Alternate Picking

Alternate Picking is a method of picking that involves strict 'down-up-down-up-down-up' motions regardless of string changes and the direction of the string change. For example, if you are playing a note on the A string followed by a note on the D string, followed by a note on the G string, it is natural to sweep your pick across these 3 adjacent strings much like you would play a chord, but this involves the pick moving 'down-down-down'. Alternate picking this would involve striking the A string 'down' and then striking the D string in an upwards direction, followed by the G string moving downwards again, ie. 'down-up-down'. "Economy picking" is the opposite to this, and involves moving your hand in the more natural direction of the string changes.

Alternate picking is by far the most commonly used and arguably best picking technique to produce fast accurate playing for advancing lead guitarists. Of course other picking techniques can produce different sounds (see legato for example) but predominantly you should be using alternate picking unless you specifically don't want to for a certain riff or phrase. Mastering this technique will mean your picking hand will be able to run on 'auto-pilot' while your fretting hand can worry about more complicated fingerings and thus be able to play those challenging sequences you may have previously found difficult. A lot of guitarists naturally economy pick and then find learning to switch to alternate picking is a challenging obstacle to overcome. Always start slowly, and only build up your speed to what you might be used to once you find it easy. If you don't iron out the mistakes in the beginning it can make you a sloppy player later on, in the same way you wouldn't build a house on a bumpy foundation. It can feel insulting for an intermediate guitarist to play simple exercises at very slow speeds, but it is a necessary evil until you can not only play the exercises without making a mistake, but play the exercises without EVER making a mistake (or at least very rarely).

You can practice these alternate picking exercises and create your own until you have got the hang of the technique. Try making your own 3-note-per-string exercises as this will ensure you are always moving to a new string in an opposite direction to your pick. Once you are trained in this technique and find it more natural to alternate pick than economy pick, try some of the more difficult exercises and build the speed up to keep things challenging.