Over the past 2 months I've been working on my picking a lot and have finally managed to get up to playing 130bpm at 16th notes without much bother. I can go a bit faster, but it's a strain, so I'm saying 130bpm at 16th is my limit of playing fast and clean at the moment.
I rarely use strict alternate picking at this speed in my own playing. I don't play my own stuff, just playing along with albums, but when I'm trying to play something like a fast Zakk run, like some of his licks in Miracle Man, where he is supposedly using all picking, I combine picking and legato.
Just wondering if anyone else here practices their picking and then doesn't really use it as a practical application?
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Interesting thing is that Paul Gilbert uses a lot of legato in his playing. Sure he is very fast picker, but he throws in tons of legato too.
I also saw a recent video of Bruice Bouillet and he seemed to have been playing with more legato now than he did in the 80s.
I learn enough to play the licks I have in my head slightly faster than I need (to account for excitable drummers) and that's basically it.
I'm constantly impressed by people who can do it. I just don't have the time or the energy to get there. Probably accounts for why my playing's so sloppy, I guess
http://thedoublestop.com/ep-32-bruce-bouillet-racer-x-the-scream-solo/
Do you find it more difficult to change strings after an upstroke or after a downstroke?
Thats the way iv been measuring improvement but the hybrid seems a lot smoother and less effort to me ...im just not keen on the jumps to the next string so thats when i use my finger...all the rest is alternate... i use legato a bit as well though which is smoother than both to me
He has a bunch of videos out there.
Generally, if I'm going for speed then a combination of picking and legato yields the best results. The thing that makes me go for picked licks is definitely more of a tonal decision. It wasn't until I really slowed down my picking that I realised how much of my alternate picking actually ended up containing legato blips here and there. Once I cleaned those up, I noticed a dramatic change in the tone of those licks and phrases. Strict alternate picking delivered much more aggression and dynamics to my playing whereas the combination licks made my playing sound smoother and more even. Therein lies the reason I started using those alternate picked lines in my live work, for the extra aggression and tonal variation it brings when compared to legato or picking/legato. So just bear that in mind next time you're coming towards the end of one of your solos and you want it to build up to a big finish. Rather than a speedy legato flurry, try a strict alternate picked run or pentatonic lick and I guarantee you'll hear a completely different angle on your playing