Economy picking

There is a moment most guitarists recognise. A phrase that felt comfortable at a moderate tempo starts to fall apart the instant you push the metronome up a few clicks, or the moment the line stops sitting on one string and begins moving across three or four. The fretting hand often seems to be coping perfectly well. It is the picking hand that begins to stumble, snag or tighten, and the notes lose their evenness. Two techniques are usually offered as the answer: alternate picking and economy picking. Both are legitimate, both are used by outstanding players, and both solve the [...]