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Author
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Topic: Alternate Picking
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Band Member
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posted August 11, 2001 10:30 AM
  
Last year when I first started out I was strictly alternate picking and was used to that. All the sudden I was watching myself run some scales and I wasn't strictly alternate picking (especially on the 3 notes per string scales). I guess I am doing what is called economy picking where if I was doing the C major pattern at the 5th fret, I would pick: down, up, down, change string, down, up, down, change string, down up, change string, down, up, down, etc. Anyway, I thought I was doing strict alternate picking for months but apparently I got used to this way. What are the advantages of alternate picking over this method anyway? This feels a lot easier and more comfortable. -zbalz IP: Logged |
Band Member
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posted August 12, 2001 08:08 PM
id imagine that it'd improve your playing in general, because most songs arent just played up and down the same string. plus, its a more difficult excercise, so it builds your dexterity faster. but, im not an expert. wait till the big man answersIP: Logged |
On the Guest List
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posted August 13, 2001 08:27 AM
Interesting question, as I had made the same discovery about three months ago. The thing that kicked it off was my purchase of Troy Stetina's Lead Volume 1. In it, Troy lays out the picking pattern of every exercise in strict alternate picking also taking in account the rhythm (ie. if you're picking in sixteenths, but the first note is an eighth, there will be two successive down strokes before you kick into "up-down-up-down..."). When trying the exercises, I noticed right away something was different. I thought I'd been alt picking all along, when in fact I was doing what you describe.I questioned Troy about this thru his website. Simply, why do it this way? His argument is that as a general rule, keeping the hand in consistent motion uses the momentum of the hand to your benefit and produces the most consistent tone. Now that I've been doing most things this way for awhile, I've come to agree. When I take something I've worked on using economy picking (as you described...) and change it over to true alternate picking, I can actually hear certain notes taking on new life right away, and the whole passage sounds much more even. I still do some things with economy picking, but I've come to think that true alt picking is an essential skill, and that knowing how you're picking and actually CHOOSING your picking approach for a song passage is important, too. IP: Logged |
Club Owner
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posted August 13, 2001 01:37 PM
quote:
I still do some things with economy picking, but I've come to think that true alt picking is an essential skill, and that knowing how you're picking and actually CHOOSING your picking approach for a song passage is important, too.
I couldn't have said it any better than that.
My personal view is that strict alternate picking is the most important thing you can develop. Other picking styles like economy and sweep picking are important techniques to master but not in place of strict alternate picking.
Aside from the consistent motion that only strict alternate picking provides, there is the question of phrasing and accents. The biggest drawback to economy picking is that downstrokes are naturally stronger than upstrokes. Beginning each string with a downstroke will invariably make everything you play sound like triplets. Nothing sounds more like "this is a guitar lick" than constantly playing triplets. You want to develop a picking technique that allows you to control the phrasing of the music rather than being controlled by the number of notes per string. IP: Logged |
Band Member
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posted August 13, 2001 05:13 PM
Looks like I am going to spend some time relearning some songs using strict alternate picking.  IP: Logged | |
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