I’ve been posting and haven’t even extended an introduction. I hope you can forgive my lack of decorum.
My name is Micah, I’ve been playing guitar for 21 years, and for a long time have pursued difficult and technical music. I currently play in a progressive/technical metal band, though I/we are hardly the equals of some of the luminaries in the genre.
For many years, I considered myself more of a composer than a guitarist, and in fact my concentration in college was composition. I always played in bands though, and due to my rock background, have always considered playing to be an integral part of my musical expression. Lately, however, after years of struggle to achieve a level of compositional ability I could be somewhat proud of, I’ve taken a much harder look at my guitar playing and have decided to do my damnedest to whip myself into shape. Cracking the Code has been a huge influence on my desire to practice and improve over the past few years, and I recently signed up for a Masters in Mechanics membership.
I consider myself to be a TWPS primarily specializing in UWPS, though in a recent technique critique video, Troy pointed out that I was crosspicking. I think this may be a habit that flattens out at higher speeds, and I was also attempting DWPS on the high E string, where there is no next string to rest stroke into. I am definitely a fan of economy picking, though in some situations alternate picking is unavoidable, and I will sometimes favor it instead of having to frequently change between pick slants.
I have invested a lot of practice into sweeping and hybrid picking lately, though I am as yet unsure if it is quite what Marshall Harrison refers to as “swybrid”, but it has definitely resulted in some interesting intervallic lines that strike me as being more like keyboard parts than guitar parts, and I definitely enjoy that.
Anyway, that’s pretty much my life story. In short: Hello!
Great to have you here and let us know if there’s anything else we can help with!