Economy Picking

Introduction

Problem.
Most guitar players think the basis of real speed is a good fret hand (generally: left hand) technique. If your left hand is fast, you will be able to play fast. So, many players train mainly their left hand, and the right hand is kind of left behind. Players who then discover that they need to improve their pick hand (generally: right hand) technique, go to their favorite guitar webpage (U-G.com), only to discover very little information (or lots of information scattered all over the entire webpage) about a better and faster right hand technique.

An example: the lesson "All The Aspects Of Picking," concludes that a picking technique called "economy picking" is the best and fastest picking style. I found this lesson very informative, because I already knew what economy picking actually is. After reading this lesson, I immediately started practising economy picking, and in a couple of days, I succeded in playing fragments of Yngwie Malmsteen's Blitzkrieg! A little slower than himself, but still... I noticed, however, that players who don't know what economy picking is, can't learn a damn thing from this otherwise very informative lesson!

Solution.
I've gathered a lot of information scattered all over various lessons on UG, added some of my own experiences from my last week of intensive "economy training", and out of all this information I've created this lesson, for all you players who want to play real fast but don't know how! Believe me, a week ago, I was one of you. This is a guide to the best and fastest right hand picking technique: economy picking, the key to real speed!

What Is Economy Picking

As I have already said, economy picking is the best picking technique there is. It's fast, it looks mighty fine, and it requires very little effort (once you have mastered it of course). But to experience the comfort of economy picking, you must first understand the concept of it. To keep a long story short: economy picking is a mixture of firstly, alternate picking, and secondly, sweep picking. Now the explanation of these two techniques:

1. Alternate Picking.
A basic technique. Most of you players will be familiar with it (unless you're still a beginning player). Alternate picking means: constantly switching between down- and upstrokes with your pick (to make things easier: down-up-down-up-down-up-...) This technique doubles the speed you reach by only down- or upstroking.

2. Sweep Picking.
This is a more advanced technique, used to play notes that are on strings next to each other (like arpeggios, see arpeggio lessons), rather than notes on the same string. You actually "sweep" your pick over the strings, as if you were strumming a chord, but you don't let the notes ring as if you were playing a chord. You play each note individually (if you still don't understand the concept of sweep picking, I refer to one of the sweep picking lessons on UG).

Now that you know both techniques, you might ask the question: how is economy picking related to these techniques? To answer this question, I will use a small exercise as an example. Firstly, I will show you how this pattern would be played if you used alternate picking (like most guitar players).

d = downstroke
u = upstroke

   d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u
E|-------------------------------0-0-0-|
B|-------------------------0-0-0-------|
G|-------------------0-0-0-------------|
D|-------------0-0-0-------------------|
A|-------0-0-0-------------------------|
E|-0-0-0-------------------------------|

You can see clearly, you constantly alternate between down- and upstrokes. Now I will show you the same pattern, played with economy picking:

   d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d
E|-------------------------------0-0-0-|
B|-------------------------0-0-0-------|
G|-------------------0-0-0-------------|
D|-------------0-0-0-------------------|
A|-------0-0-0-------------------------|
E|-0-0-0-------------------------------|

Like alternate picking, economy picking consists of alternating down- and upstrokes, except when changing strings. You use the "sweeping" motion for this: if you move a string down (e.g. from the 6th to the 5th string), you use downstrokes (for the sweeping motion, use your wrist movement)þ If moving up, you use all upstrokes, like this:

   u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u
E|-0-0-0-------------------------------|
B|-------0-0-0-------------------------|
G|-------------0-0-0-------------------|
D|-------------------0-0-0-------------|
A|-------------------------0-0-0-------|
E|-------------------------------0-0-0-|

Practise these patters as much as you can, and try to play the notes as even as possible. Many players who start practising economy picking complain that the notes sound uneven or that it doesn't go faster than alternate picking. Believe me, it does. You just have to master it properly to play even and fast (don't go and try to master it in one week like me! I don't want to brag but I usually get the hang of things very quickly, so take your time. Try to do it properly instead of trying to do it quickly).

Exercises

Now that you know what economy picking is, you can grab your guitar and start exercising. I don't like to do exercises myself, but I do them anyway. And that's what you should do, if you want to master economy picking and play real fast real easy! I will give a couple of exercises as examples, but you can of course invent your own exercises if you want! Or play existing songs as an exercise (like I usually do).

Exercise Set #1

   d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d
E|-------------------------------0-0-0-|
B|-------------------------0-0-0-------|
G|-------------------0-0-0-------------|
D|-------------0-0-0-------------------|
A|-------0-0-0-------------------------|
E|-0-0-0-------------------------------|

   u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u
E|-0-0-0-------------------------------|
B|-------0-0-0-------------------------|
G|-------------0-0-0-------------------|
D|-------------------0-0-0-------------|
A|-------------------------0-0-0-------|
E|-------------------------------0-0-0-|

These are the patterns I used above. I repeat them because they are so important: before playing anything fast, use these exercises (and the exercises below) as a warmup! You should use Exercise Set 1 to train speed, and to play every note evenly and smoothly.

Exercise Set #2

   d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d
E|-------------------------------5-6-5-|
B|-------------------------5-6-5-------|
G|-------------------5-6-5-------------|
D|-------------5-6-5-------------------|
A|-------5-6-5-------------------------|
E|-5-6-5-------------------------------|

   u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u
E|-5-6-5-------------------------------|
B|-------5-6-5-------------------------|
G|-------------5-6-5-------------------|
D|-------------------5-6-5-------------|
A|-------------------------5-6-5-------|
E|-------------------------------5-6-5-|

   d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d
E|-------------------------------5-7-5-|
B|-------------------------5-7-5-------|
G|-------------------5-7-5-------------|
D|-------------5-7-5-------------------|
A|-------5-7-5-------------------------|
E|-5-7-5-------------------------------|

   u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u
E|-5-7-5-------------------------------|
B|-------5-7-5-------------------------|
G|-------------5-7-5-------------------|
D|-------------------5-7-5-------------|
A|-------------------------5-7-5-------|
E|-------------------------------5-7-5-|

   d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d d u d
E|-------------------------------5-8-5-|
B|-------------------------5-8-5-------|
G|-------------------5-8-5-------------|
D|-------------5-8-5-------------------|
A|-------5-8-5-------------------------|
E|-5-8-5-------------------------------|

   u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u u d u
E|-5-8-5-------------------------------|
B|-------5-8-5-------------------------|
G|-------------5-8-5-------------------|
D|-------------------5-8-5-------------|
A|-------------------------5-8-5-------|
E|-------------------------------5-8-5-|

These exercises are based on the first exercise set, but I added left hand fingerings too. The exercises in Set 2 are therefore used to train the synchronous movement of fret and pick hand. This is very important if you want to play fast! Do these exercises every day!

Note: you might have noticed that in every exercise, there are 3 notes per string. This is because economy picking is easier when playing an odd number of notes per string. When you have to play an even number of notes, use 1 (or 3, or 5, ...) hammer-ons or pull-offs, so that you have to do an odd number of picks. Example:

H = hammer-on
P = pull-off

   d u d H d u d H d u d H d u d H d u d H d u d H
E|-----------------------------------------5-6-5-6-|
B|---------------------------------5-6-5-6---------|
G|-------------------------5-6-5-6-----------------|
D|-----------------5-6-5-6-------------------------| 
A|---------5-6-5-6---------------------------------|
E|-5-6-5-6-----------------------------------------|

   d u d P d u d P d u d P d u d P d u d P d u d P
E|-----------------------------------------6-5-6-5-|
B|---------------------------------6-5-6-5---------|
G|-------------------------6-5-6-5-----------------|
D|-----------------6-5-6-5-------------------------|
A|---------6-5-6-5---------------------------------|
E|-6-5-6-5-----------------------------------------|

So, in these two exercises, there are 4 notes per string, but you do only 3 picks per string, and 1 hammer-on/pull-off.

Speed

Economy picking is the key factor of speed. But still, there are guitar players using economy who still aren't able to play fast. Why is that? Is it because of a slow left hand? Or is there still a problem with their picking technique? As I've already said, the left hand is usually more than fast enought. You can try this yourself: give your right arm a rest, and use only your left hand. Try to play a fast guitar riff (for example, a major scale, see scales lessons) with only your left hand. You don't have to hear the notes: just try to get the left hand fingerings right. It goes much faster than you would be able to play with both hands, doesn't it? This means, there's still a problem with the right hand picking technique. I Will explain these issues in the following sections.

What Part Of The Pick Is Used To Pick With

The pick is approximately 3 cm long and 2, 5 cm wide. You use the sharp pointed side to pick the strings with. I guess many people are rolling on the floor laughing their asses off while reading this. I know, it's the basic of all basics, but there's more. You know that you have to pick with the sharp edge of the pick, but do you know what part of the pick actually touches the string, in order to achieve maximum speed? The trick is to touch the strings with the tip of the pick. I mean, the very tip of the pick. Only the slightest touch of the string with the pick is enough to produce a clear sound. Most players really "pluck" the strings with their picks, mostly because their right arm muscles are overstrained. If you relax, you will find this subtle string touching much easier!

Knowing this, and combining it with economy picking, allows you to play real fast! Economy is based on smooth right hand movement, but if you "pluck" your strings instead of just slightly touching them, this smooth movement is impossible. So, relax, touch your strings slightly instead of plucking them, and you will play fast in no time!

Pick Angle

When alternate picking, the pick stands straight up (seen from the surface of the guitar body). But when "sweeping" up or down, your pick should be held at a certain angle, so that you don't "pluck" the strings as I have described in the previous section. When moving down, the sharp edge of the pick should point slightly up. When moving up, the sharp edge of the pick should point slightly down. To hold your pick at an angle, use your wrist movement.

Why is this? Well, if you hold your pick at the described angle while moving over the strings, you "stroke" them instead of plucking them, resulting in a much smoother movement. And like I've already said: economy picking is based on a smooth right hand movement.

Note: when moving up, the sharp edge of your pick should point down. This may feel uncomfortable for your wrists at first, but after some exercising it shouldn't be a problem.

A Speed Riff

As a conclusion, I'm going to let you play the riff that I've played for so many times now, the riff that I have used to learn economy picking. It's a fragment out of Malmsteen's Blitzkrieg.

E|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
G|----------------------3-2---------|----------------------5-4---------|
D|----2-5-3-2---------2-----5-3-2---|----3-7-5-3---------4-----7-5-4---|
A|--3---------5-3-2-4-------------4-|--5---------7-5-4-6-------------6-|
E|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|

|----------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
|----------------------7-6---------|-------------------------9-8-----------|
|----6-9-7-6---------6-----9-7-6---|----7-11-9-7-----------8-----11-9-8----|
|--7---------9-7-6-8-------------8-|--9----------11-9-8-10--------------10-|
|----------------------------------|---------------------------------------|

|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------11-10-------------|
|-----10-13-11-10-------------10-------13-11-10----|
|--11-------------13-11-10-12-------------------12-|
|--------------------------------------------------|

|--------------------------------------------------|------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|------------|
|--------------------------------13-12-------------|------------|
|-----11-15-13-11-------------12-------15-13-12----|------------|
|--13-------------15-13-12-14-------------------14-|-15~--------|
|--------------------------------------------------|------------|

Note: I'm not adding right hand fingerings, you should be able to find out for yourself by now!

Conclusion

I would like to thank the players who have made the lessons before me; they have taught me a lot and they made this lesson possible. To all players who have learned from this lesson: I hope my lesson was of some use to you all, and I hope many people will learn from it and maybe write their own lessons about it someday!

Comments

[ch715dallat]

good article, i already know this stuff but it will definitely be very useful for ppl wanting to increase speed but dont realise that its your picking hand that determines the speed

[hoho]

very good : )

[xdan666x]

awesome really helpful thanks

[coldplay082002]

NICE ONE DUDE!!!
EMPONG ETO THE BEST!!! HEHEHE!!!
NOW I KNOW WHAT THE ECONOMY PICK IS....

[Mr. Kill]

yay thanx man finally creal examples i actually know exactly how to play economy and will start training right now!! (well not now coz its kinda 2:20am and i have to wake up in 4 hours for school lol)

but great lesson.. a 10

[g n f'n r]

thank you .
this is a great lesson.

10 thumbs up

[chadtheanimal]

Great lesson. This lesson was enough reason for me to go ahead and register for the site so I could comment. I look forward to more from you.

[ZeGuitarist]

chadtheanimal wrote:

Great lesson. This lesson was enough reason for me to go ahead and register for the site so I could comment. I look forward to more from you.

Thanks man, I'm considering doing some more lessons, all the positive feedback really surprises me.. Thumbs up to everybody!

ZeG

[stidhamdan]

explained very well like the malmsteen part at the end i'll practicing that for the next few days

[tmuchfreetime]

nice lesson bro!

[American strat]

Yea this will defenitly help me in the long run because me and my friends are starting a band and Im trying to learn everything I can, but yea thinks.

[Gnu]

are you supposed to use the sharp end of the pick?:O that's only when you play solos or? I've only played for some months but I've always used the other end...

[ZeGuitarist]

Gnu wrote:

are you supposed to use the sharp end of the pick?:O that's only when you play solos or? I've only played for some months but I've always used the other end...

Usually you use the sharp end, yes, but if you want you could use any part of the pick.. There's some famous guitar player who used to play with the round edge of the pick, but I don't remember his name..

ZeG

[gynther flynt]

yeah and brian may (from queen) used/uses a coin.

[ZeGuitarist]

gynther flynt wrote:

yeah and brian may (from queen) used/uses a coin.

There you go then

ZeG

[f1f2]

Nice lesson man. great job!! This lesson will be useful to other noobs there for sure.

[f1f2]

^ no offense there on my post!!

[urik]

Thnx. I already knew it but it pushed me to practice it.

[Travis Lockett]

Thanks man really helped. I was already using this type of picking with my scales but didnt even know it because I couldnt find a tutorial that really just said exactly what economy picking was.

[Night_Lights]

yep i economy pick, never had that strict altpick phase...


btw john petrucci strictly alt picks.

Checked.

[Anarion614]

f1f2 wrote:

Nice lesson man. great job!! This lesson will be useful to other noobs there for sure.

f1f2 wrote:

^ no offense there on my post!!

lol np im a noob to picking quickly, turns out most of my problems where with using too much pick. anyway im using some of this as part of my daily warm-up/drills, thx man

[rockgodman]

i used to only economy then my guitar teacher told me to alt. pick instead. i could play everything fast and couldnt understand why. i listened to some of my playing and realized economy picking (especially when done with 3 notes per string) sounds more like triplets then smooth 1 2 3 4. alternate picking is better for more even playing i think especially in those 3 note cases.

[ZeGuitarist]

rockgodman wrote:

i used to only economy then my guitar teacher told me to alt. pick instead. i could play everything fast and couldnt understand why. i listened to some of my playing and realized economy picking (especially when done with 3 notes per string) sounds more like triplets then smooth 1 2 3 4. alternate picking is better for more even playing i think especially in those 3 note cases.

I don't really agree with that, it is EASIER to play even with strict alt. picking, but hat doens't make it BETTER... if you really mastered economy picking (which i myself haven't, lol) you'd be able to play even, and a LOT faster than by strictly alt. picking...
No offense though, everybody prefers his own style

ZeG

[Kadrean]

Great in-depth lesson! Something that's over looked by some guitarists I know.

[M3TALMADNE55]

great lesson... has helped my speed alot

[Glen'sHeroicAct]

cool, theres lots of riffs i need to play at super fast speed that i can really use this lesson for. ima just pretty much do all economy picking now for my set in stone riffs. made me wanna learn to do better sweep picking too.

[Sage]

great lesson. i have been trying to find something to better explain economy picking

[the caco]

Awsome lesson!!

[mis.po]

i'd like to ask how you mute the first tone so that the two tones don't ring together - especially when sweep-picking up (e.g. string g to string d)

[GuitarGuitar]

!!!*THUMBS UP*!!!

[GuitarGuitar]

and in regard to mis.po you lift the left hand finger of the string you just played to mute it.

[mis.po]

that's right, in fact i had this problem with the open-string exercise when moving up (when moving down, I can mute with my picking-hand thumb), however it still can be got around with the left hand

[vampyryca]

kick ass lesson dude keep em coming

[mufgatar]

good work

[LightningboltX]

With this explanation,I now know that I have always been economy picking.It really works,trust me, I've been playing guitar for a year and I can play 16th notes(4 notes for each beat) on the metronome at 205 beats.
Maybe I'll do a lesson for some really good exercises that I know.

[metalblood]

Excellent! Thanks for your help! I will practice more and more every day. And hopefully soon I'll be faster than ever!

[Nor'Easterbass]

Is it bad that i taught myself this technique and thought it was alt picking? i'm still better at economy than alt. cuz i hafta think about bein strictly alt. It drives my teacher mad.

[ZeGuitarist]

Nor'Easterbass wrote:

Is it bad that i taught myself this technique and thought it was alt picking? i'm still better at economy than alt. cuz i hafta think about bein strictly alt. It drives my teacher mad.

You should tell your teacher that you feel more comfortable with strict economy, and prove to him that alt. picking isn't better than economy, that economy is in fact better.. Everybody prefers their own style, and if you prefer economy, you shouldn't let somebody else tell you to use a different style that yours..
Cheers!

ZeG

[Daisuke]

Awesome lesson. It taught me a lot. I hope to see more from you in the future, ZeG.

Should I always pick from the wrist when economy picking?

Thanks!

[LORD V4DER]

I suck something terrible at upstrokes. Hope the practice patterns can fix that...

[rockstar18]

g8 lesson dude! very helpful!

[ZeGuitarist]

Daisuke wrote:

Awesome lesson. It taught me a lot. I hope to see more from you in the future, ZeG.

Should I always pick from the wrist when economy picking?

Thanks!

You can use the movement that's the most comfortable to you: when changing strings, i usually use a wrist movement combined with a slight elbow movement, but the most movement comes from my wrist. But you can choose, if you wish you could use your elbow to do most of the work..
Of course, you determine the angle of your pick with your wrist only.

ZeG

[Birdy266]

great lesson. thanks

Checked.

[irishRW]

thank you so much. some very useful info here. I'm like yourself- woke up one day after some months of disciplined practise to find myself to be a shredder
I've been practisin the solo from 'play with me' by Extreme, I recommend it to any decent guitarist who wants to shred like a virtuoso, there's plenty to be learnt from it.

[irishRW]

quote]Night_Lights wrote:

yep i economy pick, never had that strict altpick phase...


btw john petrucci strictly alt picks. [/quote]
Petrucci is God. I've done nuthin but altpickin up until now an I got along arite. This lesson was great an all but if Petrucci swears by strictly alt pickin I'm inclined to follow suit. I suppose theres no harm in learnin economy, just another string to my bow...

[The Pacifier]

yeh nice lesson, u got talent, lol :p

[abhimanyu]

very well written. I'm going to try and practice this every day and see if i get results. thanks a lot!

[Eirien]

Good lesson bro, I disagree with a few of the points you made there, but it's still very informative. You've got a good way of explaining things that makes them easy to understand and enjoyable to read about. I hope to see more lessons from you soon.

[dnjoe]

brilliant lesson, and you described my thoughs exactly at the beginning when i read the other picking article, wtf is economy picking, i already do it for some songs after learnign sweep picking, but i probably shouldd bring it into everything

[gtr1960]

Pretty good lesson, for more on economy picking, check out some lessons by Frank Gambole. He's one of the guitarist that was in Chick Corea.

[victoryaloy]

this lesson was truely amazing!!!

[Jawshuwa]

Nice lesson, much props; I'll get to practicing...tomorrow ! Hurray for procrastinators.

[FromTheAsh]

Wicked Lesson!!!
I teach lessons to and im a HUGE ADVOCATE for economy pickin!! Love the Ynguie. Good lesson materials
Econ. pinking does MAKE YOU FASTER,BETTER,CLEANER!!!!
!
any one who doesnt think so doesnt want to get better
Sweet S*%t man

[EpiphoneKnight]

Maybe a person doesn't think so because they don't understand it yet. Like myself.

See, here's where I'm lost. It appears from the chart that when you do these picking styles you only pick once per note, that is, you pick the same time as you play the note. (Nobody explains this, I'm just guessing from the chart)

The assertion made throughout this whole thing is that "speed" is most gained by good right-hand excercize. So, I'm having a logical problem understanding this. I can do really fast "trills" (if you will) and fast whatever with almost totally left-handed action.

So here's my question: If you are picking with the right hand only the same speed as you play with the left hand, how does right-hand action make you faster? That doesn't seem to make logical sense. Am I misinterpreting the chart?

My point is not to claim you are wrong- I've seen enough advocates of this stuff to think there's gotta be something to it- I'm just trying to figure out with what speed you pick. And also, to figure out what the one guy who wrote the right-hand technique lesson meant about playing with "the very end of the pick" and "one-millimeter should extend- or less." What on Earth does he mean?

[Atiao]

Now I know i've been economy picking all this while..

Good guide though!

[ZeGuitarist]

EpiphoneKnight wrote:

Maybe a person doesn't think so because they don't understand it yet. Like myself.

See, here's where I'm lost. It appears from the chart that when you do these picking styles you only pick once per note, that is, you pick the same time as you play the note. (Nobody explains this, I'm just guessing from the chart)

The assertion made throughout this whole thing is that "speed" is most gained by good right-hand excercize. So, I'm having a logical problem understanding this. I can do really fast "trills" (if you will) and fast whatever with almost totally left-handed action.

So here's my question: If you are picking with the right hand only the same speed as you play with the left hand, how does right-hand action make you faster? That doesn't seem to make logical sense. Am I misinterpreting the chart?

My point is not to claim you are wrong- I've seen enough advocates of this stuff to think there's gotta be something to it- I'm just trying to figure out with what speed you pick. And also, to figure out what the one guy who wrote the right-hand technique lesson meant about playing with "the very end of the pick" and "one-millimeter should extend- or less." What on Earth does he mean?

What do you mean by "you pick only once per note"? Of course you pick only once per note, i thought that was obvious
You say you can do really fast "whatever" with your left hand. That means, simply hammering-on and pulling-off every note without using a pick. Well, can you do the same "whatever" by picking every note instead of hammering-pulling? Does it sound clear and even or sloppy? You will find this a lot harder, with a lot of notes missing and an unclear sound... But picking is inevitable, meaning you just can't play with your left hand only, so you'll have to learn to pick fast. The best way to do this is to learn economy picking, you should have understood that if you read my lesson...
Using only the "very tip" of the pick, means that you don't have to smash your pick into your strings to produce a loud enough sound: the slightest touch is enough to produce a clear and sufficiently loud sound. This is very important if you want to pick fast: slightly touching every string goes a lot faster than "whacking" your strings with your pick! It's important that your pick moves smoothly between strings, and besides, the smaller the movement, the faster you can repeat it! (Example: imagine waving somebody goodbye. Try waving with only your hand, as fast as you can; then try waving with your entire arm, as fast as you can. Which one goes faster?)

Besides, if you hadn't notices, the "one guy who wrote the right-hand technique lesson" is me...
Hope you understand now!
Cheers!

ZeG

[EpiphoneKnight]

No I hadn't noticed it was you. I just glanced at it briefly to figure something out which wasn't in that lesson.... works out well that it was you though, that way you can answer my question.

I guess I sort of understand now what you mean... although I think you mean that proper right-hand work makes the notes better adudibly, not actually faster, because it doens't seem logically possible that if you pick with right hand at same time as play with left, that it actually speeds your right hand up, it just brings the notes to prominence. Unless the lack of volume that you get by using one hand slows a person down because they slow down in order to deal with the problem, which I can see happening.

Yeah i know picking is inevitable, I overstated the left-hand thing on purpose to make a point.

I might be already kind-of doing this picking... I don't slow down or stop and think about which direction my pick stroke is going.

Yeah, this does help me understand, because now I know that there isn't some other world to playing that I wasn't doing. I was confused about what you guys meant by right-hand picking. I sort of get it now.

Thx.

[EpiphoneKnight]

Correction:

Speeds left hand up I meant, not right hand like I said in the logically possible sentence.

[ZeGuitarist]

EpiphoneKnight wrote:

No I hadn't noticed it was you. I just glanced at it briefly to figure something out which wasn't in that lesson.... works out well that it was you though, that way you can answer my question.

I guess I sort of understand now what you mean... although I think you mean that proper right-hand work makes the notes better adudibly, not actually faster, because it doens't seem logically possible that if you pick with right hand at same time as play with left, that it actually speeds your right hand up, it just brings the notes to prominence. Unless the lack of volume that you get by using one hand slows a person down because they slow down in order to deal with the problem, which I can see happening.

Yeah i know picking is inevitable, I overstated the left-hand thing on purpose to make a point.

I might be already kind-of doing this picking... I don't slow down or stop and think about which direction my pick stroke is going.

Yeah, this does help me understand, because now I know that there isn't some other world to playing that I wasn't doing. I was confused about what you guys meant by right-hand picking. I sort of get it now.

Thx.

No of course economy picking doesn't speed up your left hand, but it does speed up your right hand, compared to normal alternate picking... Like i said in my lesson, the left hand's usually much faster than your right, and economy picking is a way to speed up your right hand...

ZeG

[EpiphoneKnight]

Ok... gotcha.

Some of the phrasology of this site has confused me. Thx for straightening it out.

[ZeGuitarist]

EpiphoneKnight wrote:

Ok... gotcha.

Some of the phrasology of this site has confused me. Thx for straightening it out.

Lol, that's probably my english, i'm from Belgium...

ZeG

[Airguitarmaster]

good lesson ill try this some time

[AuditeMaistas]

Thanks, very helpful

[sunset_90]

NIIICE

[595Metallica595]

this was extremely useful. ive been teaching myself guitar for approx. 1 year and follow in the traditional MetallicA downstrokes. ive got to say im pretty quick with them because master of puppets is pretty fast if you use only downstrokes but from what you said its inspired me to learn economy because im trying to learn "for the love of god" by steve vai and i can get to the part where it starts shredding but anything past that sounds like shit because i suck at alt. picking and never even heard of economy picking. ive been trying those warmups for about 30 minutes and seem to be cathing on pretty fast. sure can be frustrating at first but im getting used to it. thanks a lot you just saved someone ZeG

CheckeD.

[NikoITA]

good stuff!!I like it and...I was using it without knowing that it was e real tecnique...thanks...after some practice..it's really helpful!!

[Dark-Light1989]

most of it is common sence but really helpful to new players. i liked the way little exercises were added between. its great.

please don't comment on my grammer im partialy dislecsick.

[richwatkinson]

*thumbs up* This'll help me, im learning Far Beyond The Sun, ill try and get this technique down.

[xDoMyGuitarNoWx]

great lesson. i heard of economypicking before, and i never got it.. i knew it was a mix of alternate and sweeping, but never got it. great lesson man, great lesson! kudos to you. thanks alot

[BELIAL87]

Nicely done. Very good lesson. It's even simple to understand.

[guitarguy87]

Dude great tips. this helped out my speed ALOT =P

[skoll 11]

I can´t believe I didn´t know.
Thanks a lot.
Which guitarists use this technique?

[riffmasta93]

i already knew a lot of this stuff... but i was using too much pick and i never knew it was called that. but i cnt do it very well so the excersices help me much ty.

[Sub_urban12]

Great lesson! I guess I never really thought that it was my right hand slowing me down...
10!

[denden08]

good..but i still don't know how to guitar pick especially when you give me chords to pick...

[ZeGuitarist]

denden08 wrote:

good..but i still don't know how to guitar pick especially when you give me chords to pick...

Economy picking isn't used for chord strumming but for picking separate notes, like when you play a solo. But if you're not into soloing, don't bother reading the lesson

ZeG

[m3galomaniac]

wow,that wuz useful!!i neva seemed 2 b able 2 get gud speed but now im gettin faster n faster!!!tnx dude!u rock!!

[angelcommand]

skoll 11 wrote:

I can´t believe I didn´t know.
Thanks a lot.
Which guitarists use this technique?

all of them

[Otisbum]

Great article, this should definitely help me out.

[EpiphoneKnight]

I wish I knew whether your definition of "smooth" sounding fits my picking or not...

[ZeGuitarist]

Woohoo 69 votes!

ZeG (lol :p)

[Moby Jones]

great article, makes loads of sense..shud help a lot

[CoreysMonster]

Thank you sooooo much! I was just wondering about this, building speed with my right hand. Then I found your article, as if heaven sent! What a grand thing the internet is 5 stars

[CoreysMonster]

sorry, meant 10 of course

Checked.

[hupao]

thanks a lot man!!! uhm, may i know which scales are best with this?

[The_Dead_God]

Really good lesson man taught me heaps. im new to guitar and was really looking for ways to play faster this has really helped.

[riffmerchant]

cheers dude article was very helpful to me, i have been working on my techniques for ages now already knew about sweeping and alternate picking but actually never heard of economy picking b4 thanks dude im getting faster already!!!

[axe_man]

u may have some cake i can now play solos with ease, dankeschon

[buttmonk]

this was very informative. i have just started to learn the axe and i actually have already been doing combinations of alternate picking with sweep picking since it fealt natural on some riffs, nice to know it is actually an official technique and it has a name... the bit about plucking vs touching was usefull too.

[Les__Paul__630*]

wtf is a buttmonk ^^^? Lesson was pretty good i guess

[Guitarplaya27]

Great!!!

[fake_username]

Look at all this positive feedback, of course all well deserved. This lesson was very informative. You should definately conitinue doing lessons.

[guitar_passion]

cool lesson dude!!

[mfmagazu]

I honestly believe the best way to develop a balance between the speed of your picking hand and the speed of your fretting hand is to use the combination of alternate picking and economy picking while going over the chromatic scales. Your Speed and precision will increase dramatically. My Suggestion is to practice with a metronome. Very informative article. I enjoyed reading it Keep em coming.

[wilsonhybrid]

Thankyou for this. Helped a great deal.

[geldunazz]

yeah, thanks for this ! keep it real..

[not_now_182]

its helpful to have some examples to work with. cheers!!

[kujo waffles]

thank you. I had the concept but these lessons are going to help alot.

[Whatley2212]

Great!

[ihaveatail]

Great lesson. been playing for a little over a year and i know will definetly help a lot [more] ppl. never knew sweep pickin had a name. it was just common sense.

anyways do you think u could do one on tapping with multiple fingers-kinda stuck on that.

cheers!10

[AndrewMuller]

Wow, you really are good at lessons. I learned alot from this lesson and hope to hear more from you. It was very interesting and you put it in a way that was very easy to understand, keep up the good work!

[Radicall]

I started with private guitar lessons about 4 weeks ago, and this is one of the first things my teacher wants me to learn. Although I knew about it, I never used it. And this lesson helped me to really push myself into practice every day. Thanks! great lesson

[ken20008]

do you really have to hammer on the last note if its four notes per string. i mean like
``d u d u
E-1-2-3-4---
Then switch to the A string by playing the first note with an upstroke? im poor at hammering on so please help.


terrific lesson, i must say, makes me wanna learn this.

[jbbbbbbb]

LightningboltX wrote:

With this explanation,I now know that I have always been economy picking.It really works,trust me, I've been playing guitar for a year and I can play 16th notes(4 notes for each beat) on the metronome at 205 beats.
Maybe I'll do a lesson for some really good exercises that I know.

Are you playing 16th notes with 3 of the 4 notes on one string? Because I don't see how you can economy pick 16th notes with 4 notes per string...The only possible way would be a d u d d. I don’t see any logic in 2 downstrokes at the end being faster then a d u d u. I state this because with d u d u or u d u d then there is no way to do the same motion to the next string unless you do u d u d d u d u, but then that pattern is finished after 2 strings before you will have to jump over the next. Guitarists such as Petrucci, Gilbert, and Malmsteen use strict alternate picking and also sweeping but not "economy" and last time I checked they had no problem with speed. I'm not trying to bash economy pickers...I'm just stating from experience that if you take the time to learn to alternate pick fast, that you will probably be happier. It obviously takes longer to master then economy picking, but it's worth it.

Check.

[fadingboy]

good article but I think you should stress the importance of having a good 'up' strokes, i was trying to learn economy picking for days on end but couldn't get a grip on it, till my shredding guru of a friend told me to play some riffs with just down strokes then with just up strokes, believe me most players will see a huge difference. The up stroke is usually a lot weaker so you should practice it a lot more. I spent the next few days playing everything with up-strokes, now i'm a shredding guru haha

[am Radio]

whats the best way to pick an argeggio like this?:

-----8-12-8-----
-----10-----10-----
-----9-----9-----
-----7-10-----10-7-----
-----7-----7----
-5-8-----8-5-

im trying to get comfortable with some sort of combo of economy and alternate picking because i dont really like doing hammers and pulls, but i cant figure out a good way to do this one.

[am Radio]

the tab in my post didnt come out very well, but its just an A minor arpeggio. (5 8 7 7 10 9 10 8 12 8 10 9 10 7 7 8 5) anyways, let me know how you guys pick it (for each one give me a "u" or "d")

[Guitargod12345]

When you practice picking for a while, Alternate picking becomes a more natural process, But economy Picking is most common when it comes to phrasing with pauses in between each phrase.

[Tool_fan]

i suck at sweep picking ill work on this for the next couple of weeks thanx, definetly 2 and a half thumbs up

[DBiddy]

I swear in two days on this site I've learned more than in a year of dicking around. Kudos on the article, I'm already working hard on getting that Malmsteen passage down.

[Dead_monk]

sick lesson...helps

[EpiphoneKnight]

Yeah starting to get this.... wow, cool.

Still working on the "Smooth sounding part" but speed sure has jumped, like CA-RAY-Z

[am Radio]

Random Question: What caliber/size/diameter (whatever the correct term is) strings are best for speed picking?

Is a thicker or thinner string better in general?

Or does it not really matter?

[sp4nk3r]

thinner strings feels better for me

[Page&HammettFan]

I've always economy picked, it just made sense to me. But every time someone asked me something like what picking style do you use, I never knew what exactly it was called. In my opinion this is the very best and most efficient way to pick.

[drunk+happy]

Thats some good stuff man, the whole relaxing the right hand is good advice.

[X_Op3th_X]

Great lesson dude..!10 definetly...Oh,and the guy that playes with the other edge of the pick is Pat Metheny (jazz guitarist)..Well,i think the best strings for playing fast (without bendings an stuff-blues playing for example) is 11-12 but got to get used to the at first...Rock on

[theusedrocks]

AWESOME lesson!! i'm going to practice this everyday...thanks a million!! XD

[Wolfhound]

Good article.
I will print it off and practise this weekend.
Thank you

[BlackReaper123]

dude that is a ledgend lesson, i tried putting on a lesson but hey rejected it it was very informative on econamy picking and i liked it also all of my tabs keep getting turned down

[gtr_prsn_89]

good article... luckily i had a pick with me while reading this en la bibliotecca de la escueala.

[bgarnham]

i thik play whit a pick is extremadly stupid
when you are piking or doing apregios (fast or dificults i mean) y prefer to use my fingers but when i am doing easy pikings or struming i use a pick like van halen do

[enimy06]

dude.....thanks!

that really helps!!!!

[amroze]

This is a great lesson! The combination of both alternate & sweep picking, pick angle, etc are a little akward at start. I'll practice more! Thanks!

[TheNthDimension]

I am also learning to play Blitzkrieg. Good job.

[mcw00t]

It looks like a good lesson, I've been playing guitar for 3 months or so and really need to start learning how to economy/alternate pick for solo's. I've got pinch harmonics, tapping etc. but it'd be good to turn all that into awesomeness =] thanks dude

[pyrogoth]

ive been playing guitar for about 5 days now and this really helps.. like byob is like easy for me now

[LordOfDarkness]

this is a nice lesson, I already started to play it, Thanks mate

Checked...

[nick.freitag]

Amazing tip - really unlocks the instrument. Many thanks.

[Gazmiller]

Killer lesson. Thanks. I can finally get my dragonforce solos up to speed. Thanks again!!!

[aleveksi]

Good lesson and thanks for that!

[SayDie123]

good lesson! it really helped me out
i just started using picks

[inethacker]

very good article...thanks for the lesson!

[SonNy_cZ]

Tootaly thanks man, i've try it and its really perfect, thanks...

[markieee]

Very nice lesson !:o Helped a lot
I just found out,that I was using economy picking sometimes with out even knowing =p

[c22golf]

great lesson Im kinda new at playing so it was very helpful

[Phelious]

Great lesson man, truly hope you will do more. The stuff in this lesson I already knew, but you deffinately have a knack for explaining to those who didn't, again great work.

[ktm_101]

Whats the point in strictly alternate picking?

[Talentless]

An amazing lesson thanks for this, ive been playing guitar on and off for about 3 years now, but learning to play by following black sabbath and metallica tabs and not really having any lessons has left me with a poor upstroke and in general poor picking technique, after 2 days of practising your excercises in this article (2-3 hours a day) my picking speed and accuracy has at least tripled, i will continue to practise the excercises for a few more days then i will have a bash at blitzkreig, jsut one question, i listened to blitzkreig and im just baffled as to what part of the song the tab is? could someone give me the time in the song where this riff starts? thanks for a great lesson.

[ZeGuitarist]

Talentless wrote:

An amazing lesson thanks for this, ive been playing guitar on and off for about 3 years now, but learning to play by following black sabbath and metallica tabs and not really having any lessons has left me with a poor upstroke and in general poor picking technique, after 2 days of practising your excercises in this article (2-3 hours a day) my picking speed and accuracy has at least tripled, i will continue to practise the excercises for a few more days then i will have a bash at blitzkreig, jsut one question, i listened to blitzkreig and im just baffled as to what part of the song the tab is? could someone give me the time in the song where this riff starts? thanks for a great lesson.

The riff starts after exactly 14 seconds it's a bit hard to make out because Yngwie plays it so fast.. i can't do it that fast, i don't even try..

For those who like Malmsteen (and a challenge), try Arpeggios From Hell. There's not much economy picking to it, mostly alternate, but it's just a hell of a song.

ZeG
PS: Thanks everybody for all the positive feedback. I'm considering doing some more lessons, but what do you think they should be about? Please give me some ideas...

[Mudkicker]

This sounds like it could be very useful to a beginner, great job!

[LoW]

This best lesson ever! I just realised this and I practise this almost all time! thanx dude!

[cwo04]

monkey

[imANassANDiDONT]

i wuv u so much!!
this guide helped me alot!! i just started like an hour ago and i feel like i have leveled up.. hahaha!!

btw.. can anyone tell me what kind of pick i should use.. im currently using the lightest one but i dunno if its the best to use.. i want a pick that makes me fast..

[ZeGuitarist]

imANassANDiDONT wrote:

i wuv u so much!!
this guide helped me alot!! i just started like an hour ago and i feel like i have leveled up.. hahaha!!

btw.. can anyone tell me what kind of pick i should use.. im currently using the lightest one but i dunno if its the best to use.. i want a pick that makes me fast..

Light picks are best for rhythm guitar (so strumming chords) but if you are into soloing (and fast) you should use a thicker pick.. 1mm or more, that's what i use.

ZeG

[Sooner18]

You could write "Guitar for Dummies"! I'd only learned alt and it always felt awkward. I'll add that using a metronome when practicing will help with timing and show how much improvement you are making. 5 stars...Thanks

[Kailoq]

Nice article, even though I abandoned economy picking a while ago. I would add the pros and cons of both alt and eco picking and that it's best to master both techniques in the end.

Take a look at these topics on Kris' forum:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?s=b251bd9e45d46940d83
25a66ff8cecbf&showtopic=2
243

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?s=b251bd9e45d46940d83
25a66ff8cecbf&showtopic=2
289

You can find my ideas on eco picking in the last one.

If you're too lazy to check it comes down to this

Alternate picking gives you a stronger attack, according to Kris and most professionals, personally I think practise might help a lot with your attack. I do think that alternate picking is easier on the wrist than eco picking. Eco picking was easier to me and came natural, but pure alternating requires you to move your wrist up and down constantly, while eco forces you to stop this movement when moving down or up. This may come natural, but I think the alternating movement will decrease the chances of tensing up. Also, alternating is the fundament of eco picking and you can get to extremely high speeds with it, even higher than an eco picker (with enough practise, but eco picking could be faster with more practise too..so bleh). If you immediatly learn economic picking to achieve higher speeds you might lack the basic picking motions. If you get your alternating skills up first and learn eco picking to broaden your set of skills you'll get a bigger adventage out of it imo.

Lastly, I want to add that either technique comes natural to some and feels very awkward to others, but both of them can be 'easily' learned (check the last link for my story on switching from one style) with enough and correct practise. I haven't managed to learn both (I somehow forgot how to eco pick along the way of learning alternating) and I'm lacking time to relearn eco atm, but it's possible. Neither technique will harm you either, the basic movement is the same.

In the end it's just a matter of preference I guess and when you've mastered both you can decide which one is better for you (and for when).

[sp0ckr0cks]

i've been playing guitar for 5 years now, and to me, new techniques...or at least ones i haven't yet heard of, are always hard to assimilate into my playing. looking back, i really wish i had been taught this from the beginning, but, i digress. LEARN HOW TO DO THIS!!!!! it will seriously help you

[sp0ckr0cks]

by the way, if you havn't noticed, i'm total alt. pickin

[Limaj_daas]

isn't the riff u posted VERY similar to one of the main riffs in Evil Eye?

[snazzy guy]

excellant lesson! i never thought of doing that, but it makes total sence.very well explained too.

[chyeahitsme]

good article mann,,

help me alot =]

[imANassANDiDONT]

ZeGuitarist wrote:

imANassANDiDONT wrote:

i wuv u so much!!
this guide helped me alot!! i just started like an hour ago and i feel like i have leveled up.. hahaha!!

btw.. can anyone tell me what kind of pick i should use.. im currently using the lightest one but i dunno if its the best to use.. i want a pick that makes me fast..

Light picks are best for rhythm guitar (so strumming chords) but if you are into soloing (and fast) you should use a thicker pick.. 1mm or more, that's what i use.

ZeG

hmm.. i see.. im currently practicing Canon Rock by JerryC.. based from the tabs on the song im gonna use the lightest pick.. do you agree??

me need expert opinion cause me just average guitarist...

[ZeGuitarist]

imANassANDiDONT wrote:

hmm.. i see.. im currently practicing Canon Rock by JerryC.. based from the tabs on the song im gonna use the lightest pick.. do you agree??

me need expert opinion cause me just average guitarist...

I think it's pretty obvious that you should use a heavier pick here.. there's almost no strumming in it, it's mainly single notes, almost like a solo, so you should use a heavier pick. Of course it's a matter of preferance, just do whatever feels best for you.

Btw, i would call myself average too, instead of expert

ZeG

[Richie_J]

Does anyone know how to start practising a solo like the one in "Through The Fire And Flames" (by Dragonforce). Its too fast to humanly play. (Watch the video to see why). Faster than Malmsteen. Herman and Sam are guitar Gods. You gotta see it!

[Richnfg]

Thankyou! This is an awesome lesson!

[shellshock1911]

this lesson rules and so does economy picking, a way that i found to practice economy picking, is just doing this over and over, progressing metronome beats starting at 60 and up
d u d d u d u d u
e-----
B-----
G-----12-14-12-----
D---12-14-15-----15-14-12
-----
A-----
E-----

[shellshock1911]

AH forget that ^_^, it cluttered it all up

[shellshock1911]

also i had a question... when ur playing 2 strings at once (or 3), do you still economy pick, for example in purple haze right after he says "Excuse me, while i kiss the sky", do you pick both strings with up and down motions, because im having trouble doing the up motions on 2 strings

[Anthyo]

Hmmmmm, I'm confused about the sweeping.

I've played guitar for a few months now, but I never learned the basics (I'm currently going back to square one so I can start to undersand this sort of thing.)Naturally when I visited that fellow's lesson on sweep picking I had no idea what the hell an appreggio was.So when you do the "sweeping motion"( economy style), is it really some intricate wrist motion, or simply dropping a string as your average guitarist with no knowledge of sweep/economy picking would?

[ZeGuitarist]

Anthyo wrote:

Hmmmmm, I'm confused about the sweeping.

I've played guitar for a few months now, but I never learned the basics (I'm currently going back to square one so I can start to undersand this sort of thing.)Naturally when I visited that fellow's lesson on sweep picking I had no idea what the hell an appreggio was.So when you do the "sweeping motion"( economy style), is it really some intricate wrist motion, or simply dropping a string as your average guitarist with no knowledge of sweep/economy picking would?

Sweep picking is a really difficult technique, but it is in fact very easy to understand HOW it is done. The easiest way to understand what sweep picking is, is to see somebody do it. There are lots of video's on YouTube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uFLaIBGZ2o

This one is a very nice example. Take a good look at the motion of his right (picking) hand. He picks every next string with another downstroke, instead of alternate picking (down-up-down-up-...).

As for arpeggios, stay tuned for my next lesson... "The missing links" between chords, arpeggios, scales and soloing!

ZeG

[ZeGuitarist]

Btw, that's not me in the video lol

ZeG

[Anthyo]

ZeGuitarist wrote:

Anthyo wrote:

Hmmmmm, I'm confused about the sweeping.

I've played guitar for a few months now, but I never learned the basics (I'm currently going back to square one so I can start to undersand this sort of thing.)Naturally when I visited that fellow's lesson on sweep picking I had no idea what the hell an appreggio was.So when you do the "sweeping motion"( economy style), is it really some intricate wrist motion, or simply dropping a string as your average guitarist with no knowledge of sweep/economy picking would?


Sweep picking is a really difficult technique, but it is in fact very easy to understand HOW it is done. The easiest way to understand what sweep picking is, is to see somebody do it. There are lots of video's on YouTube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uFLaIBGZ2o

This one is a very nice example. Take a good look at the motion of his right (picking) hand. He picks every next string with another downstroke, instead of alternate picking (down-up-down-up-...).

As for arpeggios, stay tuned for my next lesson... "The missing links" between chords, arpeggios, scales and soloing!

ZeG

....Holy Christ...Wow, just wow.

[ZeGuitarist]

Anthyo wrote:

....Holy Christ...Wow, just wow.

What?

ZeG

[Sploosh92]

that was a very good lesson thanks!!!!

[skatermaggot]

Awesome lesson *thumbs up*

[drumsticks77]

g n f'n r wrote:

thank you .
this is a great lesson.

10 thumbs up

_>
yes good lesson. this clears stuff up a bit

[blue_strat]

great lesson, tho i economy pick automatically. must be my lazy nature . can't get the hang of strict alternate picking.

[witrudd]

nice job 1st lesson that i actually enjoy learning

[carpo]

good lesson bruv, i am new to this site and dont want to offend but been playing for 13 years teaching for 4 years and consider myself reasonably OKish! when playing four notes on a string then surely you should pick alternately to maintain the vibe of picked passages rather than hammering the last note. i am actually an advocate of alternate picking but i understand why this doesnt work for everyone, and in the case of 3 notes on a string economy is definitely the cleanest way. i also draw attention to the fact you talk about playing 'fast' a lot, you and me both know that this comes from practice, practice, practice and i hope ( probably in vain!) that your 'students' understand that with speed must come ultimate accuracy and definition of notes. or just call me old fashioned! also how do you get into posting lessons on this site i'd like to offer a little knowledge and experience.

[carpo]

wheres my comment gone did i upset you

[carpo]

oh how strange its there now! sorry!

[ZeGuitarist]

carpo wrote:

good lesson bruv, i am new to this site and dont want to offend but been playing for 13 years teaching for 4 years and consider myself reasonably OKish! when playing four notes on a string then surely you should pick alternately to maintain the vibe of picked passages rather than hammering the last note. i am actually an advocate of alternate picking but i understand why this doesnt work for everyone, and in the case of 3 notes on a string economy is definitely the cleanest way. i also draw attention to the fact you talk about playing 'fast' a lot, you and me both know that this comes from practice, practice, practice and i hope ( probably in vain!) that your 'students' understand that with speed must come ultimate accuracy and definition of notes. or just call me old fashioned! also how do you get into posting lessons on this site i'd like to offer a little knowledge and experience.

I'd like to respond to each of these remarks.
First of all, you're right about playing four notes on a string by strictly alt. picking, I do this too. But the hammering and pulling was just an example of how it would be done by strictly eco. picking.. It's all a matter of preference of course, whatever feels right, you should do.

Secondly, yes I talk about playing "fast", because eco. picking is in some cases an easier way to play a lot faster. But I do also draw attention to playing even and accurate. That's the purpose of exercise set #2: a good synchronisation between both hands. To achieve this synchronisation, you should indeed PRACTISE, PRACTISE, PRACTISE!!

Finally, to the right of the "Search" button on the homepage, there are three links: submit your own tab, review or lesson. That's how you submit lessons.. Let me know if you post one, i like to learn too! I'm not as experienced as you are

Cheers and thanks for the constructive criticism!
ZeG

[ZeGuitarist]

Sorry, that's not how you submit a lesson

Go to "lessons". On the left, there's the bar with "For beginners", "The basics", ...
At the bottom of that bar, there's a link that says, "Submit your lesson".

ZeG

[carpo]

cheers mate, believe it or not i'm quite new to computers and websites e.t.c too much beer! so thats why i sent other comments! hope i didnt sound too rude but it comes across differently when you type words

[Miklelottesen]

Nice article! Normally, I find such tutorials expecting you to pick something very difficult at Yngwie speed, but 5-6-5 is something you can manage! And somehow I feel that it invites you to do it in your own speed. I also like the pick holding part - actually taught me a lot..

[IamJonsCranium]

good lesson. a different way to pick, rather than change the tilt angle of the pick when going up and down, is to just rotate the pick slightly clockwise. this will give a better tone and smoother feel. that way you dont have to change the position of the pick tip, which i find helps with accuracy.

[Anthyo]

ZeGuitarist wrote:

Anthyo wrote:

....Holy Christ...Wow, just wow.


What?

ZeG

That sweep picking was quite possibly the most awesome piece of awesome I ever beholded. Til' I actually looked up Blitzkrieg.

[vai&satch767]

Dude, sick lesson! Id really like to see a lesson on sweep picking from you. I love sweep picking but cant find any good excersizes. That would be really good. Ty so much.

[ZeGuitarist]

vai&satch767 wrote:

Dude, sick lesson! Id really like to see a lesson on sweep picking from you. I love sweep picking but cant find any good excersizes. That would be really good. Ty so much.

Little problem there man, see I can't sweep pick
I'm more of a theorist.. I know how to sweep pick, but i can't do it properly. Same with economy picking, though its getting better and better.. Sweeping isn't tho lol
How about a soloing lesson? A lesson that makes you aware of how much you know already about soloing.. If you can play chords, you can almost play solos

ZeG

[huygir]

Richie_J wrote:

Does anyone know how to start practising a solo like the one in "Through The Fire And Flames" (by Dragonforce). Its too fast to humanly play. (Watch the video to see why). Faster than Malmsteen. Herman and Sam are guitar Gods. You gotta see it!

OMG! I had never seen that video before. Unreal. Can you even learn that kind of action? I'm inspired to put both hands up on the fret board and look for opportunities to use the picking hand fingers to shortcut things : I need to a high-res version of that so I can watch it in super slow-mo.

-bh

[UnknownRockStar]

dude that wuz awesome!
so that's why i couldnt pick so fast....
ty

[brandon_huczek]

Nice! Now I play so fast it's amazing! Thanks for the sweet lesson.

[xxjexx]

hey thanks so much for posting something like this...ive been playing for only like a year and ive always wanted to get better at picking...and this definatly helped. right on

[bones2d]

perfect ,,thanx alot

[Shapakastina]

great lesson man

11/10

['tallica'gadeth]

dude that is so true. if you alternate pick religiously when playing triplets you need to start on an upstroke after playing down-up-down so it would go down-up-down up-down-up,in other words doing that is hard as ****!

[Timus]

Ace, Thanks for the lesson.

[TOB00]

PS: Thanks everybody for all the positive feedback. I'm considering doing some more lessons, but what do you think they should be about? Please give me some ideas...

dou know how to two hand tap? you know, like EVH? cause if you could also teach me that as well, that would be great.

[BlairC]

ok i have a question...is it better to hold your pick tight so the pick stays striaght or is it better to hold your pick loose so it angles?

[imjlotherealone]

ZeGuitarist wrote:

vai&satch767 wrote:

Dude, sick lesson! Id really like to see a lesson on sweep picking from you. I love sweep picking but cant find any good excersizes. That would be really good. Ty so much.

Little problem there man, see I can't sweep pick
I'm more of a theorist.. I know how to sweep pick, but i can't do it properly. Same with economy picking, though its getting better and better.. Sweeping isn't tho lol
How about a soloing lesson? A lesson that makes you aware of how much you know already about soloing.. If you can play chords, you can almost play solos

ZeG

nice.. same here
i can do a little bit of sweeping and some alt but i do economy picking automatically. And yet I am not fast at any of these three picking techniques.

[TRW_G4l]

great lesson, thanks a mil

[El_Cubano_1986]

Hey i love this lesson but im having some problems with picking evenly. see the thing is im left handed but i learned to play right handed 2 years ago and i can alt pick pretty quickly but i need to anchor my middle ring and pinky fingers on the pickguard to keep my right (shitty) hand under control. are there and leftys out there who can give me some tips on what i can do to improve my control? itd be really appreciated

[jbxspartan]

great lesson, thanks.

But I have a quick question.. The pick that i got with my guitar is the same length on every side... so there isn't really a 'sharp' side Should I get a different pick?

[ZeGuitarist]

jbxspartan wrote:

great lesson, thanks.

But I have a quick question.. The pick that i got with my guitar is the same length on every side... so there isn't really a 'sharp' side Should I get a different pick?

Of course not, the most common picks have a round and a sharp side, but some picks have three sharp edges, and there are many more varieties of picks.. Just use ONE OF THE sharp sides :d lol

ZeG

[jammer-91]

This really does help spped of fretting and picking. Keep in mind that it is mainly what you practice, the stuff in lessons are just a small fraction that can help you learn to gain speed compared to practicing. So just keep on practicing

[Stanimal]

Hey, I liked this, but my man Adam Kadmon (guitar grimoire) recomends using 2 downstrokes in a row to conserve energy, the first note will be down, second up, third down, but when you go to pick the next string, use the same down pick so you dont waste energy picking the other way, which will slow you down anyhow

[ZeGuitarist]

Stanimal wrote:

Hey, I liked this, but my man Adam Kadmon (guitar grimoire) recomends using 2 downstrokes in a row to conserve energy, the first note will be down, second up, third down, but when you go to pick the next string, use the same down pick so you dont waste energy picking the other way, which will slow you down anyhow

Umm.. Have you actually read the lesson? Cause what you say is really the POINT of my lesson :d lol

ZeG

[deafeNiNg_Mr.M]

thats a really damned great lesson, combined with the "sweep lesson". I have learned and will learn a lot of this...

thx, dude

[slicknick29]

i wanna learn thunderstuck how would i pick that song thats some major speed

[i bleed metal]

it only sounds fast because its loaded with hammer ons and pull offs, give it a shot, anyways, very nice lesson

[babakkatt]

nice lesson sir, it really helped

[synth002]

Cool lesson man.. I think its easier to play economy picking than alternate, but I think its important to be able to alternate pick just as well.. any noobs who go strait into economy picking, will be missing out on developing total control of their picking hand..

[sadSTATUE]

Awesome lesson, thanks a lot, dude. :-P

[Limaj_daas]

It think economy picking combines the aspects of sweeping and alternating... that's why it's better than both, cuz it's got both aspects in it...

again amazing lesson man

[BigSparky]

Thanks a ton for this lesson! It works like a charm! Sure, it took a little practice and adjusting after years of alternate picking, but man oh MAN does it work! EXCELLENT JOB!

[trust87]

good boy.. i wanna say that i play since 2 years and my guitar-teacher always told me to play using alternate-picking but i practised the riffs automatically, how ever, by economic picking.. glad that my style is the better one - i couldn't believe him, cause i was faster doing it in the econimic way ^^

[will0mon]

Okay this sounds stupid, but when you sweep pick...are you supposed to touch the strings when you're dragging the pick down, like a chord? Because if so, I don't really see a difference in sweep picking and strumming a chord.

[PuReDeAtH]

I've been playing for about a year, but if i'm not mistaken, the way I was tought, the up an down strokes fast we're called tremolo picking. Am I mistaken? And not to sound like a total noob, but I had never heard of economy picking. Does it really make you play that much faster? I am eager to learn to play well, an I'd like to know more about this. Lesson Was very informative, an I seemed to gain much knowledge from it, thanks an hope ypu make more lessons in the not so-distant future.

[IlovemyCgull]

will0mon wrote:

Okay this sounds stupid, but when you sweep pick...are you supposed to touch the strings when you're dragging the pick down, like a chord? Because if so, I don't really see a difference in sweep picking and strumming a chord.

The difference is that with sweep picking you dont hold your fingers down on the chord and strum as you strum down you put your fingers on the string your about to play. This guy teaches it better watch the vid he explains it all.-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbx03mP5eg

~Zelly

[Sk8trpunk977]

PuReDeAtH wrote:

I've been playing for about a year, but if i'm not mistaken, the way I was tought, the up an down strokes fast we're called tremolo picking. Am I mistaken? And not to sound like a total noob, but I had never heard of economy picking. Does it really make you play that much faster? I am eager to learn to play well, an I'd like to know more about this. Lesson Was very informative, an I seemed to gain much knowledge from it, thanks an hope ypu make more lessons in the not so-distant future.

Tremelo picking is where you pretty much just strum up and down on a string many times. Usually you don't switch notes that often per pick. Economy picking is a more natural way of picking. It means that you pick with anticipation of the next string that you move to. I never learned any "correct" way of picking when I started, but as I progressed I started picking in a way that was easier to move along the strings faster. I had no idea it was called "economy" picking. I just felt that it was comfortable.

[demon-of-apathy]

awesome lesson helped me out alot except one thing i found was changing strings on the same frets is pretty awkward

[brandenetc]

thanks man, i sorta get it, but its prolly just cause im tired, but thanks!

[BMTuga]

finally, economy picking! I've been playing like that or a month but didn't know it was economy. Been playing sweep picking completly wrong! :S

[gamejokerr]

Is there a lesson for playing classic guitar picking ?

[FenderTobben]

very good

[EpiphoneKnight]

So... when u figure out ohw to do economy picking... how good are you then?

[musicinmichigan]

an incredible lesson now i can shred

[*disasterpiece*]

nice... now i´m much better than before... thanks for this lesson

[sanapdrix]

really good lesson, easily one of the best out there for picking.

[jon bon 12]

brilliant lesson btw ecoomy picking is miles faster

[Jonathan666]

u kick
ass

[flyingsquirrel]

wow awesome lesson dude, i was randomly searching for a lesson about some new technique or theory to learn, and found this, i said: oo i heard bout economy picking ill go see what it is. And now i play like two times faster woooo.

thanks dude

[gamejokerr]

Wee im a newb in practicing economy picking

[Raakis]

Very good lesson. Im many times faster but i still got to practice

[emokiss96]

picking is takes a long time to master but wut the hell....i dont have a life

[Hundal]

Great lesson!

[zakk-rules]

good lesson, more of an informative lesson rather than those lesson where they just give you a load of exercises to do. Good job

Checked.

[rccbomb]

most awsome dude

[offspring_freak]

ZeG, tnx a lot, i started play 7 months ago on my own, ive learned lots of songs, your lesson helped me out a lot, you have explained everything very nice.
you could write your next lesson about tapping, and put some good exercieses like in this lesson.
tnx man, helped me a lot.

[FinderofNemo]

Lol, I'm better at economy than alt. picking, and I didn't even know what either was, I just taught myself everything. But still, this made my understanding a lot better, thanks

[FinderofNemo]

will0mon wrote:

Okay this sounds stupid, but when you sweep pick...are you supposed to touch the strings when you're dragging the pick down, like a chord? Because if so, I don't really see a difference in sweep picking and strumming a chord.


The difference is that with sweep picking you dont hold your fingers down on the chord and strum as you strum down you put your fingers on the string your about to play. This guy teaches it better watch the vid he explains it all.-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbx03mP5eg

The way I see sweep picking, it's like strumming a chord, but just going a lot slower.. like, you could individually pluck each string, but instead you strum down, but not so fast that you play a chord. Hope that makes sense lol.

[Knut84]

This lesson really opend my eyes. I can see why i havent gotten the speed i wantet yet. Because i was alt picking everything. Getting pretty good at that though Been playing for 6 years now, cant believe i havent stumbled upon this technique untill now. this will get the speed ut, no question. Going to practice this untill my fingers bleed. Thanx a million

[JeffReigns]

Great article - however, you forgot to explain that its more of a "rake" when you switch strings rather than a down-down or up-up.

[ZeGuitarist]

JeffReigns wrote:

Great article - however, you forgot to explain that its more of a "rake" when you switch strings rather than a down-down or up-up.

Yea, maybe if i knew what "rake" meant.. i'm not that good at english, i'm belgian

ZeG

[ZakkWyldeSDMF]

WOW...really wow...Ive been playing guitar on and off for ten years now(mostly off) so IM jealous as al hell of mybrothers speed when playing Megadeth or anything faster coz I just cant get the same attack speed...but I just tried this on Rose of Sharyn and it makes a hell of a difference to my speed! Works for me anyway!

Really well written lesson dood! Congrats!

[Saofan12]

Awesome lesson! extremely useful, and its written real well so you can understand it easily, all around awesom job and its great if you wan to learn to play fast and some great exercises to help

[schecterboy3000]

I practiced playing the major scale using this technique for a bout 45 minutes. my picking hand is at least 15% faster. Try practicing with a metronome the major scale using economy gradally getting faster, for a long time, then kick on the distorion and play a nice speedy solo like Bat Country or Eruption.

[emokid_drew18]

all i can say is WOW...! so amazing...

[guitar_fingers]

i want to thank u
i can finally shred!

[brandenetc]

this is pretty cool, thank's...it help's!

Checked.

[andy_h04]

what type of picks should i use soft/medium/hard and small/big?

[notoriousnumber]

Woah, Ive been playing for a couple of years now and I have never concentrated on my right hand. Ive spent an hour doing this, and although I am not as fast it feels so godamm smooth.

Thanks so much!!

[brush200400]

nice lesson ill work on my economy picking

andy_h04 wrote:

what type of picks should i use soft/medium/hard and small/big?

for alternate picking heavy, normal size. for sweeping use soft or medium

[leadlix4emblem]

good lesson, i shall practice

[refus3d]

Good job man! Awesome lesson Thanks

[stryker1223]

sweet Riffs..

[sid77]

sounds awesome lots of practice to come

[ukdudeinuk]

This isn't a bad lesson, but what about people like Paul Gilbert who preach alternate picking?? Even when he is doing his string skipping arpeggios he alternate picks, and that man is a picking god. I have never seen him economy pick. It really does depend on the person. Economy is better for some, alternate is better for others. You really should be able to do both at will, because they have a slightly different sound.

[leadlix4emblem]

sweet jesus, you're good! with my band practice on friday nights, i will have plenty of time to make a song with economy picking

Cheers,
LeadLix4Emblem

[MachtsKampf]

nice!!! it helped me alot!! thanx Homie!!

[ManoDelDiablo]

Awesome lesson man. I'm gonna bleedin' for a long time.

[surfinusa555]

I've always speed picked because it just felt more natural to me, but the "What Part Of The Pick Is Used To Pick With" lesson really helped me. I was picking WAY to o hard and too deep on the pick. Now I can finally play Rufio up to speed!

[blasphemy666]

great lesson but ill stick with circular picking

[RohithCG]

awesome lesson... this is great! thanks for the help

[carpo]

brush200400[/b] wrote:

nice lesson ill work on my economy picking
andy_h04 wrote:

what type of picks should i use soft/medium/hard and small/big?

for alternate picking heavy, normal size. for sweeping use soft or medium[/quote]

so what should we use for a song that has sweeps and alternate picking phrases? eh,prick.

[pomelo]

i've been playing for 2 years now, and i use economy picking, it works pretty good i guess, yet most professional guitarists use strict alternate picking, and some advice strictly alternate and never economy picking ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTxtInJnHFU&mode=
related&search= )

can anyone give me a list of known guitarists that actually use economy picking? i'm starting to think it's better if I just learn to use strict alternate picking,

[RattleHead16]

awesome lesson dude! thanks for posting it

[Zepplin]

Without a doubt in the world, a great article. Incredibly handy skill to master. Incredibly hard skill to master. I would not pretend to have mastered it, but I am pretty damn close.

[EpiphoneKnight]

Hey I finally know that I'm doing this right or pretty much right and it's really sweet!

for alternate picking heavy, normal size. for sweeping use soft or medium

lol are you gonna switch picks in the middle of a solo?

[boss badong]

nice.... it really help me a lot, thank you very much!

[metallica-fx]

awsome article! it helped me sort my picking out loads thanks

hope u make some more lol

Checked.

[chaos knight]

TNX for the article, i will try it no a bass. wonder is will work ?? will get back to you!

[bartle]

:M:
this was my first time ever on a guitar i normally play drums but found this easy and good 2 follow
:M:

[aldopunkyou]

YEAH I HAVE THE MOST LAZY PICK HAND EVER.....it tries to keep up with my fret hand but it cant =[
this i can tell is helpin streghten my pick hand =D

[NirvanaFan101]

this is great!
I was just learning For Stevie Wonders' Eyes Only by Bring Me the Horizon, and i was randomly browsing around the site, and i saw this. it helped me play this song a lot better.

THANKS A LOT!

[evilzug]

yay

[boybassista]

nice

[jovy21_ph]

this article is really nice. it will surely help a lot of guitarist who wishes to play faster with ease. hope to read more of your articles/tips.

thanks... c",)

[medicman006]

Good lesson but one thing....it's spelled practice, whith a "c". I'm sure someone already pointed it out above me, but I didn't read all through those things.

[caged_fire]

Sweet article! It helped a lot

[joshiscrippled]

very good article. I did that before I knew what it was, just didn't really think about it haha

[bpauers]

excellent article...i never quite understood what economy picking was until now. now i can play a lot faster, and a lot easier! thanks a bunch man.

[bruiseofsociety]

great article, but i wanted to point out one thing, that can be incorporated into economy picking from sweep picking; in addition to pick angle, if you move your picking hand in a slight elliptical motion, about a quarter of an ellipse, it allows for your fretting hand to keep up.

[WickedFish]

great article, especially the "What Part Of The Pick Is Used To Pick With" helped me a lot.

[Sweet Coffee]

Nice 1

[sueycide]

Maybe the best lesson for speed on this site. Only a few days after I read this article and practicing the drills in it, I noticed a big improvement in my picking speed and accuracy. Thanks for the awesome lesson.

[ortrigger]

Hey, great lesson. I just barely started playing and I understood what you were saying perfectly. Props.

[Frankie Sparks]

Sweet lesson, although i kinda already knew that...it depends on what your playing. I disagree with one part though dude. like when your doing this

/-----5-6-7-8---\
/-----5-6-7-8-----\
/-----5-6-7-8-----\
/-----5-6-7-8-----\
/-----5-6-7-8-----\
/-5-6-7-8-----\

That is not supposed to be economy picked, that is alternate. You shouldnt just rely strictly on economy, it doesnt work like that. With even notes per string, its alternate. With odd, its economy. And not every solo HAS to be economy picked. Just find your own pattern and pick it. But that part in blitzkrieg is right. I can do the whole song

[Frankie Sparks]

woa thats messed up sorry, but you get what i mean, right?

[Frankie Sparks]

"can anyone give me a list of known guitarists that actually use economy picking? i'm starting to think it's better if I just learn to use strict alternate picking"

Yngwie Malmsteen man...he's incredible at it. but dude just because they do it doesnt mean its the best thing to do. Im not saying that either is best, im just saying do what you want to do, you know what i mean? Do what feels comfortable. Btw Rusty Cooley uses economy, and he's one of the fastest on the planet. but then again, speed isnt everything you know.

[Frankie Sparks]

Just shred is getting boring to me though. Whats so fun about it? Every single shred lick has that same sound that every guitarist goes for. That little high pitched thing that you can make with your voice that it makes when you have it on the neck pickup and you do a scale around the 12th fret. I'd really like to hear an ACTUAL SOLO for once in a while.

[guitar_lover23]

thx mate this really helps with your speed for picking, atleast i think so.

[cdnhland]

great lesson, very informative, extremely helpful in understanding the importance of the picking hand.

[HarmonicMinor]

I wrote a riff before, using the same method but, using arpeggios from each different mode. Modes are real good in solos or, a pre-chorus building up to a chorus.

[HarmonicMinor]

If you master alternate picking, you gain greater speed than economy (sweep) says the wizard from 'The Guitar Grimoire' series.

[LilGil]

awesome man. i knew my right hand was weak. im gonna practice this for awhile and hopefully i wont completely forget about it.

[sum41rules]

every1 seem a bit divided between alternate n economy pickin but i think a bit of both worlds is the best idea. tnx 4 helpin people

[lain3bail3y]

OHH MY GOD THAT WAS AMAZING!!!!!

[jimbo.z]

Great absolutely great, if praticed this for like 15 minutes and i'm already a lot faster
this is great. thanks man thanks.

[Thabest1]

great lesson !! this will really help me alot

[dying_corpse]

this was a very useful lesson thanks dude

[judaspriestkid]

nice review

[ortrigger]

this is really good for guitarist styles similar to avenged sevenfold. they have really fast riffs and solos. but it is a good thing to kind of combine economy and alternate because then you can be fast on triplets and quintets and be fast on duplets and quadruplets. its the best of both worlds.

[noob_head]

im just writing this to see if it works

[mister sir]

this is the stupidest shit iv ever read. u use a hammeron if its not even?
u can **** urself for wasting my time.

[Shredda]

Thank you for a tremendous lesson. The exercises are great. Still feels a bit awkward to do those triplets like in the second part of exercise 1, but I guess I just need more practice.

[HighPitchSolov2]

mister sir wrote:

this is the stupidest shit iv ever read. u use a hammeron if its not even?
u can **** urself for wasting my time.

Lol... you just suck ass hahaha, go quit guitar, noob

[HighPitchSolov2]

oh, and i think this lesson is awesome, thanks a lot

[Key Master]

cool

[tennisace]

great lesson! i have been doing this for a while now, but i didn't know it had a name, but this definitly helped me become better.

[mister sir]

HighPitchSolov2 wrote:

mister sir wrote:

this is the stupidest shit iv ever read. u use a hammeron if its not even?
u can **** urself for wasting my time.


Lol... you just suck ass hahaha, go quit guitar, noob

You're calling me a noob? Anyone who reas this and actually tries applying this to their playng is a noob. This gives away the whole point of PICKING EVERYTHING, otherwise no matter what you do it won't sound like your picking everything.
So someone here is clearly a noob
I actually do not understand how people call this shit good. 9.6*? This takes away the whole point of picking everything!
And the author took the slowest part of the song to demonstrate. I play the whole song from start to end with alternate picking ('cept for the sweeping parts, obviously). Alternate picking just makes SO much more sense cuz if you do economy picking, you'll NEVER get the punch of alternate picking and it will sound more legato than all notes being picked.
Imagine if someone like John Petrucci did this! You can hear every note he picks, cuz he PICKS every note. Wow, some people are dumb.

[TokaiRocker2000]

y is it called economy picking?

[Jivejames67119]

awesome lesson

after 1 practice session i can play wayyy faster than before

[ZeGuitarist]

mister sir wrote:

HighPitchSolov2 wrote:

You're calling me a noob? Anyone who reas this and actually tries applying this to their playng is a noob. This gives away the whole point of PICKING EVERYTHING, otherwise no matter what you do it won't sound like your picking everything.
So someone here is clearly a noob
I actually do not understand how people call this shit good. 9.6*? This takes away the whole point of picking everything!
And the author took the slowest part of the song to demonstrate. I play the whole song from start to end with alternate picking ('cept for the sweeping parts, obviously). Alternate picking just makes SO much more sense cuz if you do economy picking, you'll NEVER get the punch of alternate picking and it will sound more legato than all notes being picked.
Imagine if someone like John Petrucci did this! You can hear every note he picks, cuz he PICKS every note. Wow, some people are dumb.

Dude, you obviously havent even read my lesson.
You keep saying its stupid not to pick everything, but WHERE THE FUCK does it say in my lesson that you don't have to pick every note? OF COURSE you should pick every note, economy picking is just a technique for a smoother wrist movement! Try and use ur ****ing EYES the next time you read something, before you trash my lesson.
Secondly, you say that it sounds more legato that alternate picking. If (and only if) FULLY mastered, economy picking DOESNT sound legato at all. Maybe you should try and throw your prejudices away and study things before you drag them through a pile of shit.

And finally, check out the top 100 guitar lessons on UG. Mine's 3d.. Has to mean something, right? Guess you can't always be right.
Wow, some people really have big heads.

ZeG (author)

[ru8up]

Thanks for the lesson ZeG. I bet you can dust any critic on the board. mister sir can't pick his nose without his tongue getting in the way. All mouth and no show. Maybe he'd like to put his malmsteen up and try my brent mason / arlen roth style? I quite playing malmsteen years ago when there was little interest except viewing from fellow guitarist. It got old.

[Necromaggot]

Thank you for making this lesson, it is EXCELLENT! Before I read this, I was trying to master alt picking, but I was having a VERY rough time due to trying to keep track of "up-down-up-down" while trying to concentrate on my fretting, and I would get so frustrated that I would either resume one-way picking or put my guitar down in defeat. It was not that I didnt "get" alt picking, I am just naturally left handed so my right hand had a hard time going the correct way when I was picking. This made total sense to me, and as soon as I finished reading I picked up my guitar and tryed your examples, it clicked perfectly! Thank you for making such a helpful lesson!

btw: am I ****ing myself over by using a corner of the pick to play? If I try to use the tip, it does nothing but slide around in my hand and mess me up, but when I use the upper left-hand corner of the pick to play with my thumb covering the tip and the other corner, I can do pretty well. Will I give myself speed or accuracy problems if I continue like that, or will I be fine to use it that way?

[metalhead_65]

I have been playing guitar for 3 years now and i havent even heard of economy picking until now. This was a great lesson and iot really taught me alot.

[optimummetal]

cool,thanks

[mathieupM13]

great

[guitarkid1991]

thanks for the help

[Jk3y]

the most useful lesson I've read on the site!!!

[Berryboy]

this is one of the best lessons i have seen, i will b able 2 learn alot from this, well don man

[Llamai]

ZeGuitarist wrote:

mister sir wrote:

HighPitchSolov2 wrote:

You're calling me a noob? Anyone who reas this and actually tries applying this to their playng is a noob. This gives away the whole point of PICKING EVERYTHING, otherwise no matter what you do it won't sound like your picking everything.
So someone here is clearly a noob
I actually do not understand how people call this shit good. 9.6*? This takes away the whole point of picking everything!
And the author took the slowest part of the song to demonstrate. I play the whole song from start to end with alternate picking ('cept for the sweeping parts, obviously). Alternate picking just makes SO much more sense cuz if you do economy picking, you'll NEVER get the punch of alternate picking and it will sound more legato than all notes being picked.
Imagine if someone like John Petrucci did this! You can hear every note he picks, cuz he PICKS every note. Wow, some people are dumb.

Dude, you obviously havent even read my lesson.
You keep saying its stupid not to pick everything, but WHERE THE FUCK does it say in my lesson that you don't have to pick every note? OF COURSE you should pick every note, economy picking is just a technique for a smoother wrist movement! Try and use ur ****ing EYES the next time you read something, before you trash my lesson.
Secondly, you say that it sounds more legato that alternate picking. If (and only if) FULLY mastered, economy picking DOESNT sound legato at all. Maybe you should try and throw your prejudices away and study things before you drag them through a pile of shit.

And finally, check out the top 100 guitar lessons on UG. Mine's 3d.. Has to mean something, right? Guess you can't always be right.
Wow, some people really have big heads.

ZeG (author)

I'm just gonna go ahead and point out the part in your lesson where it says to use a hammer-on instead of picking the note if there's an even number of notes per string. So, just so you know, you did write it...

[ZeGuitarist]

Llamai wrote:
I'm just gonna go ahead and point out the part in your lesson where it says to use a hammer-on instead of picking the note if there's an even number of notes per string. So, just so you know, you did write it...

I know I wrote that STRICT economy picking uses hammer ons, but I never said anybody should strictly stick to this. I know I only realised this afterwards so I repeatedly said this in the comments on the lesson, so if you havent read them all you might have missed that :P so yea sry, maybe you're right..
But that doesn't make my lesson crap.

ZeG

[madguyposerhomi]

woot!i hard wired this into my playing just now.didnt take very long at all.but then again.ive only been playin for a month so i probably dont have any bad habits that would prevent me from learning this

[madguyposerhomi]

oh ps thnx and anyway u can help me out with economy picking and hitting the frets the same time im picking?
?i kno, thats lame

[Dill1090]

damn good lesson

[madguyposerhomi]

nvm i got that down to.i found that i just wasnt picking as fast as my left hand was going

[Justinocalypse]

i like alternate picking better

[Fozzee]

I am a newer guitarist and lurk around on this site a lot reading different articles and realizing just how clueless I truly am about guitars/music theory etc. I truly appreciate the fact that this lesson is well written and more importantly understandable to those of us who have a desire to learn, but are ignorant of what many call "the basics" of guitaring. My many thanks!

[3 days grace14]

Thanks for the kickass lesson I can only get better

[ads062194]

hey man, great lesson. but what i dont get is how to incorperate this in stuff that isnt mapped out like the excersises. could someone explain how to do economy on songs taht arent straight foward such as the one you put at the end.

[krung]

SUCKS!!!!!

[ZeGuitarist]

krung wrote:

SUCKS!!!!!

Um.. Very constructive.. Maybe tell me WHY?

ZeG
(author)

[WishfulShredder]

Isnt it easiest to just learn all picking techniques?
I mean economy picking may be good for getting a certain sweepish sound, but to get a more even sound shouldnt you use alternate?
And sweep picking owns so everyone should learn it

[thegrungyhippie]

thank you very much!
its hard but ill practice

[makeshiftdream]

Thanks for the great lesson! I've been playing for a while, and though I'm pretty decent, I've skipped over a lot of the fundamentals and my progress has suffered because of it! Guess that's what you get when you go for more speed than accuracy. This lesson really helped me in my back tracking!

[njj246]

i a little confused... if ur alt pickin this kind of just comes naturally, no?

[njj246]

like i started to change this style a little while ago after i heard "whishful thinking" by petrucci and some of the arts that are "shred" i just alt pick an i think this is what im doin i just didnt non there was a name for it

[itchy guitar]

holy crap. right before i was about to learn far beyond the sun by malmsteen too. this is really gonna help

[niqolaise]

This lesson helped me alot. I'm a left-handed guitarist who plays right-handed. So my right hand is weak. This lesson was exactly what I need, thanks.

[Guitar 0 God]

This is a really great guide. I finally learned a new technique that i can practice. I gave it a 10.

[Freshnoise]

Hmm, i would argue that alternate picking is a better way to pick. Almost everyone naturally uses economy picking when trying to alternate pick unless they were taught otherwise. Your brain sees it as the least path of resistance. I don't think theres much of a need for a whole lesson on economy picking. Its actually harder when you think about it anyways.

[philipp122]

I just went from playing the major scale to shredding the major scale in 2 days. Thanks so much for making one of the most helpful lessons on UG. 10/10 .

[DarkLink1080]

thanks alot for the lesson it's awesome!

[cholo11]

Nice one man, already discovered this some time ago, the right hand stuff. The economy picking thing is the one I didn't know. In fact haven't even hear of it. Nice lesson but it seemed the same for me, economy or sweep picking. I feel both techniques to be very natural in making them so i get same speed in both, both are easy so its just the same for me, nice lesson anyway, keep the good work.

[Irontallica09]

good article, only one thing I spotted you say that you only pick 3 notes in a four note per string pattern with economy picking and use hammers and pulls but in fact it turns out almost like alternate picking with a 4 note per sting pattern if you pick every note. I tried my best to learn alternate and ecomomy

[le sex raptor]

I think this may have been the most helpful and inspiring article I've ever read.

[IconicAxe]

Very insightful lesson , these are alot things beginners and intermediate players alike overlook or dont realize. BRAVO

[LambOfBodom666]

That was sweet! I tried the: Relax and slight touch with pick, part. And it worked GREAT! I'm playing MUCH MUCH MUCH!!! more faster and accurate than before!
Thank you VERY VERY much for this lesson!!

[Zeldaik]

another good exercise is to use three note per string scales so you learn scales better and enjoy the exercise more.

[mattzillah]

honestly you guys out there that know so much should probably spend some time giving than trashing... this is the only lesson that pops up concerning eco picking so give the guy a break it's really not a bad lesson at all instead why not give peops like me something else to practice peace yall

[rutsrakregey]

thanks a lot man! this would be a great help for my self study. keep up the good work

[ibanezlover123]

Great lesson, it helped me a lot. I'm just starting out and right now I have to go slow and think about how to pick it, is this normal in the beginning?

[marcoRAKIZTA]

yayks!!!pa bitin!!!hehehe..why you did'nt say the technique of enconomy what ever in the last part???huhuhuh...what a unshareful guitarist...harharhar..

[InsomniaRocks]

I give you props for being really committed to economy picking, but in all honesty, for three string patterns, straight up tremolo picking is better if for nothing else than the fact that it is more consistant. If you practice using a combination of either strict alternate picking or strict sweeping, you can play virtually anything on the fly because there is never any question of how you are going to strike the notes. And I know you say it's more natural to progress straight off of one string to the other instead of skipping over it and coming back on an upstroke but I disagree. the fluidity you get from just strict back and forth alternate picking is much more comfortable and natural.

And as for being faster, I don't know exactly how fast you can play that first 3 note per string pattern that you tabbed out, but I can play it very cleanly and comfortably at 130 bpm with 6 notes per beat, using 100% alt picking and it feels very nice and natural. and anything faster than that is honestly really pointless imo.

ZeG I'm not ragging on you, and I know alot of people have loved this lesson, I can't argue witht that, but I feel like economy is a illusionary type of technique, it really doesn't get you the most speed, look at Paul Gilbert or John Petrucci for example, two strict sweep/ alternate pickers, and noone would ever complain about them playing too slow. I think that it might seem like you are getting faster in the short run, but if you took two people and had them practice either alt picking or economy picking for 5 years, the alternate picker would be much more comfortable, consistant, effective, with no less speed (probably more) than the economy picker.

[leonel libalib]

something is missing, whats the point of practising this lesson``i agree that it can increase my picking ability with this but i think it is not useful anymore since there is no scale running through that pattern``even chromatic and be bop scale

[devilex121]

do we really have to use a pick?
im good with my own fingers

[bassetrox]

[tab]
d u d H d u d H d u d H d u d H d u d H d u d H
E|-----5-6-5-6-|
B|-----5-6-5-6-----|
G|-----5-6-5-6--- --|
D|-----5-6-5-6-----|
A|-----5-6-5-6-----|
E|-5-6-5-6-----|

d u d P d u d P d u d P d u d P d u d P d u d P
E|-----6-5-6-5-|
B|-----6-5-6-5-----|
G|-----6-5-6-5--- --|
D|-----6-5-6-5-----|
A|-----6-5-6-5-----|
E|-6-5-6-5- ----|
[/tab]

okay, if you're doing that exercise without using hammerons for articulation reasons, would you use

u d u d u d u d

??

[bassetrox]

sorry that tab went balls up, it was a c&p from above, the excerice with 4 notes per string...

[ZeGuitarist]

bassetrox wrote:

okay, if you're doing that exercise without using hammerons for articulation reasons, would you use

u d u d u d u d

??

Hey,

Well yea, that's how i and probably everybody else would play it.. The hammers and pulls are just an example of how it should be played when using STRICT economy. Only strict economy is not very good to use, it's not very open-minded to focus on one style only in every situation.. In a 3 notes per string pattern, economy is best, in some other situations (like 4nps) alternate works out better..

A LOT OF PEOPLE COMMENTING THIS LESSON SEEM TO HAVE MISSED THIS POINT, SO TRY TO CONSIDER THIS BEFORE COMMENTING!!!

Oh well

Cheers!
ZeG

[bassetrox]

ZeGuitarist wrote:
A LOT OF PEOPLE COMMENTING THIS LESSON SEEM TO HAVE MISSED THIS POINT, SO TRY TO CONSIDER THIS BEFORE COMMENTING!!!
ZeG

I havent missed the point, I was meaning use 'u d u d' on four notes per string instead of 'd u d u'.

Both seem to be just alternate picking, but 'u d u d' would mean that the picking hand was moving in a downways motion at the end of the phrase. This could be an advantage in 'real life' licks, if you intended to play an odd number of notes on the next string down.

If the intention was to move back up a string, then 'd u d u' would be more appropraite.

I'm basically just trying to make the point that you can try and practice economy of movement even on 4-note-per-string licks. What do people think? I don't think the article covers this (I'm not criticising, ive rated it 5*).

Hope ive got my point across clearly.

[stratkat]

I can't wait to get home now and practice the hell out of this lesson

[ZeGuitarist]

bassetrox wrote:

Hope ive got my point across clearly.

Hehe, you did and you just made a fine addition to my lesson, indeed i didn't cover this in the lesson, tnx for adding
SO EVERYBODY READ BASSETROX'S COMMENT! :p

Cheers
ZeG

[ForçaCelta]

thank you so much, mate. This kind of stuff really helps a lot, specially when you try to learn by yourself

[j_ryan_7]

Nice lesson I use this as a warmup everyday

[royalewcheese35]

Used to use economy picking when i started out cus it seemed logical, and the book i was using to learn out of used it. But after taking lessons and using economy picking for 4 years, I can safely say that my soloing and general picking is so much better after switching to strict alternate picking. Not joking. If you want to play like vai, metallica, Ozzy, van halen, etc. forget this lesson and use strict alternate picking unless your doing sweep picking runs.

[eruptiondude]

ZeGuitarist wrote:

Nor'Easterbass wrote:

Is it bad that i taught myself this technique and thought it was alt picking? i'm still better at economy than alt. cuz i hafta think about bein strictly alt. It drives my teacher mad.


You should tell your teacher that you feel more comfortable with strict economy, and prove to him that alt. picking isn't better than economy, that economy is in fact better.. Everybody prefers their own style, and if you prefer economy, you shouldn't let somebody else tell you to use a different style that yours..
Cheers!

ZeG

I think your lesson is good but I also think your philosophy of picking techniques is rather more of an opinion than fact. Myself I have played Alternative/Economy picking since Speed Kills came out. I use all the different picking styles and as Michael himself said something like "why be stuck using one technique and not being able to play another". I mean its really about what YOU want it to sound like. Economy picking is not better alternate, its simply different. I like all the picking techniques.

[ZeGuitarist]

eruptiondude wrote:

I think your lesson is good but I also think your philosophy of picking techniques is rather more of an opinion than fact. Myself I have played Alternative/Economy picking since Speed Kills came out. I use all the different picking styles and as Michael himself said something like "why be stuck using one technique and not being able to play another". I mean its really about what YOU want it to sound like. Economy picking is not better alternate, its simply different. I like all the picking techniques.

Completely true, but thats what i'm trying to say anyway: why use strict alt if there's other techniques to master like economy? In my lesson i explain how "strict" eco works, but i didn't mean to say it was "better" than alt and you should be using it strictly over alt.
In the comment you quoted above i told somebody to tell his teacher that economy was better.. What i really meant was to tell his teacher that economy is better FOR HIM.. It's all just a matter of opinion and preference.

ZeG

[cornholio94]

thanks. helped me alot

[smallman48]

Simply amazing i'm new to the guitar and i already feel like i can play much better and faster now that i've read this very informative article thank you for putting your knowledge and research into one easy to read article

[G.J.]

this article was really informative... I'll get right to work!

[ArctcMnkysRcks!]

really helpfull, great lesson!
thanks!

[Spaded_Ace]

good lesson

[deki_stena]

Hey,i have a question. I've been practising alternate picking for almost a year now and every day as i practise more im getting better and better at it. So my question is , if now i start learning economy picking and use it on songs i already learned with alternate picking, will that ruin my progress on alternate picking? And ofcourse will i really learn to play that same songs faster and more acuratley with economy picking? If you know what i mean... I dont know if it will pay of to learn economy now when im perfecting alt.

[MastaTheif]

for me this article told me what economy picking was... i didn't know, but i already knew how to do it and thought everyone did, but i guess thats why this was made-- for those killing themselves trying to play guitar that don't try a logical approach

not meant to offend, just speakin the truth

[MyGoodLooks]

GREAT LESSON!! it motivated me to register on this website! now i realized most of my playing errors, but i still have tons more to fix :P

THANX!

[Metal Demon 616]

Great lesson

Thats really helped me, even though i sometimes economy picked without realising it, (apart from most Metallica songs). I had never put too much thought into pick angle though, so thats useful to know.

Very easy to understand as well.
10 / 10

[BlakkRayne234]

Ok.. that was freakin awesome! Now just outta curiousity, how exactly do you build up your speed picking? I've mostly got economy picking down.. But how the hell do you speed up your tremelo picking? For instance EVH's Eruption. My left hand can do most of the fingering no problem.. but my right just can't do the crazy tremelo picking..

[mykl]

Hey. I naturally learned to economy pick from the beginning without realizing it and its pretty sweet but I was just wondering, as people say economy is the most efficient way of picking, is there any reason to alternate pick? I don't feel it has any difference in sound, but say for specific patterns for instance is alternate picking any more efficient or just better?

Also if you want to learn this better, look up "musichopper" on youtube. He's the best teacher around.

Thanx

[BlaueBlume]

Wow, this lesson is a really good and helpful one (nice and easy explanation and useful examples), although I used economy picking (not all the time) without realizing it.

[fourxhackd]

This is a great lesson. Not only does it teach you how to pick properly, it also explains why.

Excellent job.

[ChadUzumaki]

i so didnt know it was all about the picking hand

[Yell0w]

yeah this is really good... but know i have a question.. could someone please write under this example the picking direction for economy picking? Thanks

E|-----|
B|-----|
G|-----|
D|-----4-----4-5--|

A|-----3-----3-5---3-5-7-3-5-7---5-7-----|
E|-3-5-7---5-7- ----7-----|


Thanks alot!

[killaphobiac]

thanks for this great lesson! economy picking has inspired me to use more speed in my playing and use it comfortably!

[Veroth]

if you want to play fast learn everything in this lesson yu will get faster i can promise you that.

[yatezy]

THANKS HEAPS I LEARNT ALOT

[RicoNegro]

I've practiced this for about a week now. Earlier today I was doing some reach and strengthening exercises and suddenly realized that I was economy picking subconsciously. Granted, I'm still not a speed demon on guitar, but my speed is improving. Thanks for this article, it's really helped me out!

[microsonic_java]

thanks bro! this has improve my picking after the first 15 min of practicing. i appreciate the good article.

[Meezles]

very informative,
thx for helping me increase my speed!
i've been working on a bit of malmsteens
"arpeggios from hell" and i couldnt get it goin very fast, but..this really helps!

[19CIRCA68]

tnx for the lesson ive been reading this for almost 3 days in a row and practicing for almost 12-15 hours a day...and now i can see some ipmrovements with my playing.....i only having problems with slowing down...

[19CIRCA68]

tnx for the lesson ive been reading this for almost 3 days in a row and practicing for almost 12-15 hours a day...and now i can see some ipmrovements with my playing.....i only having problems with slowing down...

[fleh]

ZeGuitarist wrote:

Gnu wrote:

are you supposed to use the sharp end of the pick?:O that's only when you play solos or? I've only played for some months but I've always used the other end...

Usually you use the sharp end, yes, but if you want you could use any part of the pick.. There's some famous guitar player who used to play with the round edge of the pick, but I don't remember his name..

ZeG

if you look at John Petrucci's g3 glasgow kis video on youtube you can see him turn his pick around to the rounder side before picking very fast.... very

[fleh]

BlakkRayne234 wrote:

Ok.. that was freakin awesome! Now just outta curiousity, how exactly do you build up your speed picking? I've mostly got economy picking down.. But how the hell do you speed up your tremelo picking? For instance EVH's Eruption. My left hand can do most of the fingering no problem.. but my right just can't do the crazy tremelo picking..

just learn to vibrate

[Ic3]

Great Leson Thnx

[schizo83]

Please check out rock discipline (can be found on google video).

Now find the moment in the video in which he says he had a problem with certain licks and this problem occurs when the pick gets in between strings he wants to play. He explains how to solve it.

When I did economy picking I got stuck between two string more often then when I used alternate picking. Try this pattern:
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
With economy picking you are between the strings all the time! Try alternate picking and you will not have this problem.

These are just my 2 cents and my personal reason to alternate pick. Happy to be confirmed by Kristopher Dahl, Petrucci and all those others who go up-down-up-down all the time no exceptions (well except sweeps of course :)

[19CIRCA68]

schizo83 wrote:

Please check out rock discipline (can be found on google video).

Now find the moment in the video in which he says he had a problem with certain licks and this problem occurs when the pick gets in between strings he wants to play. He explains how to solve it.

When I did economy picking I got stuck between two string more often then when I used alternate picking. Try this pattern:
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
With economy picking you are between the strings all the time! Try alternate picking and you will not have this problem.

These are just my 2 cents and my personal reason to alternate pick. Happy to be confirmed by Kristopher Dahl, Petrucci and all those others who go up-down-up-down all the time no exceptions (well except sweeps of course

there are some patterns you sould use alternate picking and somtimes economy picking... you should figure out to your self when to use those kind of picking....

[m.iqbal]

keren.

Tpi sayang pake b.inggris.

Ak kan g ngerti.

[ZeGuitarist]

m.iqbal wrote:

keren.

Tpi sayang pake b.inggris.

Ak kan g ngerti.

Oh, yes, about eleven I believe.

[itsthedevil]

Hi, whats with all the criticisms? 10+
I've been playing for years and this is excellent practice.

[domkman]

Hey, a Great Lesson !
Thank you
Ahora a practicar

[zorlacwareZ]

great lesson iv been playing guitar for quite sometime but mostly on acoustic finger style now trying to explore the world of soloing i find this lesson very informative tnx zeg!

[truerokr42]

haha, it took like 20 minutes to get to the bottom of the page. anyway, thanks for the new technique. i think ive used it before, just never knew what it was called.

[delta777]

thaks a lot, i didn't know the economic picking technique.

[desert sand]

way to much crap in your explanation way to boring to read. jut cut to the point and cut all the crap

[ZeGuitarist]

desert sand wrote:

way to much crap in your explanation way to boring to read. jut cut to the point and cut all the crap

No.

[Steiger]

Hi ZG, I am currently following your new weekly columns which are great and have just dicovered this one which definately puts fast playing into perspective. I wondered how guitarists managed to play so fast and it is exactly what I want to do. ANOTHER GREAT ARTICLE!!!!!

[defytradition]

ZG you write the best lessons. Great acticle,10/10

[IFailedEnglish]

i didnt know what economy picking was until now, but i just realised that that's how ive been picking for a while now. good lesson, man.

oh, and desert sand, if he didnt explain all of it, how would you learn, it doesnt just happen, and if you dont take time to learn things and just rush through it, youll never get it right.

[Br0wns0und]

GREAT ARTICLE. man, I was stuck in a rut as far as playing fast went, and this way of picking definiately makes a lot more sense.
so BASICALLY, economy picking is just alternate picking, but STARTING with either a downstroke or upstroke depending on whether your moving up or down a string, right?

[kkquick]

I think this is a great lesson. Good job!
One thing that irritates me is that people keep talking about if Economy picking is better then alternate and the opposite. Look at Speed Kills with Michael Angelo and he tells you it's good to know both techniques. And it is. Some people prefer one technique before the other but that doesn't make the other technique bad. It's just the players choice.
They both have their up- and downsides but me myself prefer to learn both ways :P started off with Economy and now I use Alternate ( most of the time ). But as I said before, great lesson keep em coming

[Phil G]

This has been a turning point. After realising I could do the Blitzkrieg riff with my left hand at nearly full speed, but only pick it at around half, now I realise where I was going wrong. Thought I'd register and show my gratitude. Thanks, great lesson.

[changmaster]

[metalmagic!]

... three years later this thing is still getting alot of attention.
i see why.

[metalmagic!]

... three years later this thing is still getting alot of attention.
i see why.

[salmon philippe]

Thanks a lot for this lesson

[BoggaN]

Thanks alot! I am gonna start practicing economy picking alot now because everyone says you can play faster that way than alternate picking =)

[acoustielectric]

EpiphoneKnight wrote:

Ok... gotcha.

Some of the phrasology of this site has confused me. Thx for straightening it out.

Is phrasology a word?

[ZeGuitarist]

acoustielectric wrote:

EpiphoneKnight wrote:

Ok... gotcha.

Some of the phrasology of this site has confused me. Thx for straightening it out.

Is phrasology a word?

Pwnt.

[DelusionsMaster]

I found the lesson extremely helpful, and really appreciate the efforts of all the people trying to make things easier for us wanna-be guitar heroes

I have a small doubt, though: how to deal with pedal notes, the kind of licks Malmsteen makes use of a lot to make it clearer? For instance, take the Baroque and Roll lick (I took this part from a tab here on UG):

-----10-12-13---13-12-10-----12-10-12-8-12-7-12----12 ---12-|
--10-12-13-----9-----13-12-10-----10----9----|
--- --|
-----|
-----|
-----|

it's quite easy to understand how to play the first 6 notes using economy picking, since it's 3 notes per chord, but I'm confused with respect to how the following part could be "economized"... how would you play such a lick? I currently hammeron-pullof the all, but with the help of this lesson I'd like to work on improving my right hand, since legatos are not the answer everywhere...

[Duality Ninja]

This lesson was very helpful. Thanks!

[dependence]

Thank you so much..!

[mealzer]

Hey I love the lesson. Just wanted to give a suggestion to anyone practicing it.

It's the same as exercise one and two and all that, except start at first fret, do 1 2 1, then go up a string and do 2 3 2, all the way. Same thing coming back down, so you'll essentially be doing an X...keep moving up a fret every time you finish the run, until you can't anymore, then come back down the neck. It's working for me!

[BC-NotsoRich]

Hey, thank you for actually writing and posting this lesson. It's very informative and helpful.
Funnily enough I was actually reading "All aspects of picking" Prior to reading this lesson, so its funny that you mentioned it :P

kudo's, i see the logic behind economy picking and its already beginning to help me out. 10 thumbs up ZeG.

[marcosrhcp007]

Good lesson.
Can you save a tab or an article and continue later doing it?

[dgargett95]

Awesome lesson, really helped

[Ishmeister]

Hey ZeG. First of all, awesome lesson I´ve been reading your lessons as a maniac and thanks to you I´m making great progress.

Secondly, I have a question. When you pick, (alternate, economy, whatever) should you rest a finger against your guitar for better "control"? Or will that just get in the way later on? What is the most common way to do it? Maybe just make a fist and strum in the air?

Sorry if that was uncomprehendable. My mother language is Swedish

/Ish

[Kalo Hanaka]

Dear Ishmeister.

Most of the people here at UG (including me) calls that for "anchoring" (tänk lite granna att ditt finger ankrar fast handen i gitarren). This is bad. Really bad. Try not to do this, try to keeping all fingers "closed", as if you're holding a fist. That's at least how I hold it, and Dave Mustaine. And some other guitarists probably..

[80's baby]

Kalo Hanaka wrote:

Dear Ishmeister.

Most of the people here at UG (including me) calls that for "anchoring" (tänk lite granna att ditt finger ankrar fast handen i gitarren). This is bad. Really bad. Try not to do this, try to keeping all fingers "closed", as if you're holding a fist. That's at least how I hold it, and Dave Mustaine. And some other guitarists probably..

I dont know u might be right but ive seen people that are really good that play "anchoring" and they sweep pick and all

[ShowStopper102]

Had not heard of such a thing, will learn if it will help me!

[theman004]

so i've been stiffly economy picking for almost a year now without knowing it?