alternate/ economy picking

[Pablo Gilberto]

I know this is a much-discussed topic but I do have some more questions about it...
When I read that economy picking is a efficient way to gain speed I immediately thought: Ok, so all the pro's must be using the economy picking technique. Then after a couple of weeks I noticed that all the pro's(JP, Yngwie,Gilbert) are using the alternate picking technique. Why is this?? Why are they using the alternate and not the economy technique?What are the advantages of the alternate picking that makes it win from economy?? To me economy seems a easy way to create speed......

Srry if my questions sound stupid but actually I'm a bit confused right now.

Thx a lot

[EricV]

Hi there

the whole "economy vs. alternate" thing has been discussed here a couple of times. Check out this thread: http://www.ibreathemusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8711&page=1&highlight=economy+picking+eric
Scroll down, there´s a lengthy post of mine, where I talk about my opinion about EP v. AP.
Maybe the things mentioned in there have to do with Yng´s and PG´s decision to use mainly AP, too
Eric

[satch_master]

I sparingly use economy picking. You can't over use it otherwise it may make your solos sound robotic and mechanical. Even the master shredders only use it about 10-20% of the time with a few exceptions like Becker and Cooley(who are economy picking masters). I believe that most of the time AP is only needed in a solo, just my thoughts.

[EricV]

Don´t forget Gambale... he really put a lot of work and effort into his EP-technique, and uses it a lot
Eric

[nemesis]

just remember one thing: when economy picking you are still alternate picking for the most part(you cant sweep on one string!) when playing scalar stuff. you'll just find yourself doing a lot of inside picking when jumping back and forth between strings when your not actually sweeping them. the main problems with economy picking is that you tend to think a lot more about picking direction while playing than you would using strict alternate picking and its also a little tougher to accent notes at times being that economy picking tends to smooth out picking attack. at the same time however i feel that this technique should in theory be superior to a/p but thats only if you can subconsiously tell yourself(without actually thinking about it as you play) that when ascending strings you ll always cross the string with a downstroke and when descending you ll always upstroke. with a lot of practice and repetition a player should be able to ingrain these habits wihout having to focus on them anymore but it will probably take time. also realize that you don t always have to think out your lines to support sweeping(not that its a bad thing though!) . sweeping is the most commonly associated action with e/p but also realize that inside picking tends to use less motion as well versus outside picking( hence making it more economical) so if you work on that as well you wont really have much trouble playing lines that have a mix of an odd and even number of notes on each string. i hope that some of this makes sense. a lot of people will still support alternate picking on this site as it is easier to learn to and more effortless to use but others will also say to use both which tends to be the best approach for most.

[jasonatx01]

I actually find it the other way around. EP makes so much more sense to me that I have always done it instinctually. If I were to play AP I would have to force myself.

[Poparad]

I sparingly use economy picking. You can't over use it otherwise it may make your solos sound robotic and mechanical. Even the master shredders only use it about 10-20% of the time with a few exceptions like Becker and Cooley(who are economy picking masters). I believe that most of the time AP is only needed in a solo, just my thoughts.

I think you're lumping economy picking and sweep picking together into one technique. While they are similiar, with economy picking you can play the exact same ideas as alternate picking; not just arpeggios. As far as sweeping goes, yes, I agree doing too much of that can make things sound mechanical, but doing too much of anything will always have an adverse effect on the quality of the music.

I believe that both economy picking and alternate picking have their advantages and disadvantages, so I try to use whichever technique would best suit the music idea I am trying to play. Sometimes alternate is more efficient, and sometimes economy is.