Basic Alternate Picking

In order to play single note lines, riffs, solos and licks, its important to know and use the basic principles of picking. There are many different picking techniques available for the guitar. All of them are useful and are used in different situations, depending on what is your trying to play.

This lesson will focus on the basics of alternate picking. You should already now how to hold your pick, if not that then read this. So pick up your guitar and grab your pick.

First, apply the side of your palm onto the bridge of the guitar. This is the standard picking position. Your hand should comfortably rest there. Don't apply a lot of pressure as if you're squeezing the guitar.

You're hand should rest there comfortablity with no additional pressure, just enough to give stability. The picking action should come from your wrist, granted there will be some movement at the elbow, mostly when crossing one string to the next, but primarily the action should be from the wrist.

The first example is good for training your right hand for alternate picking. Alternate picking is a term used to describe the action of alternating between down and up strokes when picking. In this example, you're only playing one note and that one note is an open string, so all your attention should be towards your right hand.

Pay attention to the D' and U's. They identify when to use downstrokes and upstrokes.

   D U D U    Repeat Over And Over
e:-0-0-0-0-|
B:---------|
G:---------|
D:---------|
A:---------|
E:---------|

Once your comfortable with the alternating picking pattern, add some notes onto the fretboard to make a small melody. Remember to use the constant up and down alternate picking pattern.

   D U D U   D U D U    Repeat Over And Over
e:-1-2-3-4-|-4-3-2-1-|
B:---------|---------|
G:---------|---------|
D:---------|---------|
A:---------|---------|
E:---------|---------|

Lets get to some actual music. Were going to use the melody from Mary Had A Little Lamb. I now its not the most exciting piece of music, but its simple and its something that everybody knows.

In this example, some U's have been eliminated, such as in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th bars. This is because the notes that lay on those beats are not played. You still have to move your hand in an upstroke on those beats, not to play the string, but to instead get your pick back in position for the next downstroke. This is the same in strumming the guitar as well.

Another important thing is that each bar or each phrase starts with a downstroke. By using alternate picking and placing the downstrokes on the 'strong' or 'important' beats, it helps in staying in time with the music and not getting lost.

   D U D U   D U D     D U D     D U D     D U D U   D U D U   D U D U   D
e:---------|---------|---------|---0-0---|---------|---------|---------|---------|
B:-2-0---0-|-2-2-2---|-0-0-0---|-2-------|-2-0---0-|-2-2-2-2-|-0-0-2-0-|---------|
G:-----2---|---------|---------|---------|-----2---|---------|---------|-0-------|
D:---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
A:---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
E:---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|