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 he