Simon Barnard delves into a fluid and super efficient technique that allows your pick to glide across the strings creating long, flowing lines.
When it comes to using a plectrum there are two main ways of doing so; alternate picking and economy picking. Whereas alternate picking uses a strict succession of up and down strokes to play single-note lines, economy picking takes a different approach where the choice of whether to pick up or down is directed by which string is being picked. For example, when tackling an ascending three-notes-per-string scale, the pick strokes will follow the pattern of down-updown on each string, meaning that the third note on each string is played with a downstroke while the plectrum continues the same downward motion to strike the first note on the next string. When descending a three-notes-per-string scale, the picking pattern would be up-down-up on each string. Try playing a three-notesper-string scale with both alternate and economy picking so you can see and feel the difference.
If you haven’t experimented with economy picking before and are a devout alternate picker it can be tricky to adjust to this new method. However, it’s a technique worth investing time in. The main advantage is that it reduces the work of the picking hand with it not having to play constant streams of up and down strokes. It can also aid fluidity, especially when playing arpeggios due to the close link between economy picking and sweep picking.
Economy picking is used across a range of guitar styles and is often dictated by genre. There are many rock, jazz and fusion players who employ economy picking such as Frank Gambale, who championed the technique and released a series of books and videos on the subject. Other notable economy pickers are Eric Johnson, Jimmy Bruno, Yngwie Malmsteen and Les Paul. One style of music that uses its own take on economy picking is gypsy jazz, with its most well-known e
