finally broke down and started working n my econmy picking.....

[Megatron_69]

One of my old guitar teachers from way back in the day just moved back to down recently. We got together to talk shop and maybe put a project together. He was a shredder back in the day who also liked fusion and classic rock but he's more of a smooth jazz player now.

 

Anyway, I noticed he has really developed his economy picking. He was a great alt picker back in the day aswell as great with sweeps and legato.

 

We discussed it a bit.......I was usually turned off by econmy picking.....I didn't like the mechanics involved with economy picking(seems like licks needed to be thought out....with alt picking you just execute) and ultimately liked the sound of alt picking better, plus from a rock, metal back ground alt picking is more rhythmic on many things.

 

 

But over the last week or so I've been working on the economy stuff aswell. And it's actually going well. It has a cool ....roll to it and the more you do it ,like most things, the less you have to think about it. It just becomes automatic.

 

The byproduct is it's even helping me alternate picking aswell. After an economy picking session my alt picking is usually smoother aswell.

[guitar-fish]

What's the difference between economy picking and alternate picking?

[nylon rock]

Not really sure what the difference is, but I think it comes down to phrasing. I think I read somewhere that it may be a few picks in one direction and then back to the opposite direction, and it keeps going in whatever direction the phrasing takes you.

 

I get the feeling that when you get very good with your alternate, you transcend pcking altogether and it just comes down to what you feel, and your picking subconsciously executes for you, whether it be alternate or economy.

 

Kind of like walking down a sidewalk, trying to avoid the cracks, and you throw in a few skip along steps because the cracks don't come at regular intervals. Something like that.

[lazaraga]

alternate picking- alternate between down picks and up picks, usually down on down beats, up on ands

 

economy picking- continue picking motion when switching strings, if picking down on open D, when switching to G continue with a down pick regardless of beat. if up pick on G, next note D, continue with up pick. make sense?

 

at least, that's how i understand it.

 

peace

[pirate71]

I've always understood alternate picking as going up and down, up and down, etc no matter which string or note you are going to pick next.

 

Economy picking is picking up if the next note is on the the string above the previous (G up pick to D) and down pick if the next note is on the string that is below your previous string (D down pick to G).

 

Don't known if that makes sense but thats how I understand it.

[Mike7771]

Economy picking is fine as long as you can alternate pick well too. I guess its best to think of as a technique that you should be able to turn on and off.

[trey85stang]

Since you play metal... a lot of people will tell you econo picking is worthless. Dont listen to them, a lot of cool phrasing when playing a solo is done with economy picking. Marty Friedman econo picks all of his solo's. Good stuff.. I used to do it a lot, but I quite playing lead to focus on writing rythem and singing.. so I dont pratice it or use it anymore.