With Alternate picking we (you) encounter a big problem:
when switching strings you need to hop over te neighboring string to be able to pick that string.
There is a solution for this . It is called “pick slanting”. Fast players/ shredders like zoals Al Di Meola, Paul Gilbert…use this technique, even if they are not aware of this.
What is “pick slanting”? Pick slanting is angling your pick upwards (UPS) or downwards (to the floor) (DWPS)
The rules:
- Starting with a downstroke
- When you have an even number of hits on a string your last pick movement will be a downstroke. You need “downwards pick slanting” (DWPS) to switch strings.
- With an odd number of hits on a given string your last movement will be a “downstroke”. You need “Upwards Pick Slanting” (UPS) to switch strings effectively without string hopping.
- When starting with an upstroke everything above “in reverse”: DWPS becomes UPS and vice versa.
Downward Pick Slanting: DWPS
Here is an example where Ak Di Meola uses both techniques:
In this video we have a 3 notes per string scale:
