Where are the videos, in what order should I watch them, etc etc

Hi Troy and Team!
I love this material - thank you so much. My only difficulty is I’m finding the layout very confusing. It’s very hard to find what video is stored where and the primer seems to have several videos listed twice in different places.
Is there anything that can be done about this? Perhaps I’m just tired but i’m currently spending more time getting lost on the website than learning and growing as a player :wink:
Once again, thank you so much for your work!
Joe

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i found it a bit confusing as well. I don’t know that there are any true lesson videos?

Not to say the material isn’t helpful. it sure is! It’s incredible, the amount of information here. But are there actual lessons, riffs, practice routines etc? I’m a basic member, so maybe I can’t see them?

sorry to hijack :wink: now following…

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I’m no expert, but I watched Cracking the Code first, then the Pickslanring Primer.
The interviews are really interesting and informative too.

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Hi Joe, thanks for signing up! Sorry for the confusion. Short story, you definitely want to start with the Pickslanting Primer, and you can basically go through everything in order:

That first page (“Getting Started With the Primer”) outlines it a bit so be sure to check that out first. But you should be good going through the sections listed on the main Primer page in order: picks, grip, wrist motion, forearm, elbow, and the final sections for a variety of applications.

I don’t think there should be anywhere in the Primer where the same video appears multiple times in different places, but if you see something like that let us know! We’ll do what we can to clear up any confusion. And we’ll be continuing to add to / improve the Primer so any other feedback is very welcome.

@axeman I’d say pretty much all the dozens of videos in the Pickslanting Primer, as well as the three seminars, are lesson videos! In the Primer, first couple sections are more introductory, but once we get into the grips and motions they’re pretty hands-on tutorial for the most part. If you have something different in mind re: “lesson videos” that’s cool too, let us know :smiley:

We do have a couple thousand musical examples on the site overall, predominantly in the various interviews, but many in the seminars and last few sections of the Primer too.

We don’t tend to mandate specific practice routines b/c there’s so much variation in what folks are looking to learn technique-wise, as well as so many different musical style possibilities etc. Generally we suggest going through the Primer to learn the fundamental concepts and then working on stuff in whatever musical context you like. I do agree this is something we can address more specifically in the Primer somehow.

Tons of discussion about practice routines here on the forum though! See: Search results for 'practice routine' - The Cracking the Code Forum

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Thanks a lot for your time and help Brendan! Operating the forum must be extremely time consuming for you guys! I’ll do just as you say. I’ve realised my confusion though and it should be relatively easy for you to fix this on your end:

The ‘Getting Started With the Primer’ lists the videos and menus that are in the rest of the primer in such a way that I though I was in a unique section. If you were to change the style of this page, or instruct the user to return to the /lessons page to view the videos (rather than including the links on the page), it would be much clearer.

Once again, the information is really helpful - thank you so much! I’ll let you know if I come across any other barriers.

Joe

One more question Brendan - I came to be super interested in the site through the various ‘country’ guitarists you’ve examined (and martin miller) who don’t use the same pick slanting technique - is it still recommended that I work through the primer? Or is there another route you’d recommend.

I work full time as a guitarist so I’m a competent player and know how to practice - my picking technique is just shoddy and I want to learn this technique as quickly as possible.

Thanks again

Thanks for the feedback!

Ahh, great point, I’ll see if we can make this more clear.

Also note, if you do get lost a few levels deep in the Primer, you should be able to use the “breadcrumb” bar towards the top (just under the main site nav) to easily get back to the top level / main page of the Primer.

Yes, still suggest going through the Primer, most of the material will still be relevant as far as how the fundamental motions work. You can maybe skip the later sections on e.g. Yngwie / EJ / Batio though can’t hurt to watch those as well.

But for more on the double escape / crosspicking / bluegrass stuff, in addition to watching the relevant interviews themselves, I’d also suggest both “Crosspicking With The Wrist” and “Crosspicking With The Wrist And Forearm” here:

These were originally live workshops, longer and not ‘chapterized’ so in some respects superseded by the newer wrist / forearm sections in the Primer when it comes to the motions themselves, but with a lot of good specific examples, so I think you’ll find them worth watching as well!

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Short answer, yes. These players do use pickslanting techniques, and we teach them in the Primer. Albert Lee has a downward pickslanting mode which is key to his style, and we cover it in the Primer in the “wrist motion” section. We have two chapters on how to do the middle finger grip and motion he uses:


There is an additional motion he uses, which we call the “double escape” motion. We haven’t added that yet, but we will. For the mean time, the crosspicking video Brendan linked to is a good, if long, lesson on how to do that.

To start with, I’d just go through the Primer in order, and try all the different motions. You don’t have to master all of them, you’re just trying them out. Maybe some will work right away and that’s cool. Any of them can be used to play any musical style. In the “Forearm Motion” section, one of the chapters actually starts with a short Albert Lee-style country etude that uses downward pickslanting:

Let us know if there’s anything else that’s confusing!

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Thank you both for your help! I’m growing every time I use your site. Keep up the good work!
Joe