From Doc Watson to Carl Miner: The Power of Bluegrass Crosspicking 

Carl is special not for speed, but for beauty of tone and control over dynamics. Every note is perfect.

This film is pure genius. Never seen such perspicacious, insightful analysis of bluegrass technique anywhere. And articulated so eloquently. I am completely gobsmacked, as we say in England.

Your relentless work on the topic of picking is amazing. Thank you!

The best I've seen on this subject. Outstanding job, Troy!

What a great film! You see films like this breaking down an athlete's moves - a quarterback, a boxer, a jockey - but here its done for OUR sport - Flatpickin!!! Wonderful job on this!

Troy you deserve a meritorious doctorate degree in music. You have really dove into the deep end and opened our eyes. Thank you

Your enthusiasm is perfect. Why hadn't anybody done this before? You did something I've never seen done and analysed "cross picking" using technology and a little observation. I don't even think about it when I practice, but I work with the knowledge that my hands will do anything after years of effort. So even if a pattern takes years, I don't stop trying, in fact we're able to go for the "impossible" because it's only temporarily (often years, but maybe weeks) impossible. Terrific vid!

Utterly captivating. Great work you doing here Troy.

Honestly, this is hands down the best video you've ever done. Not only is the crosspicking technique described super powerful, but through experimentation with my hand position, my downward and upward pickslanting technique has improved as well. Jumping back and forth between scalar sweeping and cross picked arpeggios is a lot of fun.

This is such great material. I'm watching it for the 5th time and finally feel like I'm getting it. I watched a few times a couple months ago and practiced it as a brand new concept, and now coming back to it I'm really seeing it. This is the best video on guitar technique I've ever seen on RU-vid. There is so much here. Thank you for putting in the work to educate the curious!

Fantastic production quality, editing, commentary and knowledge. It flowed extremely well. Great interview. Dude you have some SERIOUS talent for video crafting!

The fact is...this type of pickin can actually be done if you work at it! Thank you Doc!

FYI Troy one of the first guys to really bring what bluegrassers call crosspicking into prominence was George Shuffler, who played with the Stanley Brothers. He invented the technique to imitate the banjo. He did it Down-Down-Up. His classic example is on the song "Will You Miss Me"

This is actually some fantastic editing - you managed to maintain the level of captivating entertainment throughout. Many more subs are deserved here. Thank you for taking the time to create this.

This is really awesome...thanks for putting this together. Priceless. LOVE the clips of the greatest cross-picker of all.......Doc Watson!

i should just give up guitar and feed birds in the park

Great job boss, a hearty thank you for sharing your endless hours of work with the community! You're a legend!

Troy you are the greatest. Excellent vid, all of your recent uploads have been a treat.

This is the way it's done.No muss no fuss, no thinking about picking patterns,Just let the music play.Unfortunately for most of us it takes a lot of overcoming old habits however the good news is , it can be done.Thanks for this tutorial Troy(and Carl) it helped me KNOW it was possible and now ,I can do it.

Incredibly well produced and researched! Really informative AND entertaining.

Hi Troy, I bought the "Masters in Mechanics: The Carl Miner Bundle" off your site, and let me tell you, it's simply awesome. The quality and content is superb. Your questions are a goldmine. I don't know how much in depth analysis you would have done for the interview questions, but it's simply amazing. There are questions you've asked about general music business and how it works, and some really fine grained questions about how Carl Miner plays. Best purchase I've made this year. It was this RU-vid video that made me realize a major issue in my guitar playing. I was using a haphazard method of sweep and alternate picking, but this cross picking technique has solved a lot of issues.

That move around 29 or 30 seconds in to this video is absolutely sublime. Mesmerizing. Sir, I am in awe of your genius.

THE BEST stringed instrument video footage and explanation I have ever seen. Now … I’m with another commenter as he said … “I should just give up guitar and feed birds in the park”. Lol

These videos change my playing ability literally overnight. I have some lick I'm struggling with, I check some video, try that technique... and realize now I can play something way cleaner or groovier than before.

WOWSER, THIS IS THE BEST VID ON CROSS PICKING TECHNIQUE I HAVE SEEN. MANY THANKS

We are fearfully and wonderfully made!!!

Phenomenal Troy. Super helpful and amazing quality. Thanks!

Can’t find this kind of awesome content on cable tv! Enjoyed this and learned a lot.

This is brilliant. Both the playing (obviously) and your analysis of it. I'm just venturing in to cross-picking and didn't want to learn in way that would restrict me in future or I'd have to unlearn. Thanks for your great work!

Wow!! Awesome video Troy!!!! You never disappoint!!

As an older guy, I find much of interest. In mid 70's I ' discovered ' Doc Watson ( living here in NC ). Just beginning to play guitar I was obviously blown away by what was seen and heard via Doc's Guitar. Didn't take long to get confused, veteran players were advising me Doc was 'old hat' and the ' real player' was Tony Rice, hands down. My ears didn't hear that but, I was in the minority. I also, from time to time, ran into Jack Lawrence here in the Charlotte area. Who would believe ? He and I saw the movie ' Banjo Man' and how could I have guessed the guy I was sitting next to would one day play w/ the man , Doc, we were watching in the movie. ?? Unbelievably, there are a LOT of flatpickers know nothing of Doc and Jack. So happy to see this come around, now we know, the guy ' resting his pinky on the board ' ( You folks that taught it as a major ' sin ', you know who you are , even if you won't own it in public ) was right then and, still the man to emulate. I"ve never heard another picker, even Carl or Bryan et. al., that has the combination of deadly accurate and musically pleasing phrasing WITH, a BACKUP style i don't find in any of the other heavy hitters. RIP, Doc. Deep Gap is beautiful this time of year ....

What an incredible video! I'm self-taught, and never realized just what the right hand was doing. I've just done it. This will make me much more aware of what's going on down there. Thanks.

Thanks for covering this subject. Excellent informative video- BRAVO!!

Troy - Once again - you changed my playing in one video. Excellent. Super Excellent Work. Wishing you only the best in the New Coming Year. Bravo Sir.

Really interesting and extremely well put together.

Amazing. As a Bluegrass player myself, I tend to favor a downward pick slant, especially for rest strokes on the higher strings. But this vid definitely got me thinking about analyzing my picking just a bit more. Carl is indeed a great player. I've followed him off and on over the years and wondered what he's been doing in his spare time. Session work makes sense for a guy as talented as him, especially if you would rather stick closer to home than tour across the country.

I was EXACTLY wondering about Doc Watson ve MP picking! This was the next video on the feed! HELL YEAH! THANK YOU!

Man, this guy plays some beautiful stuff. It also seems clear that things like sweep picking sacrifice the sort of tone that can be had from crosspicking. At the end of the day, a rest stroke just sounds different than a free one.

This is like the journey that ends with the return to the beginning. Science meets art Troy Grady - your vids are so packed, informative and well constructed. Peerless.

Wow!!! That was so great Troy.

Outstanding video. Top notch production on an exciting topic.

One of the best videos you've done! Carl's playing is incredible too!

Best explanation of how to crosspick available!

Outstanding, Troy. As always.

These videos are fascinating! Nice work man :)

Carl Miner is awesome -- thanks for the video!

Fantastic! Great exploration.

I'm so glad I found your channel this is amazing for my guitar playing!

TO MR TROY GRADY: WOW! The clarity of your treatise was mind boggling. I'm not a guitarist or into picking but I can recognize the absolute lack of assumptions on your part here on every level in your communication. You were clear and concise and accurate and virtually breath-taking. To call you a teacher would be a total misguided understatement although I am sure you intended to teach and teaching did in fact occur. I would liken you more to a scientist and/or artist in your clear appraisals, evaluations, isolations and dissections of these forms of picking each with their inherent weaknesses and strengths. This is one of the few times I've seen the objective discussion of the commentator equal or surpass the clarity of the information conveyed by the "black and white" facts/evidence of the pictures/film. Someone below said you deserve a PhD and it was mind blowing, methodical and approachable. All true. You do deserve a PhD although I thought this was an Oscar worthy piece. You are as perfect in technical communication as Doc Watson is/was in picking. This treatise should be studied! If this were the Olimpics you would get all 10's! :-)

Outstanding work!

Absolutely fascinating!

Such an intelligent and thorough consideration. Thanks so much!

Thank you for dissecting this technique into a very understandable method!

Wonderfully done video! Very compelling.

Incredible work Troy. You rock

19 min of pick slant analysis in relation to cross picking... you sir are insane! And i thank you!

Great video my man, thanks for posting.

Cool camera rig! Outstanding!

Neat trick of hooking the pinky to the 1st string to avoid unnecessary noise. Learned something new .

Just amazing job and analysis...bravo!

That was sooo useful.. thanks for making this video!

Best video ever! Lots of work in the camera angles and explanation. This video just popped up in my feed and it's really great maybe you need to need to rename it or something to get it backup to what it should be. Everybody should see this

This is exactly what I was looking for today.

awesome, thanx troy

That's a interesting take on pick slanting I love Carl's playing he's so clean and very tasteful player a beast

Man i enjoy your videos so much! I think you should analyze Rick Graham's technique as well, I'd love to see a video on his technique! Thanks for making such amazing content

Troy, you deserve to be nominated for the Nobel Prize in physics!

Wow! Great analysis.

this is a damn good video! I wish there were more like this

This is a really fantastic video.

Amazing, thank you!

Extremely well done, Troy! I enjoyed learning about how you analyzed it.

I’ve really enjoyed this video. I try to play bluegrass but I’m novice compared to these guys and it’s really cool to see their hands move up close at such a slow speed! Thanks for doing it, I think I learned something from it. Now to break some bad habits lol!

Real fab old guy from sunny Glasgow-years Of driven need to keep playing so thanks for the great lecture!!!! Ta JOHN

Excellent work so groovy

Thanks for this video

awesome what a pro production and informative

Great video! I do some of this--but I didn't know what I was doing!

Brilliant analysis and excellent video, a must view for those wanting to understand the variety of subtle approaches to a subject more complex than most can see, without understanding the variety of approaches to producing their unique sound. Adding a detailed analysis of Tony Rice' right hand technique would compliment the exaggerated thumb movement employed by many flat-pickers. This allows faster attack, by I would guess, maintaining the power and volume needed for live performance using a sound systems over which the player has little control. This is in contrast to studio playing where everything is controlled to the nth degree. Thank you for your inciteful and intelligent work !

This is a great video!

This is a great video, many really interesting points made! Regarding Carls (and many other bluegrass guitarists) playing, I'm impressed by the fact that not only does he catch air on every pickstroke as you mention at 13:27, he also don't anchor on the guitars bridge. If this was about electric guitar, the combo would seem inappropriate and unefficient - at least I would have said so before watching this video. But you can clearly see it works and that's very cool! Also, I think it's nice that you do these analyzes on a lot of different guitarists, especially both electric and acoustic players. Thanks Troy!

Good job Troy , as usual

This is my default picking technique I just fell into after years of playing. Didn't know Doc Watson started it. I knew it was different than all the other techniques Troy has covered bit was all alternate. Its a very tight arc and the pinky being braced is big part it that helps to get the bit of lift. It is not as fast as pick slanting but is often fast enough when you practice enough,, but for really fast stuff I have to switch to other techniques. Great video.

All hail, Carl Miner!

Wonderful video! I love Carl’s playing, but what guitarist wouldn’t? You do a great job too. Thank you for putting so much effort into showing cross picking styles.

excellent video.

This is fabulous

Fantastic!

Dude. Look how high Carl's action is at 13:10. Looks like a freaking pedal steel from that angle. No clue how he is so fast and clean with that much height. Unreal.

Really great analysis.

Saw this guy first in the Green Cards; great band and fun to watch.

I just started playing guitar over the pandemic and got into bluegrass from listening to Billy Strings Doc Watson set at High Sierra and it’s all I’ve wanted to learn since, ive never taken any lessons just watched how to play videos, I have a family friend who is a very good guitar player and he knew I’d been messing around so asked me to play something and I played a bit of little Sadie and he was stunned by my picking and I didn’t understand why but now I do Edit : not to say I’m anything great just how recently I started playing and he never seen flatpicking before

Wow great video, thank you

Mr. Troy Grady, thanks for putting all these videos available for us. I think you should also check Ewan Dobson, although he's a fingerstyle guitar player he really has a solid crosspicking technique. greetings from Mexico.

Troy, as a university professor who has taught guitar in music schools for a very long time... you should earn a Phd for the incredible work you've done on this topic. It's just mind blowing, methodical, approachable, and though I'm a legato player I wish this material had been around when I was getting beat down by alternate picking!

Damnit, man. Once again, THANK YOU

I asked Doc Watson about how he picked the B section of Beaumont Rag at Bean Blossom in 1971. He told me he used alternate picking. In fact, he seemed incredulous that you could do it any other way. I don't think he was aware of any type of sweep picking techniques. I did mention that Jesse McReynolds did not alternate pick his reverse cross picking on mandolin, but I'm not sure he believed me.

Awesome vid

Hi Troy, excellent and thank you! I worked on picking technique for years but somehow never achieved optimal results. In the early 70s' I spent a week hanging out nightly and jamming with George Benson meticulously analyzing his great technique. Years later Tuck Andress did the same and wrote an essay on it. I believe its avail online if you search for it. I know guys who have excellent technique who never spent years focusing on picking so concluded some people are physiologically predestined to have great technique.

After seeing Blind Doc Watson in 1971, I started playing with my Eyes Shut, I had run my Left Hand through a Press in 1970, lost my Thumb, but Plastic Sergery Doctor build me a Stub-THumb with witch I am able to play. Playing with Eyes Closed "I Reckon" makes the EARS to do the work. Of course Guitar Playing is like Shooting a Gun....TACTILE MEMORY LEARNING. TACTILE is the OPRANT word here.