing. Thank you!!
All the grips work, for the most part. Three-finger and middle finger are typically used by players use more forearm supination, because it makes it easier to reach the strings. If you use a very supinated arm setup, then three-finger might be optimal.
@@troygrady I have to tell you, I recently bought your Pickslanting Primer and am so grateful for you. I almost stopped playing altogether out of frustration, but your explanations and demos put words to what I've been going through. I really cannot thank you enough. You're doing awesome work my man!!
Excellent job. I've struggled for years with picking and getting from string to string smoothly. Thanks for the analysis, very helpful. As for why this is very helpful: you can stumble onto this at age 15 through dumb luck, or go 5, 10, 20 years of trial and error and maybe never get it. I'd rather be shown then trust to dumb luck. And Albert Kicks A@@!!
Your work is a magnum opus Troy. It's a brilliant education. Alexander Technique helped me overcome disabling focal dystonia and develop strong technique and lead me to integrate many of the important minutiae you bring light to....all quite unconsciously curiously. Like the Buddhist's ' non - doing ' perhaps - in releasing the body. Much respect, great picking dude.
With the material that Troy has already done you should be able to do a little investigation and watch his picking hand to see what he is doing There isn't an infinite number of ways to do picking per se
I would say two way slanting considering he strictly alternate picks. I have Rock Discipline, but I'll have to look at it again. Haven't watched it in 15 years.
Thank you for this. One thing not discussed is how he maintains right hand side of hand muting of the low strings even while picking on the high strings. Many players have to use the thumb of the left to mute the low E string because the side of the right hand is not in contact with the strings at all times. Doing it Alberts way and with holding the pick with three fingers forces me into a totally different hand position. Great analysis
Troy my friend you have a fantastic understanding of the guitar. Really love your videos man they are by far thee most accurate explanations behind some of guitars most mysterious techniques..... Awesome channel.
Firstly, thank you ENORMOUSLY for making me realize that I could already do a bunch of types of picking, but was missing details on how to combine them and banging my head against the wall (seriously man, your videos are pretty awesome, made my day way better, thank you!). Secondly, how awesome are these guys for letting you research their picking!? Excellent! After that, I really would like to see one of these episodes breaking down the picking of Ex-Megadeth's Marty Friedman, I think some of that weird hand position he uses could be explained maybe by what you aproach in this video and in the Eric Johnson episode, about downard pick slanting/string hopping/edge picking. Maybe John McLaughlin? Well, only dreaming about the next episodes, it's up to you! haha Cheers!
Igor Maia Albert was wondeful to work with as were all the players I've been fortunate enough to meet. And if someone is chill enough to let me clamp several pounds of camera to their guitar and nearly poke their eyes out in the process, it only says great things about their humility and interest in learning. We cover McLaughlin in the Antigravity seminar through historical footage though I'd be thrilled to meet him as well. Friedman, down the line, you never know.
I'm sure they're using these vids at MIT...if not juliard...it's great to see the science behind it all...this is stuff I have tried to articulate and solve for a long time...mostly unsuccessfully...so great thanks troy...your obviously hard work is truly appreciated..!!
As much as I appreciate the effort that went into making these videos, it's like analyzing Michelangelo's hammer and chisel technique without having an eye for David.
another interesting acpect of his playing is that when he's hybrid picking, the pickslanting angle flattens, maybe even reaching the point of upward pickslanting
Troy, one thing to note about Albert's picking. On the upstoke, it's intentional because that style of playing has a distinct plucking tone. The pick is trying to mimic the sound of a plucked string like he does with his fingers. It's an aggressive tonality used often by country players. The upward pick movement probably came about for him by a need to create the plucked tonality. Just a thought. Thanks for the videos.
Hello Troy, I think an also very important (and to my knowledge not yet discussed) point is, that both Albert and Steve are gripping the pick very loose. This gives a complete different bounce in and out of the string as with a tighter grip, and also is a bit easier to do with the three finger grip as this keeps the pick better in place. This would be interesting to investigate more: how the different pick-grips ((very) tight, (very) loose) has an effect on the different techniques.
I'm so grateful for this and all of your video analysis. Fantastic stuff. Wonderfully detailed and comprehensive. Such love for playing!! I'm still wondering about Pat Martino: Perhaps the 'holy grail' of what looks so 'wrong' but almost with supernaturally articulate results. Thanks again. I'm a huge A.Lee junkie.
Troy, great analysis of Albert Lee's right- and left-handed technique. Top notch! Want a new challenge? Analyze Scotty Anderson for us! That should keep you busy for a while.... ; )
Eddie did Spanish Fly. The first part is straight up picking that was clean and fast. The best part is he mixes legato and pizzicato together seamlessly.
Thanks for the fantastic work you're doing. It's a dream come true to be able to see close-ups of the great players of the day in slow motion. Years of re-training ahead for me. As an alternative way of looking at Albert's way of changing strings after a down-stroke (while ascending), it looks to me that he sweeps over the next string, muting it with his left hand, putting his pick nicely in place for the up-stroke. After watching your excellent videos I've been analyzing my own picking, and found that that's how I've been doing it. One other player I'd just love to see you doing your camera work on is George Benson. Any chance of that?
There is indeed some swiping in Albert's technique, but it's not all the time. It's mainly his combination of crosspicking hand movements that lets him get over the string, with occasional higher string contact. However if you just forget about trying to get over the string entirely, and don't even make those movements, in favor of hitting the next string every time, that would be what I think of as more straightforward swiping. This is what you'll see in Jorge Strunz' technique, and lots of other players.
Thnx so much for this Troy. I had the pleasure of hanging with Albert for quite awhile after a clinic many many years ago, after the worshipers had left and we could have an intelligent conversation. He couldn't have been more down to earth friendly and our discussion and breakdown of his technical and melodic approach was both entertaining and enlightening to us both and sticks with me to this day. Sweet guy, and daunting technician. Now, what ya got on Gipsy Jazz like, Angelo Debarre, and or Stochelo Rosenberg? Just asking. Seriously, you're doing a great service to and for the guitar playing community. Thnx
It's pretty nice of Albert to let you put that camera on the guitar so the "mystery" could be removed for you. Albert seems like a great guy. Growing up on Al Di Meola and Yngwie, I never had trouble playing through Albert's lines due to good influence. But, Albert's humble attitude is what I wish all musicians would take influence from. After all, music talent is a gift from God and therefore we should not be arrogant about what was given to us from above, not to metion our every breath. :)
First tele players have to develop a different picking technique to cope with the absence of forearm contours. More of the forearm lies flat on the body of the guitar. Second, Albert holds the pick with 3 fingers, which also has a big impact on movement.
This is GREAT STUFF! I hope you can make a deal with Mark Knopfler and make a video like this on his right hand (finger)picking technique. I am trying to figure it out by watching a lot of videos but it fails. If you can shoot a video with MK I think a lot of guitarist over the whole world will be very very happy. I will be there to watch and learn!!
I'm late to the party on this it seems... however this is AMAZINGLY in depth and explained perfectly and I'm interested in applying this and checking out more of his stuff for sure. However, this is the dryest picking technique I have ever seen and in my opinion doesn't allow many possibilities for expression or dynamics. i prefer players that...for lack of a better description... "explode through" the strings. i prefer to use the far stronger muscles (tricep, forearm) where much more speed and power is available. the wrist for me a strictly a position keeper. for accuracy I perform what amounts to rest strokes and use the natural resistance of the stopping string to bounce my pick back towards the target. i can either economy or straight alternate. and for Effect will often pick through several strings at once and selectively mute unwanted ones... giving a very percussive sound. this video is 1st time I've ever thought of this in such depth and it's another possible tool and has assisted me in self analysis. thanks will be checking out more!
I noticed something interesting today. I watched the Albert Lee and Steve Morse videos and was interested in this downward 'dextension' movement i.e. on downstroke a combination of ulnar deviation and extension of the wrist. This movement provides downward pick slanting but finishing with an escape movement that facilitates string changing that ISN'T string hopping. I think this is affected by pick grip. If I hold the pick between thumb and SIDE of index finger, probably the most common way of holding the pick, the further I hold the thumb up the index finger the greater I have to flex the index finger to curl it up and bring it closer to the base of the thumb. This requires contraction of the flexor digitorum (the muscles that curls the index finger = flexion). Because this muscle is contracted, and so shortended, I can feel a tightness when I then try and extend my wrist in the opposite direction. This could be the origin of the tightness Eric Johnson mentions when he uses string hopping, an extension driven movement. But it's this extension that gives Albert Lee the escape movement on downstroke. If I hold the fleshy tip of my thumb against the fleshy tip of my index finger, i.e. a pinching movement with fingers almost straight, and most markedly when I place my thumb, index, and 2nd together in the way I hold a pen, then wrist extension feels much freer because I'm not contracting flexor digitorum. I notice both Albert Lee and Steve Morse hold the pick a bit more like this so maybe the beneficial combination movement of 'dextension' , as opposed to the con of pure extension in string hopping, is dependant (partially? wholly?) on pick grip. No doubt Troy has covered all this elsewhere. No stone unturned and all that! The problem is a 'flat' pick doesn't naturally lend itseld to this grip whereas a cylindrical pen does. How about a pick that's like the front portion of an arrow with the flat head plus a bit of the cylindrical shaft? Hold the cylindrical shaft and pick with the flat head!
Pick grip doesn’t affect motion at the wrist joint. And both Albert and Steve are wrist players. However grip does affect the pick’s orientation. Both Albert and Steve use s supinated arm position. If they used an index finger grip they would have downward pickslanting and that does not work for the double escape motion they use. That’s why they use a middle or three finger grip. This allows no pickslant for the supinated arm position, which is what you want for double escape.
Man! Ya'll have got some serious ADD haha! I can't imagine this kind of analysis. I used to be very fast (before carpel tunnel) and always played clean (strat and super with no effects). This was apparent in my playing at a young age and, when guys asked me what I was doing I was unable to tell them. But, after a little thought, I realized that not only was I moving my wrist, I was also flexing my thumb and forefinger in a secondary motion (I never played stiff-armed unless it was for the Dick Dale type of thing). I never thought about it for a second till people started asking me. I would say that there is no better way to develop a personal technique than the drudgery of practice practice practice - there is really no intellectual knowledge that will result in a shortcut for this. Just my 2 cents fellas.
Here's an update After working though this technique with Alberts way of flextension I had to try it with my standard upward pickslanting and use the flextension above the string on the upstroke and man does it feel good. Weird how it took me to do it Alberta way then reverse engineer it haha but hey that's how we learn I like the fact know that I can do a bunch of different kinds of picking styles/techniques if I need to I don't think they will feel as comfortable as my upward pick slanting but are very usable none the less Thanks again
I've watched about 25 seconds.and I've listened to the narration. I have to go back now to Rory Gallagher playing his Stratocaster live. He put the guitar on the stage floor and pulled it by the cord.
+severalpaperclips Yes, I've seen that video. I had great achievement on single string. But when it comes to string crossing, I either have a scratchy sound, or I stuck in the middle. Ohmura seems to move his elbow when crossing string, so he does not change his wrist angle. I'm gonna try to move my elbow with a long sleeve shirt, cause my skin is sweaty and does easily stick on my guitar. And I also do think that there are physiological factors, this is a neural activity. It's like singing, not all of us can sing well, though we are all equipped with the same hardware.
Deniz METİN Good call re: long sleeve shirt for freeing up the arm. I suspect that some players who wear sweatbands on their arms are doing so to reduce "arm sticking" on the guitar body.
Exactly. IMO the best test of ability to use clean and precise picking is playing the same solo or impro on classic/accoustic guitar and even better on the electric guitar (without hollow body) with switched off the amp, especially distortion! Then even legato can't work sometimes and we can hear all the mistakes just very clearly and precisely. There will be problems with even getting some harmonics. Again it was great analysis, so Like & Sub :)
Thank you Troy for all the videos on your channel! Just wondering have you heard of a guitarist called Takayoshi Ohmura? He is in the style of yngwie but his picking motion is pretty different from yngwie..
Great lesson as always! I have been analyzing my own picking technique and I found out that I turn my thumb towards the guitar (the opposite of what Albert Lee does) and then proceed to do an upward pick-slanting technique. I figured out I do this to mute the bottom strings with my picking-hand thumb as I pass onto the top strings. Can my technique achieve the same efficiency of the downward-picking technique? Or more simply: Can upward pick-slanting achieve the same efficiency of downward pick-slanting?
Johnathon A. Kwisses Are you asking whether the compound movement technique that we outline here can be done with upward pickslanting? Yes, indeed it can! All the formulas will be reversed, as Judd describes in another comment. If you're concerned about picking speed in general, understand that most players don't use this compound technique -- they just use a single movement for max single-string speed. For upward pickslanters that's usually wrist deviation or elbow flexion/extension (what most players just call "elbow"). If you're doing either of those, then you will have plenty of speed. See also: Vinnie Moore (elbow), John McLaughlin (deviation), etc.
+Troy Grady Yes, that is what I was getting at. I found out that I was attempting to do downward pickslanting while angling my wrist as if I was doing upward pickslanting and of course I was struggling to pick easily. Today I decided to practice with upward pickslanting with wrist deviation and I can play much easier. Thank you for your response as it corrected my worries!
No idea wtf all these words mean but Alberts technique is probably better considering he doesnt have arthritis like Steve. It also looks more effortless.
I don't know how much he plays with his fingers but kind of overlooked is he is doing what sounds like chicken picking (with his fingers) but he is actually picking.
Truly incredible content, analysis and presentation- thank you. BTW what do these players have to say after seeing your analysis? Is it obvious to them, or did they figure it out in a more intuitive and physical way, ie without consciously thinking of the details?
Hey mate ;I was wondering things like this about Richie Kotzen and his jazzy note timings and phrases on his paying dues solo.To me it sounds like he is trying to sound like a horn or sax player.Would like your thought of it and maybe a tip to help me work it out.
Troy, are you familiar with Brad Paisley? I know he is in the same genre as Albert Lee, but I would love to see you dissect his technique and determine if he is using the same wrist movements in his technique. I am unsure youd be able to get him to sit down for an interview or a lesson as he famously, apparently, doesnt do those (I've looked) - but based on the quality of work you do here, if there was anyone to tackle this....I'd vote you. :)
After many years of playing in metal, blues, pop, jazz, country, funk, classic rock, etc. groups that is definitely NOT my experience. Any mistake with any kind of amp setting will be heard with sufficient VOLUME. The only thing that hides mistakes is palm damping or using time-based effects that obscure the original pitch that was played.
@@JgHaverty You said gain hides mistakes, but mistakes are mistakes. Make a mistake with a distortion tone, and you get noise plus not a clear articulated note.
@@TheCrimsonIdol987 Mate Im aware "mistakes are mistakes" lol. If I go to your car and scratch the bottom side of your rear bumper its gonna be a lot less noticeable than if I key your hood. *TECHNICALLY* I "scratched your car" in both scenarios. One is just a lot more obvious than the other... Much the same if you fret a chord youre not fretting one of the notes hard enough, its a LOT more obvious if you have a clean tone than if you are playing with high gain.
Rotating your picking-hand forearm away from you to achieve a downward slant on the pick to facilitate down-strokes has been done by hot jazz players for years. Typically, players like George Benson not only rotate their pick to achieve a downslope, they also turn it sideways to present as smooth a profile of the pick as possible to the string. Benson uses this method to smooth out the attack on the string and to allow more-effective slurs, sweeps and glisses - the better to get that sought-after horn-like articulation so sought after by jazz players. Benson was using it to imitate horn players and maybe Wes Montgomery - and not to play country-rock runs, but the effect is the same. You can bet Albert Lee knows this, too, despite the fact that he isn't a straight-ahead jazz guy. When you add in his hybrid picking using several of his RH fingers and his awesome command of bends, slurs, glisses, hammers, pull-offs and open string use, you get his style. Of course, you still have to have his amazing creativity and musicality to sound as good as he does! ; )
just gonna put out a guess on how Albert Lee developed his style. He liked the DWPS for whatever reason. Then it made more sense to him when going to a higher string to go TOWARDS that string with a downstroke as opposed to AWAY from that string with an upstroke. So he set up his playing to cross strings after downstrokes and he just found a way to make it work
I got a pic of Albert snd me taken in 59 he is holding his first elec guitar ( a hofner committee) so he has been playing longer than 50 years.I think he is 15 or 16 in the pic.
![⭐️( ลอยกระทง 2024 ) Ver. แดนซ์ Remix BY [ ดีเจกิต รีมิกซ์ ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rMWOLhgXUHc/mqdefault.jpg)
My god, I can't imagine how much time these videos must take you to film and edit. You are the man, love watching your content!
I think Troy Grady deserves a Nobel Prize or the Guitar Equivalent !! It' so entertaining as well as informative and practical. What an incredible gift to the guitar world he is!
Wow. Most indepth guitar lesson for any style ever. Great work.
Your analysis of players picking technique is truly in a class by itself. Very insightful and informative.
Excellent Troy. I am a guitar teacher and I find your videos extremely articlate & logical. Btw; your own playing is superb. Greetings from Germany.
This is the greatest channel on youtube! Every guitar player should know your teachings Troy!
erpaloinen
Sometimes I can't believe my eyes, that these legends shares their diamonds with us.
Thank you, dear Troy.
Testing I know, right? I think it just goes to show you how chill these guys really are. We've had the great fortune of meeting some really nice people doing this.
***** I know he's famously legato in style (although he can certainly pick), but some analysis on Allan Holdsworth would be very interesting, IMO.
Notice that the Hairball Swede didn't show up for an interview. From what i've heard he said something along the lines of "You released the fucking fury" and left the building so Troy had to figure it all out himself with the old tapes. Did a pretty good job tho!
I've been listening to Albert all this past week and wondered if you would ever do a segment on him or any of the other country guys. What great timing!
I have been trying to simplify the complex mysteries of guitar playing ever since since I was a kid. As a result, I've watched a lot of guitar technique videos.These are the most logical, best presented videos I've ever seen. Your work does just this precise thing: It breaks down the complicated and presents it in simplified segments that I can understand. Outstanding work Troy, very well done. Thanks for taking the time to do this!
Brilliant ! I've been playing for about 20 years (nothing special) and have just discovered this a few days ago. I will never be a speed player, but understanding "scientifically" what happens with picking technique in this detail is a real revelation. Bravo !
Again, I'm learning so much from your rigorous analysis! I deeply respect your work!!!
Hey Troy, that slide at the end, going into the resolution tone is one of the secrets of a swinging sound. Don't underestimate the bEbop influence in his playing, probably via Western Swing. It gives the line additional momentum... it just swings more.
Albert is a giant, thanks for covering him !!
Francisco Espinoza Absolutely! These mechanical and artistic elements evolve together.
Do you have to use the downward pickslanting?
As a teenager, I was a master of radial and ulnar radiation.
hahahahaha... got it
I also was a Master!
Doesn't that cause cancer?
I mastered the art of putting a worm on a fish hook when I was just a boy.
You're gonna go blind!
Troy, I can't thank you enough for these!
You are THE MAN!
This Troy Grady Channel is one of the best on TH-cam. Really enjoying those videos.
This is why Albert is one of the best in the business!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Right on!
Troy is like you said to me in the last Cracking the Code live session. Using the combined movements I'm almost achieving what I want, the amazing Morse Mechanic! I've started with the tip you gave me, I'm picking "diagonally" to the strings and using the 3-finger-picking I started to achieve that Morse "U Shaped Miracle"
It's amazing! But I hope that you soon could post more about Morse. And Albert Lee is a legend! Thanks for your Work!
I've been playing clean tone for the last 20 plus years that's where the true mastery in guitar playing exists
I truley belive Albert Lee is the best of the best. He does it all. Nobody does it like Albert.
Albert is a picking pioneer!
When I started playing, I used the 3 finger pick grip. It felt comfortable, and I started getting a bit faster, but I'd always hit a wall. Then, I started reading a bunch of articles and watching videos and tried to force my hand to hold the pick differently. It's like learning to walk again and I feel like I'm going crazy. I appreciate your videos and am trying my best to keep an open mind as I attempt to demystify my own playing. Thank you!!
All the grips work, for the most part. Three-finger and middle finger are typically used by players use more forearm supination, because it makes it easier to reach the strings. If you use a very supinated arm setup, then three-finger might be optimal.
@@troygrady I have to tell you, I recently bought your Pickslanting Primer and am so grateful for you. I almost stopped playing altogether out of frustration, but your explanations and demos put words to what I've been going through. I really cannot thank you enough. You're doing awesome work my man!!
Excellent job. I've struggled for years with picking and getting from string to string smoothly. Thanks for the analysis, very helpful. As for why this is very helpful: you can stumble onto this at age 15 through dumb luck, or go 5, 10, 20 years of trial and error and maybe never get it. I'd rather be shown then trust to dumb luck. And Albert Kicks A@@!!
Troy, this is awesome! Your doing is great. I never thought there are so many variations in right hand movements
Your work is a magnum opus Troy. It's a brilliant education. Alexander Technique helped me overcome disabling focal dystonia and develop strong technique and lead me to integrate many of the important minutiae you bring light to....all quite unconsciously curiously. Like the Buddhist's ' non - doing ' perhaps - in releasing the body. Much respect, great picking dude.
Wish there was such in depth video about John Petrucci on his alt picking, it is awesome.
That would be pretty cool, and I'm sure he'd be up for an interview. He seems like a pretty down to earth fellow.
With the material that Troy has already done you should be able to do a little investigation and watch his picking hand to see what he is doing
There isn't an infinite number of ways to do picking per se
I would say two way slanting considering he strictly alternate picks. I have Rock Discipline, but I'll have to look at it again. Haven't watched it in 15 years.
Check out Martin Miller's Interview for the Glass Prison \m/ with crosspicking
Teuvo Jormanainen, Petrucci is not a good alt picker or any kind of picking for that matter. Everything else is pretty good though
Thank you for this. One thing not discussed is how he maintains right hand side of hand muting of the low strings even while picking on the high strings. Many players have to use the thumb of the left to mute the low E string because the side of the right hand is not in contact with the strings at all times. Doing it Alberts way and with holding the pick with three fingers forces me into a totally different hand position. Great analysis
Troy my friend you have a fantastic understanding of the guitar.
Really love your videos man they are by far thee most accurate explanations behind some of guitars most mysterious techniques..... Awesome channel.
Firstly, thank you ENORMOUSLY for making me realize that I could already do a bunch of types of picking, but was missing details on how to combine them and banging my head against the wall (seriously man, your videos are pretty awesome, made my day way better, thank you!). Secondly, how awesome are these guys for letting you research their picking!? Excellent! After that, I really would like to see one of these episodes breaking down the picking of Ex-Megadeth's Marty Friedman, I think some of that weird hand position he uses could be explained maybe by what you aproach in this video and in the Eric Johnson episode, about downard pick slanting/string hopping/edge picking. Maybe John McLaughlin? Well, only dreaming about the next episodes, it's up to you! haha Cheers!
Igor Maia Albert was wondeful to work with as were all the players I've been fortunate enough to meet. And if someone is chill enough to let me clamp several pounds of camera to their guitar and nearly poke their eyes out in the process, it only says great things about their humility and interest in learning. We cover McLaughlin in the Antigravity seminar through historical footage though I'd be thrilled to meet him as well. Friedman, down the line, you never know.
I'm sure they're using these vids at MIT...if not juliard...it's great to see the science behind it all...this is stuff I have tried to articulate and solve for a long time...mostly unsuccessfully...so great thanks troy...your obviously hard work is truly appreciated..!!
they're using them at NASA
I'd love to see such an interview with Brian May: maybe not the fastest guitar player out there, but definitely a great one!
As much as I appreciate the effort that went into making these videos, it's like analyzing Michelangelo's hammer and chisel technique without having an eye for David.
another interesting acpect of his playing is that when he's hybrid picking, the pickslanting angle flattens, maybe even reaching the point of upward pickslanting
Troy, one thing to note about Albert's picking. On the upstoke, it's intentional because that style of playing has a distinct plucking tone. The pick is trying to mimic the sound of a plucked string like he does with his fingers. It's an aggressive tonality used often by country players. The upward pick movement probably came about for him by a need to create the plucked tonality. Just a thought. Thanks for the videos.
Very very interesting and informative. Thank you for taking the time and effort to do this.
Mind Blown......Really great stuff!!
You should go into detail about this,Troy
Hello Troy, I think an also very important (and to my knowledge not yet discussed) point is, that both Albert and Steve are gripping the pick very loose.
This gives a complete different bounce in and out of the string as with a tighter grip, and also is a bit easier to do with the three finger grip as this keeps the pick better in place.
This would be interesting to investigate more: how the different pick-grips ((very) tight, (very) loose) has an effect on the different techniques.
I'm so grateful for this and all of your video analysis. Fantastic stuff. Wonderfully detailed and comprehensive. Such love for playing!!
I'm still wondering about Pat Martino: Perhaps the 'holy grail' of what looks so 'wrong' but almost with supernaturally articulate results.
Thanks again. I'm a huge A.Lee junkie.
This is the best channel I'v found on youtube, keep up the good work
Might I recommend a social life?
Troy, great analysis of Albert Lee's right- and left-handed technique. Top notch! Want a new challenge? Analyze Scotty Anderson for us! That should keep you busy for a while.... ; )
Fantastic work. I love what you are doing.
Cool episode. After watching that I can now see some similar techniques in George Benson's picking to Albert's.
Eddie did Spanish Fly. The first part is straight up picking that was clean and fast. The best part is he mixes legato and pizzicato together seamlessly.
Thanks for the fantastic work you're doing. It's a dream come true to be able to see close-ups of the great players of the day in slow motion. Years of re-training ahead for me. As an alternative way of looking at Albert's way of changing strings after a down-stroke (while ascending), it looks to me that he sweeps over the next string, muting it with his left hand, putting his pick nicely in place for the up-stroke. After watching your excellent videos I've been analyzing my own picking, and found that that's how I've been doing it. One other player I'd just love to see you doing your camera work on is George Benson. Any chance of that?
There is indeed some swiping in Albert's technique, but it's not all the time. It's mainly his combination of crosspicking hand movements that lets him get over the string, with occasional higher string contact. However if you just forget about trying to get over the string entirely, and don't even make those movements, in favor of hitting the next string every time, that would be what I think of as more straightforward swiping. This is what you'll see in Jorge Strunz' technique, and lots of other players.
Another great study - thank you so much
Thnx so much for this Troy. I had the pleasure of hanging with Albert for quite awhile after a clinic many many years ago, after the worshipers had left and we could have an intelligent conversation. He couldn't have been more down to earth friendly and our discussion and breakdown of his technical and melodic approach was both entertaining and enlightening to us both and sticks with me to this day. Sweet guy, and daunting technician.
Now, what ya got on Gipsy Jazz like, Angelo Debarre, and or Stochelo Rosenberg? Just asking. Seriously, you're doing a great service to and for the guitar playing community. Thnx
one of the most "precise picking" guitar heros from 80's for me is definitely mr. Vinnie Moore :)
It's pretty nice of Albert to let you put that camera on the guitar so the "mystery" could be removed for you. Albert seems like a great guy. Growing up on Al Di Meola and Yngwie, I never had trouble playing through Albert's lines due to good influence. But, Albert's humble attitude is what I wish all musicians would take influence from. After all, music talent is a gift from God and therefore we should not be arrogant about what was given to us from above, not to metion our every breath. :)
Good stuff. Also interesting to see that at times Lee seems to allow the pick to move around within his grip a fair bit.
severalpaperclips Flops around quite a bit. You'll also see this in Mike Stern's playing as well.
You should also do the left hand. How to properly execute the techniques of that hand on the fret board. Great videos.
First tele players have to develop a different picking technique to cope with the absence of forearm contours. More of the forearm lies flat on the body of the guitar. Second, Albert holds the pick with 3 fingers, which also has a big impact on movement.
thanks for making these videos ! amazing knowledge to have ^^
Awesome material.
another informative time thanks Troy
Albert Lee doesn't even think about it , he doesn't even think consciously about it . He's an incredible picker , natural .
This is GREAT STUFF! I hope you can make a deal with Mark Knopfler and make a video like this on his right hand (finger)picking technique. I am trying to figure it out by watching a lot of videos but it fails. If you can shoot a video with MK I think a lot of guitarist over the whole world will be very very happy. I will be there to watch and learn!!
Mark's technique is inscrutable - I would love an analysis of his RH technique in particular.
Amazing work!
I'm late to the party on this it seems... however this is AMAZINGLY in depth and explained perfectly and I'm interested in applying this and checking out more of his stuff for sure. However, this is the dryest picking technique I have ever seen and in my opinion doesn't allow many possibilities for expression or dynamics. i prefer players that...for lack of a better description... "explode through" the strings. i prefer to use the far stronger muscles (tricep, forearm) where much more speed and power is available. the wrist for me a strictly a position keeper. for accuracy I perform what amounts to rest strokes and use the natural resistance of the stopping string to bounce my pick back towards the target. i can either economy or straight alternate. and for Effect will often pick through several strings at once and selectively mute unwanted ones... giving a very percussive sound. this video is 1st time I've ever thought of this in such depth and it's another possible tool and has assisted me in self analysis. thanks will be checking out more!
Outstanding!
Remember the old saying “it’s not what you play it’s the way you play”
Thank you. It's awesome.
I noticed something interesting today. I watched the Albert Lee and Steve Morse videos and was interested in this downward 'dextension' movement i.e. on downstroke a combination of ulnar deviation and extension of the wrist. This movement provides downward pick slanting but finishing with an escape movement that facilitates string changing that ISN'T string hopping. I think this is affected by pick grip. If I hold the pick between thumb and SIDE of index finger, probably the most common way of holding the pick, the further I hold the thumb up the index finger the greater I have to flex the index finger to curl it up and bring it closer to the base of the thumb. This requires contraction of the flexor digitorum (the muscles that curls the index finger = flexion). Because this muscle is contracted, and so shortended, I can feel a tightness when I then try and extend my wrist in the opposite direction. This could be the origin of the tightness Eric Johnson mentions when he uses string hopping, an extension driven movement. But it's this extension that gives Albert Lee the escape movement on downstroke. If I hold the fleshy tip of my thumb against the fleshy tip of my index finger, i.e. a pinching movement with fingers almost straight, and most markedly when I place my thumb, index, and 2nd together in the way I hold a pen, then wrist extension feels much freer because I'm not contracting flexor digitorum. I notice both Albert Lee and Steve Morse hold the pick a bit more like this so maybe the beneficial combination movement of 'dextension' , as opposed to the con of pure extension in string hopping, is dependant (partially? wholly?) on pick grip. No doubt Troy has covered all this elsewhere. No stone unturned and all that! The problem is a 'flat' pick doesn't naturally lend itseld to this grip whereas a cylindrical pen does. How about a pick that's like the front portion of an arrow with the flat head plus a bit of the cylindrical shaft? Hold the cylindrical shaft and pick with the flat head!
Pick grip doesn’t affect motion at the wrist joint. And both Albert and Steve are wrist players. However grip does affect the pick’s orientation. Both Albert and Steve use s supinated arm position. If they used an index finger grip they would have downward pickslanting and that does not work for the double escape motion they use. That’s why they use a middle or three finger grip. This allows no pickslant for the supinated arm position, which is what you want for double escape.
Nice content, great details and breakdown.
I never was a Fan of Albert..just not my music..but I allways respected him for his unerathly skills
Albert is the man
never heard of albert lee but he rocks
Man! Ya'll have got some serious ADD haha! I can't imagine this kind of analysis. I used to be very fast (before carpel tunnel) and always played clean (strat and super with no effects). This was apparent in my playing at a young age and, when guys asked me what I was doing I was unable to tell them. But, after a little thought, I realized that not only was I moving my wrist, I was also flexing my thumb and forefinger in a secondary motion (I never played stiff-armed unless it was for the Dick Dale type of thing). I never thought about it for a second till people started asking me. I would say that there is no better way to develop a personal technique than the drudgery of practice practice practice - there is really no intellectual knowledge that will result in a shortcut for this. Just my 2 cents fellas.
Man this is an awesome analysis.
awesome video man!
Thanks a lot.......love Albert...
Awesome Video and story :-)
practice without amplification. clean. that is where it gets tight. albert is insanely great.
You should try to get in touch with Brent Mason. He's another country guitar player who's incredibly fast and clean.
Superb!!!
He is MAGIC! let's face it, we all can't play that way...*frowny face*
Great work Troy, got to say that I do find that occasional background strum sound (not sure what it is) distracting though.
Here's an update After working though this technique with Alberts way of flextension I had to try it with my standard upward pickslanting and use the flextension above the string on the upstroke and man does it feel good. Weird how it took me to do it Alberta way then reverse engineer it haha but hey that's how we learn
I like the fact know that I can do a bunch of different kinds of picking styles/techniques if I need to
I don't think they will feel as comfortable as my upward pick slanting but are very usable none the less
Thanks again
I've watched about 25 seconds.and I've listened to the narration.
I have to go back now to Rory Gallagher playing his Stratocaster live. He put the guitar on the stage floor and pulled it by the cord.
Ha!
Great work.spot on
Thanks! Nice video.
Thank you for these "guitar picking revealed" videos! I'd really love to see a video on Takayoshi Ohmura style picking...
Deniz METİN So many great players, so little time! You never know down the line.
+severalpaperclips Yes, I've seen that video. I had great achievement on single string. But when it comes to string crossing, I either have a scratchy sound, or I stuck in the middle. Ohmura seems to move his elbow when crossing string, so he does not change his wrist angle. I'm gonna try to move my elbow with a long sleeve shirt, cause my skin is sweaty and does easily stick on my guitar.
And I also do think that there are physiological factors, this is a neural activity. It's like singing, not all of us can sing well, though we are all equipped with the same hardware.
Deniz METİN Good call re: long sleeve shirt for freeing up the arm. I suspect that some players who wear sweatbands on their arms are doing so to reduce "arm sticking" on the guitar body.
Exactly. IMO the best test of ability to use clean and precise picking is playing the same solo or impro on classic/accoustic guitar and even better on the electric guitar (without hollow body) with switched off the amp, especially distortion! Then even legato can't work sometimes and we can hear all the mistakes just very clearly and precisely. There will be problems with even getting some harmonics. Again it was great analysis, so Like & Sub :)
Thank you Troy for all the videos on your channel! Just wondering have you heard of a guitarist called Takayoshi Ohmura? He is in the style of yngwie but his picking motion is pretty different from yngwie..
Great lesson as always! I have been analyzing my own picking technique and I found out that I turn my thumb towards the guitar (the opposite of what Albert Lee does) and then proceed to do an upward pick-slanting technique. I figured out I do this to mute the bottom strings with my picking-hand thumb as I pass onto the top strings. Can my technique achieve the same efficiency of the downward-picking technique? Or more simply: Can upward pick-slanting achieve the same efficiency of downward pick-slanting?
Johnathon A. Kwisses Are you asking whether the compound movement technique that we outline here can be done with upward pickslanting? Yes, indeed it can! All the formulas will be reversed, as Judd describes in another comment. If you're concerned about picking speed in general, understand that most players don't use this compound technique -- they just use a single movement for max single-string speed. For upward pickslanters that's usually wrist deviation or elbow flexion/extension (what most players just call "elbow"). If you're doing either of those, then you will have plenty of speed. See also: Vinnie Moore (elbow), John McLaughlin (deviation), etc.
+Troy Grady Yes, that is what I was getting at. I found out that I was attempting to do downward pickslanting while angling my wrist as if I was doing upward pickslanting and of course I was struggling to pick easily. Today I decided to practice with upward pickslanting with wrist deviation and I can play much easier. Thank you for your response as it corrected my worries!
No idea wtf all these words mean but Alberts technique is probably better considering he doesnt have arthritis like Steve. It also looks more effortless.
I don't know how much he plays with his fingers but kind of overlooked is he is doing what sounds like chicken picking (with his fingers) but he is actually picking.
this video helped a lot
Truly incredible content, analysis and presentation- thank you. BTW what do these players have to say after seeing your analysis? Is it obvious to them, or did they figure it out in a more intuitive and physical way, ie without consciously thinking of the details?
Once you get the left and right hand in sync and the pick is a amp by its self you have licked a big part of playing guitar.
Dave Edmonds is Welsh not English ! Albert hybrid picks, just to confuse it a bit more.
This makes my head hurt.
Hey mate ;I was wondering things like this about Richie Kotzen and his jazzy note timings and phrases on his paying dues solo.To me it sounds like he is trying to sound like a horn or sax player.Would like your thought of it and maybe a tip to help me work it out.
Troy, are you familiar with Brad Paisley? I know he is in the same genre as Albert Lee, but I would love to see you dissect his technique and determine if he is using the same wrist movements in his technique. I am unsure youd be able to get him to sit down for an interview or a lesson as he famously, apparently, doesnt do those (I've looked) - but based on the quality of work you do here, if there was anyone to tackle this....I'd vote you. :)
Gain definitely hides mistakes a lot more than a clean tone haha.
After many years of playing in metal, blues, pop, jazz, country, funk, classic rock, etc. groups that is definitely NOT my experience. Any mistake with any kind of amp setting will be heard with sufficient VOLUME. The only thing that hides mistakes is palm damping or using time-based effects that obscure the original pitch that was played.
Mistakes with a clean tone are clear, unarticulated notes.
Mistakes with a distorted tone is noise.
Mistakes are mistakes, regardless of tone.
@@TheCrimsonIdol987 And this has something to do with my point.... because???
@@JgHaverty You said gain hides mistakes, but mistakes are mistakes. Make a mistake with a distortion tone, and you get noise plus not a clear articulated note.
@@TheCrimsonIdol987 Mate Im aware "mistakes are mistakes" lol. If I go to your car and scratch the bottom side of your rear bumper its gonna be a lot less noticeable than if I key your hood. *TECHNICALLY* I "scratched your car" in both scenarios. One is just a lot more obvious than the other...
Much the same if you fret a chord youre not fretting one of the notes hard enough, its a LOT more obvious if you have a clean tone than if you are playing with high gain.
Informative! And very great video skills, man. That must take a year to edit...............
Could this added extension be used to play the Paul Gilbert lick efficiently with dwps alone?
Rotating your picking-hand forearm away from you to achieve a downward slant on the pick to facilitate down-strokes has been done by hot jazz players for years. Typically, players like George Benson not only rotate their pick to achieve a downslope, they also turn it sideways to present as smooth a profile of the pick as possible to the string. Benson uses this method to smooth out the attack on the string and to allow more-effective slurs, sweeps and glisses - the better to get that sought-after horn-like articulation so sought after by jazz players. Benson was using it to imitate horn players and maybe Wes Montgomery - and not to play country-rock runs, but the effect is the same. You can bet Albert Lee knows this, too, despite the fact that he isn't a straight-ahead jazz guy. When you add in his hybrid picking using several of his RH fingers and his awesome command of bends, slurs, glisses, hammers, pull-offs and open string use, you get his style. Of course, you still have to have his amazing creativity and musicality to sound as good as he does! ; )
Im not sure you mentioned Albert using his fingers in conjunction with the pick as well , this cannot be missed
Albert alternates from pick to middle finger nail constantly during runs, (14.17) how does that fit into all this analysis?
just gonna put out a guess on how Albert Lee developed his style. He liked the DWPS for whatever reason. Then it made more sense to him when going to a higher string to go TOWARDS that string with a downstroke as opposed to AWAY from that string with an upstroke. So he set up his playing to cross strings after downstrokes and he just found a way to make it work
JohnProph I think that's an extremely reasonable guess!
Look more closely at the pick position. he drags it at the edge slightly so it does not catch on the strings.
He has been playing for almost 50 years, this is natural, Do you think you can copy this?
I got a pic of Albert snd me taken in 59 he is holding his first elec guitar ( a hofner committee) so he has been playing longer than 50 years.I think he is 15 or 16 in the pic.