I tried to count how many unique strokes there are with strict alternate picking, and I determined it is 112 (this includes going up and down). So for example, if you look at (1), this can be done 12 times = on every string, and then both up and down. Is this useful? I’m not sure what to say! 
1 Like
4 Likes
I appreciate you, sincerely.
I was curious about this because I realized that I rarely see many of these (the ones with a long jump that hit a string and then have another long jump). I think this is what Anton can do that most others can’t. So, when people say, “I have strict alternate picking,” now I know what to ask them to be sure. The other thing that’s interesting is that if there are merely 112 strokes, some clever person could probably create an exercise that takes a minute or two that covers everything imaginable. I’ve never seen such a thing, but perhaps it exists?
Uhh what?
I have strict alternate picking. Are you going to ask me if I play all 112 permutations you’ve identified?
My apologies, but I am utterly confused by the diagram… and the 112 unique strokes… i am kind of dense though, so please explain? Thanks!
Not in the sense of being judgmental, but out of curiosity if you can play anything with strict alternate picking, or just some subsets that are important to you.
Sorry, you’re not dense at all. The lines try to trace the tip of the pick. Lines above the strings fly above them. Lines below the strings can hit them. The Pick is drawn ascending or descending vertically, but this is more of artistic license on my part.
The simplest stroke is (1), where the pick starts down and stays down; it need not rise.
The next simplest stroke is (2), where we see what I believe people call inside and outside picking (two cases).
The next simplest stroke is (3), where the first and last case are common, but the middle case seems demanding: It’s climb up, skip a string, hit a string, skip a string, and come down. (The reason I say come down is that the next stroke will be an upstroke and have to hit that immediate string that was just passed over.).
So it’s not that hard to understand, it’s just that I don’t explain anything, and you have my apologies for that.
If you’re curious about why there seem to be 112 cases, I can try to explain why, but I’m not sure that anybody would care much.
1 Like
I’m actually curious - let 'er rip! PS thanks for the explanation! makes sense now!
So let’s only count downstrokes (and double them at the end).
So we multiply the number of places that we can fit the pattern times the number of patterns.
(1) 6 * 1
(2) 5 * 2
(3) 4 * 3
(4) 3 * 4
(5) 2 * 5
(6) 1 * 6
So we add them up, 6 + 10 + 12 + 12 + 10 + 6, for 56. Double that (for both directions) for 112.
So it’s all pretty obvious, wouldn’t you say?
So, as great as Anton is, his speed with the simplest of alternate picking motions (like a completely single escape run) is still much, much greater than his speed at the more complicated motions you’re bringing up. So… what sort of difference between maximally simple and maximally difficult would you rate as being highly skilled?
1 Like
I’m not qualified to answer your question but I can say that I never thought much about alternate picking in the past and missed that it has lots of these very complex strokes. I agree that these might be slower, and if somebody needs them, their tempo will now have to be slower.
So, it’s interesting that strict alternate picking does have some stuff that’s pretty tough! So, the question goes to the usual escape hatches, need one arrange the music like that, and so forth. But even being aware of those types of strokes was pretty interesting, I had no clue, and I don’t see them mentioned, either. (Somewhat strange.)
I’m not sure I follow this - but could this explain why when I learn one lick well for alternate picking, it doesn’t automatically mean I can play another well? E.g. can play descending fours, but can’t then play the lick from the Pepsi ad?
1 Like
So if someone doesn’t incorporate very wide string skips, they can’t actually “play anything” with strict alternate picking?
This seems to be a theoretical discussion that’s disconnected from pragmatic guitar playing.
Yes, that’s right, but “anything” in the sense of an arbitrary piece of music with, say, big jumps. I’m sure there is lots of great music that they might be able to play with the strings closer together.
Each artist will have different requirements, and this multi-octave jumping might not be musically relevant for most people, I agree with you about that.
