How To Play Much Faster On Guitar Using Effective Picking Technique

How To Shred On Guitar Using The Most Effective Picking Technique

By Tom Hess

Would you like to play faster with little effort using better picking technique? You’re not going to have to research a lot of new online exercises for guitar... you merely have to change your technique in one way. Easily play faster on guitar by using the following picking technique concept:

1. Whenever you ascend while playing strings on guitar (go from a heavier string to a lighter string), ALWAYS use a downstroke – regardless of the notes that came before or after what you are playing.

2. Whenever you descend while playing strings on guitar (go from a lighter string to a heavier string), ALWAYS use an upstroke – regardless of the notes that came before or after what you are playing.

(...you can still use alternate picking while playing several notes on a single string).

This picking concept is referred to as “directional picking”. The technique that is described by both points above is “directional picking” and it’s an idea I teach to all my rock and metal guitar students so they can build speed fast. Many guitarists would (falsely) refer to this technique as “economy picking”. However, this term is a name for a separate technique (more on this below). The point is that from the 3 most known techniques for lead guitar (alternate picking, directional picking and economy picking), directional picking is the most simple to learn and master in order to develop guitar speed.

Here are four main reasons why directional picking is the best way for you to become a faster guitarist:

Reason #1: You use much less movement – this translates into FASTER guitar picking speed

If you play three note per string scales (this is when directional picking is fundamentally different from strict alternate picking) you don’t need to skip over strings, as you have to while using alternate picking. Instead, you always move directly to the next note (hence the name: “directional”) by picking in its direction.

Here is an example of an ascending scale that displays this (the symbol means “downstroke”, while means “upstroke”):

Alternate Picking:

Directional Picking:

In the diagramsabove, the red indicators surround two downstrokes in a row when the scale is changing strings with directional picking versus alternate picking.

Notice: to build awesome speed using directional picking, you need to learn how to correctly play string changes with two upstrokes/downstrokes in a row. This way you will avoid committing a very common error that guitar players make as they first start using this technique. If you make this same error, you will struggle to play guitar at very high speeds. Watch the video below to see an explanation of how to properly change strings so you can avoid this common mistake:

Reason #2: You guitar practice become more efficient so you can build speed faster

As you saw in the demonstration above, directional picking utilizes the same motions used in sweep picking shred guitar technique. In other words, while practicing directional picking, you are also working to improve sweep picking. By practicing sweep picking, your directional picking becomes more clean and articulate.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that directional picking takes the place of any sweep picking practice you could be doing - it just means that practicing each individual technique (directional picking and sweep picking) simultaneously uses the other technique. Learn more about how this works by checking out the sweep picking video below:

Go here to watch the remainder of the free sweep picking technique video above.

With this in mind, practicing exclusively with alternate picking will NOT help you master sweep picking (and sweep picking will not help you master alternate picking). So you must invest additional practice time into mastering both guitar techniques separately.

All of the above makes directional picking a great technique to work on when you have a small amount of time to practice guitar and/or want to develop fast guitar speed as soon as possible.

Reason #3: Directional picking vastly IMPROVES your accents and picking articulation

You may have heard the claim that alternate picking enhances the accents of your downstrokes while directional or economy picking are more quiet and limit you to playing with weak articulation. Fact is, accents and articulation come through better control of your overall technique, NOT by using downstrokes versus upstrokes. This is one reason why the claim above is wrong.

Here is additional reasoning why this claim is misguided at best:

*You can articulate any note using either an upstroke or a downstroke, whenever you want. To see for yourself, choose any note on guitar and play it with a downstroke… then immediately play that same note using an upstroke (but played with additional force). Chances are, you could easily do this. And if you could, then you already know that you don’t need to use a downstroke to have the note be accented. Accents and articulation are accomplished by having good control over your overall picking technique, NOT by focusing on downstrokes vs. upstrokes.

*The concept of alternate picking (strictly making ALL downstrokes be heavily accented and ALL upstrokes not accented) is very restricting. Since any note can be accented with any type of pick stroke, there is no true advantage to forcing yourself to play in the same manner all the time. On top of that, whenever you need to pick a different way (by articulating an upstroke or having the accent fall anywhere other than the downbeat), your playing will feel very awkward.

However, if you practice using directional picking (where accents can fall on any pick stroke), you won’t run into the problems above. You will learn to articulate notes either on downstrokes or upstrokes and will not be limited to doing so only on the downbeat. So directional picking provides more options for articulating notes in any manner you desire...IF you master control over BOTH downstrokes and upstrokes. After teaching many students over the years to become world class electric guitarists, I’ve seen this endless times.

The fundamental reason why most strict alternate picking guitarists make the (false) claim above is because their downstrokes and upstrokes are completely out of balance. So whenever they use directional picking, it feels strange to accent upstrokes, and it reveals the weakness in their overall picking technique. Instead of overcoming this playing weakness and developing their technique, they simply choose what feels easiest to them (while claiming that directional picking limits their articulation).

*When you transfer from one string to another using directional picking (playing two notes in the same direction, both notes are strongly accented from the momentum of the picking motion (as you saw in the video above).

Think about this motion in terms of boxing. Boxers are told to throw punches that go THROUGH their opponent in order to get maximum power in their punches. This is the same thing that happens with directional picking when you switch strings by playing two continuous upstrokes or downstrokes. You pick using momentum from a previous note to follow THROUGH the next note. This makes it much more loud and articulate (when you choose to make it this way).

While using alternate picking during string transfers, you must go around the next string, ending the momentum. Then you must reverse movement to use an upstroke. This not only is a massive waste of time and energy, but it also keeps you from using the momentum of the previous note due to an inefficient picking path.

Reason #4: Directionalpicking = a more powerful version of alternate picking

People who are against using directional picking who use alternative picking exclusively, defend their preference to do so while overlooking the obvious: in nearly all guitar picking scenarios, directional picking and alternate picking are used in the same exact manner. Whether you talk about picking many notes on a single string, playing 2 or 4 note per string phrases or endless other contexts, your pick will move EXACTLY the same way using directional picking as with alternate picking (in most cases).

The only scenario where directional picking separates itself from exclusive alternate picking is during 3 note per string scales, where it is logical to do so for the reasons stated above. As a result, directional picking has ALL the advantages of alternate picking, with none of its disadvantages.

Directional picking is NOT a separate picking technique and doesn't require learning new picking patterns or relearning the way you play guitar. The only adjustment you must make in your guitar picking technique is what I talked about at the beginning of this article. With a little practice, you can apply this change into your everyday technique and build your guitar picking speed fast.

That said, even with all this information in front of them, many people decide not to take advantage of this technique, because of several false rationalizations...

False Rationalization #1: “Directional picking requires you to map out picking patterns before you even play them.” If this is what you believe, then you are confusing the term “directional” picking with “economy” picking (a totally different technique). Economy picking is an entirely separate technique that requires you to change strings with sweep picking motions at all times - thus making you map out how many notes per string you need to play.

Directional picking is not like this - you simply use the 2 rules I gave you at the top of the article. Then, you will alternate picking notes when it is the most efficient path to the next note, OR use sweep picking on string changes when it is the most efficient path to the next note.

False Rationalization #2: “My favorite guitarist plays very fast with only alternate picking, and I want to play like him. Therefore, I will continue using only alternate picking”. If you think this way, know that:

*Directional picking is precisely the same as alternate picking in just about every scenario…only made MORE efficient when possible. So it only makes it faster and easier for you to increase your guitar speed.

*There is no doubt that many people play guitar fast while exclusively using alternate picking… however, you also can’t deny the obvious inefficiencies of this technique. So while you definitely CAN learn to pick fast on guitar while exclusively using alternate picking, you will build the same degree of guitar speed much faster, with little effort and frustration if you use directional picking.

False Rationalization #3: “Directional picking makes it harder to perform string skipping/inside picking because the pick has increased chances of hitting the string being skipped.” This argument is not valid in the same way that the argument that directional picking has weaker articulation is invalid.

Directional picking doesn't make anything more difficult, it simply exposes your lack of skill while playing in specific picking contexts. Such contexts could be continually picking between two strings and using certain kinds of string skipping that strict alternate pickers find difficult. Once you become aware of your weaknesses, you can either develop them to make them stronger OR avoid them and continue claiming that directional picking makes string skipping more difficult :)

Rock and metal guitar students who are trained to use directional picking by me, nearly always have a less difficult time mastering string skipping and inside picking than exclusive alternate pickers.

False Rationalization #4: “I want to completely master alternate picking, then transition into directional picking”. This makes no sense because it doesn’t follow that you should use a technique that 1. is less efficient and 2. will need to be unlearned later ANYWAY. It’s much easier to make the switch to directional picking so you can gain the benefits of alternate picking (without the downsides).

False Rationalization #5: “Directional picking is only for rock/metal guitar players, it won’t work for my playing style.” Think again. Directional picking may make it easy to develop killer guitar speed, but this doesn’t mean that it is for metal guitarists only. Its most critical benefit is that it makes your overall picking more efficient so you can play better in any musical genre.

Now that you understand why directional picking is a crucial technique to add into your guitar playing, I want to teach you HOW to master it so you can reach your guitar playing goals in the quickest, least difficult and most straightforward way possible. Read this rock guitar lessons page now and find out how to become the guitar player you always wanted to be.