Pickslanting-Alternate PIcking & Economy Picking

Playing Technique
#1

So I took lessons as a kid (in the 80’s) and was taught how to read tabs and play a bunch of popular 80’s riffs. I haven’t really played much since. I picked it up again 3 years ago and have been taking lessons for a few months.

I can not seem to get past my speed barrier. My teacher is trying to teach me pickslanting but I am having an issue with my picking. Since I have been playing so long I have developed such a habit of economy picking that I can not alternate pick without down down or up up string changes. Alternate picking feels unnatural. When I try to practice it is fine until I stop paying attention or speed up. I revert back to economy picking and get super frustrated.

Are there any tips anyone can offer to help me break the Economy picking habit OR should I forget strict alternate picking and continue economy picking.

I practice about an hour a day and nothing is helping to get my speed up.

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#2

It’s amazing that B.T.E. (Before Troy Era), pick-slanting wasn’t even a term… and now every guitar teacher teaches it.

It might help to look at some video of your form. I am guessing that you use small pick-strokes. I was also a student of the 80’s, and I remember many of the how-to’s focused on tiny movements, and I spent many hours trying to economize everything as well.

I would say that many elite guitarists can play unbelievably well with economy-picking. My favorite guitar technician is Rick Graham, and he has taken economy picking to it’s limit… and made it very versatile and clean.

However… I actually think that learning alt-picking across strings is easier in the long run, but it has a bit of a learning curve in the beginning. Show us some footage, and we will try and give you some tips.

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#3

Stick with what comes natural, your body does what it does for good reasons, strict alternate picking is only good for very evenly spaced out notes, and that robs a lot of feeling out of it.
I’ve learnt the hard way by trying for over 3 years to play like eddie van halen. Fact is we have different bodys. I’m not eddie van halen, and while I’ve learnt a lot, I’d be a better, far faster player if I stuck to what felt right.

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#4

I suggest the latter option as long as it enables you to play what you want to play.