Oct. 16, 2006 issue - When former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash rips into a blistering solo, he's not focusing on the details. "How I pick and how I finger—it's really hard for me to concentrate on either one of those things," he says. "I'm basically just trying to find the notes that I hear in my head." But even if Slash and other pros aren't fully conscious of how they play blindingly fast, clean licks—or "shred," in guitarspeak—novices are eager to find out. So Brooklyn guitarist Troy Grady is producing "Cracking the Code," a documentary of his search for the secrets of shredding.

The Yale grad bought a $2,500 slow-motion camera and has filmed some of the fastest players around the country (including Houston-based great Rusty Cooley) at 120 frames per second, seeking "idiosyncratic right-hand motions." Guitarists will recognize some familiar tips: to help synchronize right and left hands and to play sequences with even numbers of notes, which will keep pick direction the same each time around (this facilitates muscle memory). For odd-numbered riffs—which make changing strings more challenging—Grady, a shredder himself, says he's observed a picking motion he terms "scooping": a "semiconscious," efficient way of crossing strings (he's saving a fuller explanation for the film). Grady seeks a "unified guitar theory"— a proven set of best practices. If he succeeds, he could help produce the thing that's eluded wanna-be Jimi Hendrixes for decades—a primer for rocking!

—Jonathan Mummolo