Breaking Down “Cracking the Code”
This is a much-hyped series on YouTube that analyzes picking speed on guitar. It includes a lot of great guitar history, as well as really interesting graphics telling the story. However I’ve found it to be a bit too full of filler.
Here’s my breakdown:
Episode 1:
- It’s easy to just pick with right hand. Harder to pick with synchronization of L/R.
- This is why tremolo picking is easy.
Episode 2:
- Nothing regarding picking.
Episode 3:
- Yngwie’s Descending 4’s scalar runs by playing three notes per string. Fingers repeat on sequences of threes (4-3-1, 4-3-1, 4-3-1).
Episode 4:
- He discovered (on his own) slowing down fast passages in order to hear fast runs. Sequencing loops of slower music in order to transcribe the notes played.
- Most of EVH playing is pentatonic.
- EVH utilized pull-offs and hammer-ons and it can be heard while transcribing.
- But Yngwie picks everything, utilizes similar shapes across the neck for his scalar runs.
- Started to “fake it” in his playing by omitting the third pick on a three-note sequence. Speed came quickly after that.
Episode 5:
- Talks about how he discovers Vai, Albert Lee, and Eric Johnson.
More episodes to come!
Going back over the mini-series; you can see it jumps around quite a bit, but focuses on a few core concepts:
- Pickslanting (angling the pick one way or another based on the direction of the pick stroke in relation to the strings being played on)
