Hm, weird — let us know if you run into any other errors.
Thanks for checking this out! Yes, making this stuff practical has been the focus. These new lessons sneak in a fair amount of complex stuff about joint motion, like our clock face concepts, but it all boils down to one simple hand motion or another. If you can do that, you can do the techniques.
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One thing I would also add to this though, which we’ve seen here on the forum, is that sometimes people think the speed test only works with simple phrases, like a single note tremolo, and can’t work for more complicated phrases like you find in bluegrass. So they go slower for those, and surprise, stringhopping.
Even something like a one-note-per-string bluegrass phrase can and should be addressed up front with faster motions. Everybody can get those lines “correct” at slow speed, as far as the notes are concerned. But that doesn’t mean you’re actually doing the technique right. Just powering through at first, even if it sounds like a mess, is still the best way to guess what doing it for real might be like.
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@Troy amazing! Can’t wait to start digging into this.
FYI the caption under MAB’s picture appears to be missing a g ‘banin’ vs bangin’
Also there’s some kind of hanging code here too?
" ## Where Can You Watch It?
This update is included free with the Pickslanting Primer, and you can check it out righ there:
[rr page=”144176″
If you’re already a Cracking the Code member, hit that link and…"
sorry for the nitpickery! 
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Aha, thanks for catching that! Fixed.
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Just as another point of interest, that shot we reference of Eddie’s motion from “Live Without A Net”, which you can see here at about 2:35:
This really looks like Eddie’s primary motion was USX to me, aka 2:00 wrist motion based on his arm position. I know I’ve said that before, based on other footage which was somewhat less clear, but then I stumbled across this one while editing this lesson. You can see down the strings at just the right angle, and it does look like a shallow upstroke escape type motion. Again, based on his arm position and direction of wrist motion.
You can take a look and see what you think.
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In a future revision, maybe it would be worth adding a “beginner banjo roll test” chapter to drive that point home. I can imagine someone whose primary interest is bluegrass looking at the “tremolo test” chapter and mistakenly thinking “but this doesn’t apply to the lines I want to play!”
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For sure. I can think of some forum examples we’ve seen which I remember but we’ll have to dig them up.
The trick with this new section was where to draw the line. So we figured ‘basic motion’ was the cutoff point. A future update speaking more generally about applying motor learning skills after you have basic motions working, would be a good place to showcase more specific issues related to “I can’t play phrase XYZ”. That’s why we didn’t include more examples of those kinds of things here.
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This is great stuff. Tested all the different motions and I’m now convinced I’ll be able to play fast.
Thanks for this update to the Primer. Can’t wait to get back in the shed.
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Thanks for giving this a go. Were you not convinced before, and why not? What sort of numbers did you come up with on these, anywhere near what I’m doing?
I suspect my own performance on these is somewhere in the ‘average’ ballpark, where many people will be able to do the simpler tests, like the table tap and the elbow test, faster than me. Differences might show up in tests like forearm and Di Meola, which require more specific training / skill, where I might simply have more experience.
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Thanks for the reply @Troy
I’ve been trying to increase my guitar speed using the single note tremolo and giving it a go as fast as I can. At some point I was hitting around 170bpm with what it looked like a wrist motion - mostly DSX but sometimes I can feel it changing between DSX and USX. This was okish in terms of cleanliness and smoothness but not great.
I also noticed that when trying really to go super sonic I could get into the 190bpm but my motion changed to a mixture of wrist and elbow but it wasn’t clean at all and would break down.
So based on this kind of self-assessment I started just using that wrist motion which I still switch between USX and DSX and every now and then I would just play with the tremolo but haven’t really measured the bpms
I tested Al’s motion and I could get to 190bpm and it felt kind of smooth. I also tried the 210bpm as you did in the video and it broke down a little bit. In reality to try to keep up with 210bpm I could sense the arm starting to move - the mixed wrist + elbow motion.
All this appears to correlates to my playing experience so I’m kind of convinced that I could get my wrist and/or wrist+elbow motion to play fast.
I’m looking forward to get the Magnet so I can film my motions and maybe after that I’ll be brave enough to upload some videos if I can’t make progress.
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Since your elbow wants to move at higher speeds, did you try the elbow test specifically? Can that go faster? Because you may have luck with that. Lots of players find that elbow is their fastest joint, and if that’s the case, why not let that power loose. Great elbow players like Bill Hall and Brendon Small are super fluid with that technique.
I’ll have a play with that.
Thanks for the feedback
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Fantastic stuff once again! Thanks so much for making this update, everybody. Will be re-watching with guitar and trying everything out. Very well-worded, clear and inspiring, as it has always been.
You guys are so good at this! 
I resubscribed (again!) and, for me, the explanations of picking motions are clearer using the table as an example. It made everything much easier to understand.
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@Troy this is fantastic work, well done. Extremely clear and inspiring.
I have gone over all the chapters and just tested myself with all the motions. Most are topping out consistently at 210 BPM. However, at that poiint I’m also noticing my shoulder tensing up…
Attempting the ‘Hyper Picking’ technique, almost immediately my wrist, elbow and shoulder lock up with tension. Not in any way that feels healthy either! My question would be how to progress with any of these motions when shoulder tension appears to be a main underlying occurrence?
Amazing work with the new chapters and thank you for everything you’re doing.
I’m honored to be a part of this update! I think it’s awesome that the CtC team continues to enhance and improve the content. And this update is fantastic. The fact you have broken down the motion tests into something that a viewer can immediately do while watching the video (no guitar needed) is incredibly powerful.
I watched the new content and was super impressed (Tommo’s wife’s results were shocking to me). I’m looking forward to going back and trying each test!
I think you got the cutoff point right for this section. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed in the technical details. I know I did (and do). I re-watched the Primer several times before I realized: studying every detail in every section of the Primer wasn’t efficient. I just needed to put pick to string and NOT over-think it. The phrase “tool around with it” is used often in the Primer and man - that cannot be overemphasized.
I think the simplicity of these new tests will be enable them to be powerful because you can’t really over think it. Tap your hand on the table. Scribble with a pen. Can you do it? Great, you’re on your way…simple.
I do think a future update should focus on the next step after getting the basic motions working. You talk about control and slowing a working motion down just enough to start doing something with it. I think that topic deserves further attention. I suspect that could be challenging though. Hand sync could be a whole separate primer!
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Yes, for sure we will include more stuff on what to actuall do once the hands are moving. Hand synchronization itself is a relatively simple topic, especially if you’re a rock player, and don’t mind playing repeating single-string patterns like the Yngwie stuff.
Thanks for doing the case studies! Great footage, and we have at least one individual on here whose feedback resonated with your story in particular.
That would be great! I enjoyed your recent addition to the primer very much and it’s fascinating to see, how fast we actually are without guitar and pick. Editing and everything is absolutely on point, too.
I also noticed that more and more “YouTube-players” or online guitar teachers seem to implement the CtC-findings in their lessons (for example the great Ben Eller, Justin Hombach and one or two random ads for lessons in social media). That’s what made me think: wow, Troy offering more “traditional” lessons to songs or solos but building on all the material here would be terrific. A detailed lesson on Technical Difficulties (or for example, more modern, Teemu’s Winter Madness) in the CtC framework taught by our favorite shred nerd, I’d definitely pay some extra cash for that. 