Alternate Picking

Alternate picking is among the most fundamental motions used in guitar playing. This simple but effective exercise is a great warm-up that aids in the development of alternate picking.

Alternate picking is the right-hand picking technique that uses both downstrokes (toward the floor) and upstrokes (toward the ceiling). When you learn how to play the guitar using alternate picking, you can play rapid, successive notes in a smooth, flowing manner. Single notes that you need to play relatively fast almost always require alternate picking. …

Alternate picking is a technique in which you pick in a down, up, down, up pattern. It allows you to play a series of picked notes fluently and cleanly. It helps develop a good sense of rhythm because the regular picking motion helps acquire an evenness of timing that is absolutely essential.

Numerous are the guitarists who speedpick, to mention a few: Yngwie Malmsteen, Al di Meola, Paul Gilbert, Zakk Wylde, Steve Morse, Vinnie Moore, Tony Macalpine, Ronni le Tekro, Jason Becker, Shawn Lane etc.

TweetOne of the most important and useful lead guitar technique beginner guitarists must learn at an early stage is alternate picking.

The basic alternate picking exercise uses four notes on consecutive frets with fingers 1-2-3-4. This is great because it’s perfectly alternate (down-up-down-up) while also allowing for an occasional string change. But now we’re going to mix up the patterns to prevent your muscles from doing all of the thinking.

This beginner guitar practice session by Peter Vogl will walk you through some basic principles of alternate picking. Play through these easy exercises as you watch the video. With time, you’ll become better and better at this extremely important technique.

You’ve probably heard about alternate picking before. You might even be doing it most of the time you play guitar…but are you doing it properly? I mean, you can only play as fast– or as accurately– as you can pick.

To build ripping guitar speed, you must use the most efficient picking technique possible. Read this to learn the best picking technique for guitar.

Alternate picking is arguably one of the most used right hand techniques on the guitar amongst sweep/economy picking and strumming. This technique is especially popular in shred (fast soloing) but you can use it in any style. In this article I will try to explain this technique from very basic examples to some real world examples where alternate picking works as a great solution.

The concept is simple. It’s the application that takes work.

Master the alternate picking technique with this step by step guitar lesson with video, exercises and backing tracks.

Learn the basics of alternate picking.

How do players like Yngwie Malmsteen, Al Di Meola, Steve Morse and Paul Gilbert pick so quickly and cleanly? Hyper speed picking abilities are the product of a logical, pragmatic technical approach based on economy of movement-playing the most notes with the least amount of effort.

Alternate picking between strings is tricky. On a single string, even a beginner can economize picking motion and nail tunes like "Miserlou" and "Thunderstruck".

Alternate picking is an important skill, because it allows you to play more than twice as fast than with just down picking. The basic idea is that if you are picking just on down strokes, every time you bring the pick back up to stroke down again, you are missing an opportunity to hit the string again. Essentially alternate picking is more efficient, because you have to move you hand less distance to hit the next note, and it can be an important difference between hitting the note on time or struggling to reach it.

Alternate picking is also known as double picking. Bill Brutal teaches you how to make your guitar play twice as fast with this technique.

A lesson in Alternate picking.

New students are always coming to me asking, “How do I improve my sloppy, inaccurate, clumsy and slow picking technique?” More often than not, the first thing I notice about their playing is that they employ an unpolished technique that lacks the discipline of a steady, consistent and controlled use of strict alternate picking. What I find with these students, especially those who were previously self-taught, is that their technique is a haphazard (yet sometimes logical) combination of alternate, economy and awkward sweep picking.

Alternate picking is a guitar playing technique that employs strictly alternating downward and upward picking strokes in a continuous run, and is the most common method of plectrum playing. If this technique is performed on a single note at a high speed, then it may also be referred to as tremolo picking. It has also been referred to as "double" picking.