What helped me with alternate picking...

[Validar]

Now, I'm not claiming that this is going to be brand new to all of you, or that you are guaranteed the same results, but I thought I would share this...

For the last two weeks or so, I've been setting time aside to do scales using only UPSTROKES.

It was definitely uncomfortable at first, but I eventually adjusted to it. After a good 10-15 minutes of doing this, I would then go back to alternate picking.

Through this, I think I may have discovered that not only was there a physical benefit from this (stronger upstrokes).....but perhaps a mental. Once I would switch back to alternate picking, it would seem a bit more "effortless". The feeling of going from confinement (doing only upstrokes) to freedom (alternate picking), I believe, really helps from a mental aspect.

Just tonight, I played chromatics (sixteenths) along with the metronome, and *thought* I had put it on 120. I felt like I could go much faster, so I went to increase the tempo. Much to my surprise, I was mistaken.....it was on 140. Just two weeks ago, playing at 140 was a teeth clinching, sweat breaking, strenuous event.

Again, I'm not claiming to have stumbled upon an unknown secret here, but this was something that I had thought of doing on my own rather than having someone tell me about it or reading about it somewhere.

Perhaps some may find it helpful.

[curiousgeorge]

Hey, welcome to ibreathe! There are lots of great picking threads and articles on this site, as well as just about any musical topic you can think of. Hope you enjoy it! ----You're concept sounds interesting, and it makes sense. You have to bust out of your comfort zone to accomodate better technique and to facilitate speed. I'm going to try doing that every day to see what happens. I've gotten as fast as 16th notes AP'ed clean at about 140, and that was pushin' it. My legato lines are a lot quicker, since that's the style I gravitate too. (Hugely influenced by Satriani)
Thanks for the input though. I'll report back my findings in this thread. Cheers!

[Validar]

Thanks for the welcome.

As I mentioned, I believe there is a mental benefit to this. (the feeling of going from confinement to freedom)

From the physical aspect, I suppose what I discovered was that my upstrokes were the weakness in all of this. And to be perfectly honest, I didn't even realize it until I started doing strictly upstrokes. So now, I know....and I hate to sound cliche, but knowing *is* half the battle! :)

I've spent insane amounts of time and effort on alternate picking, and noticed that my progress was moving at a turtle's pace. I dreaded the mere throught of playing sixteenth chromatics at 140 because it was so physically draining, but no more. This is the most substantial progress I've made in such a short time with alternate picking, so needless to say, I'm elated.

However, with all of the aforementioned said, this may not be as effective for someone who's not having picking hand issues.

But if this helps even one person, I'll be thrilled to death.

[EricV]

Hey Validar

Thanks for sharing this. I think I mentioned this in one of my articles, too, but it´s great that you created a thread about it, because that way, it should get more attention.
I recommend this to all the students of mine that are having trouble with AP. What´s important is that you want to have the upstroke equal to the downstroke... both should have the same volume, dynamic, and should kinda "feel the same to you" ( what I mean by that is that you want your upstroke to be totally equal to the downstroke in terms of "ease of playing", if that makes sense )
I was made aware of this by a column by Steve Morse, who recommended this as well, focussing on the upstroke itself for a while.
I tried it back then and I noticed that it worked for me... suddenly, not only the speed but also my synchronisation and timing improved.
I guess the downstroke appears to be easier or more logical to us ( because it kinda obeys the rules of gravity... this is what Beth Marlis said about it ), and the upstroke at first is rather awkward to use. So focussing on the latter sure helps to get them both to be equal.
Anyway, thanks for sharing that, and I think this should be helpful to many guys here
Eric

NP: Steve Morse -Major Impacts II

[fireworks_god]

I just tried out picking just upstrokes, and I quickly came to the realization that I think downstrokes are so much more natural for us, as well as more powerful and easier to control with less force, because downstrokes have that big a** thumb pushing into the pick. :D It's much more developed and powerful, aligned just right for the downstroke motion, and has a greater surface area, which equates into more pick control. ;) By contrast, the index finger is like half the size and more of the force of the upstroke is coming from wrist movement.....

I'm definitely going to work on this, as it feels quite unnatural... thanks for the tip! :)

[mattfnk]

What an awesome idea. I have been playing guitar with some success for about 16 years, giving lessons and the whole thing. I realized I had some major improvements to make in my playing, and it was all related to me buying into the economy picking method very early in my playing (thanks alot frank). Now I am working on Pablo, joey tafolla, and the like with strict alternate picking, and your idea makes sense. I have always felt my up strokes were weaker then my down strokes, and have used all upstrokes to work on my sweep arpeggios, but not with scales. Cant wait to go home and work on it. Thanks.

[Validar]

No problem.

What made me decide to focus solely on upstrokes was thinking of how many guitarists (mainly metal) prefer to play all downstrokes for some rhythm parts.

I thought to myself "what if I played all upstrokes when running through scales??" It actually seemed like a crazy idea at the time, but I couldn't resist trying. Needless to say, I'm glad I tried it.

As I stated before, I'm not sure how helpful this will be for those not experiencing picking hand problems. I've been playing for a long time, and like curiousgeorge, I'm more of a legato player. So, my problem wasn't a left hand issue.

Another plus I discovered in doing this is that it essentially forces you to take any exercises/scales you're working on much slower.

[Len H]

For whatever reason, downstrokes do come much more naturally. It seems as though every beginning guitarist uses predominantly downstrokes, and this is a habit that is very difficult to break. If there are two mechanical "mistakes" that I see limiting a guitarist they are: 1) Their alternate picking is "downstroke dominant" and 2) Their pinky is not at the same coordination level as the other three fingers on their fretting hand. An idea I have used is to start an alternate picked run that I usually begin on a downstroke on an upstroke or perform a sweep starting with an upsweep. It feels completely different.

[elusivesolution]

Wow! This sounds like a good exercise. I think I'll encorperate it into my practice regimen tomorrow. 10-15 minutes, eh? Sounds like a plan

[sixstrings121]

AHH I keep trying to do it but my hand automatically alternate picks hahaha...i guess this is ganna take some geting used to. Thanks for pointing this out!

[xcdrn]

I had a similar approach to learning to play with my fingers instead of a pick. What really helped me out with picking was learning to play perpetual motion!
It's good for learning alternate picking and sweep picking, if you're just getting into picking techniques.

[Validar]

"Wow! This sounds like a good exercise. I think I'll encorperate it into my practice regimen tomorrow. 10-15 minutes, eh? Sounds like a plan"

10-15 minutes was what I was doing initially. But since seeing the substantial progress in the first two weeks, I find myself doing it more often for longer periods of time.

Another thing I've noticed as a result of doing all of this is that my alternate picking is much more powerful. I had a very light touch before. I'm able to achieve this without disregard to economy of motion, too. I'm not having to pick frantically with wide strokes to make it happen.

As I said before, it will be uncomfortable at first. I wouldn't say that I can play all upstrokes as fast and cleanly as all downstrokes just yet, but it's not something I struggle with now after about 4 weeks. It actually feels natural, and I don't accidently start alternate picking in the process of it.

[axe_man_oli]

Do you think an hour of 10 min bursts of upstroked chromatics would be too much hahah? I wouldn't want to go and unbalance my alt p the other way hehehe.


Thanks very much for this info, I will get on it right away, and see if I can push my chromatics and synchronisation up faster and with less effort. As it is, I have to grit my teeth and sweat like a b**tard to get clean notes at 130 bpm 16ths. Hopefully, this combined with my hour a day chromatics will allow me to progress much more strongly through the BPMs.

Thank you once again.

[wiechfreak]

A lot of guitar playing is mental beyond belief. I suppose thats why so many players light up all the time :D

[axe_man_oli]

Hahah yeh, theres alot going on that many people just don't see. But then again, there are those players who simply just play and learn without thinking about the mechanics and have turned out to be total bad *** axe slingers.
Some people don't think of it in such a way, they just pick up their guitar, pick a song, and think, if I play this all day, in a few years I'll be good, and it works excellent some of the time.

[Validar]

Actually, I would take the time that I set aside for doing only upstrokes and do more than just chromatics. Go through as many things as you can (major scales, minor, harmonic minor, whatever your heart desires) just to simply keep the whole experience from becoming monotonous.

As far as guitar playing being mental, I couldn't agree more. You've got to keep a positive mindset, and *not* tell yourself you can't do something or will never be able to. How will you ever get to where you want to be, if you can't even visualize yourself getting there?