Are You Strictly An Alternative Picker? Options

[PosterBoy]

If we disregard Sweep Picking in this fight, as it really is it's own special technique for a specific purpose.

Do you just use Alt Picking or just Economy Picking or do you mix it up a bit, and if so when and why!

[Nihilist1]

I don't know anymore as I do not write that often. Lately I have been doing nothing, but working on exercises. I study AP a lot, but only so I can be proficient enough when I start writing again.

The last couple songs I have learned, were Chord based. So, I cannot honestly answer this one.

[Azzaboi]

This will depend a lot on what you play, what feels natural and how you want to sound. I personally like Eco Picking but will use either.

[SirJamsalot]

I use alternate picking as long as what I'm playing is slow enough for me to do so. Once I hit the too fast to keep up with speed, I'll start eco picking, and often times rely on a custom hybrid picking approach (not with traditional finger picking but with every note picked). On a side, note, this custom hybrid I used is actually kind of a fun (but challenging) way to pick a 3 note per string scale wherein you down pick the first note, hammer on the second, up pick the 3rd, down pick the first on the next string, hammer on the second, up pick the 3rd, and so on. For descending, you would pull off the 2nd instead of hammer on ~ you still get a pretty close "picked" sound when going really fast, but it takes quite some time getting used to, so I wouldn't recommend it if you're in a hurry to pick fast

Chris!

[AK Rich]

Its a combination for me , Economy picking whenever possible mixed with legato and incorporating inside and outside picking string shifts when necessary

[superize]

When doing fast runs i use alternate picking only

[jstcrsn]

No,I am not a strict alt picking picker ,but I want to be
let me explain
when I was learning alt.picking ,my teacher did not realize ( or did not care) that I was using economy, when I finally realized the difference, my timing was off from economy so much that I could not alt pick with timing , So this is what the majority of my routine has been for the last 5 years
Hopefully one Day , I will achieve this

[Gabriel Leopardi]

I use both but mostly Alternate picking...

[Sinisa Cekic]

Mostly depends on the filing, but both are in use..

[Patrik Berg]

I grew up on metallica so mostly down picking for me but I'm working on alt picking atm.

[Todd Simpson]

I use AP when descending (high to low strings) and ECO ascending ( low to high strings) it seems much more natural in terms of economy of motion and using the momentum of the hand. When going up, I usually move on a down stroke and keep the down stroke going in to the next string. It's one of the little tricks I learned along the way to help with precision/speed/efficiency.

[thefireball]

I haven't learned Economy picking yet.

[Todd Simpson]

I haven't learned Economy picking yet.

It's pretty simple For example, make a down stroke on the low E, now keep moving your hand towards the high strings. Now strike the A string as you pass by it. Congrats. Eco! Essentially, two similar strokes back to back. Not to be confused with sweep picking, which is more about dragging the pick across many strings in one direction.

[Alex Feather]

It's a tough question I guess it depend on the style I'm playing I think mostly economy and sometimes alternative...

[Cosmin Lupu]

I use a combination of hybrid and alternate picking. Very rarely, economic picking, but it all depends on the context. Hybrid opens up SO MANY possibilities and alternate offers that machine gun percussive effect which no other technique can achieve

[Ben Higgins]

Mostly alternate with occasional economy

[Ivan Milenkovic]

It's important to know both techniques, so I choose both!