FOREWORD Hello everyone and welcome to this lesson in which I will share with you my specific approach to one of the most efficient methods of right hand guitar technique: Economy Picking. We'll be taking an exciting journey, which will involve an in-depth look at the mechanics of the technique itself and we'll be putting it all into practice with the essential economy picking foundation exercises I have specifically developed for you. These exercises are by far my most frequently used right hand permutations and it is these permutations that will give you a rock solid base with which to prepare you for the challenging musical lines and patterns in the latter section of this lesson. I must point out though, that I do not use economy technique exclusively when playing guitar as I frequently use alternate picking as well as hybrid picking to execute my musical ideas. I am most definitely a player that doesn’t like to stick to one technique and I’ve found that I benefit the most from taking what I find useful in every possible technique available. This involves keeping as open a mind as possible. With that being said though, Economy Picking most certainly makes up a huge part of my right hand technique. I have made the conscious decision the keep things as simple as possible for you and as such have purposely kept the backing tracks as drum grooves so that maximum attention can be placed on perfecting the actual technique itself. Finally I'd just like to say a huge thank you for downloading this lesson. Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than to know that my lessons are helping guitar players across the world! OK, let's get to it!
December 2012
Economy Picking: what’s the point?
The first thing I’d like to talk about is the actual premise of the technique itself. The fundamental purpose that lies behind the technique is economy of motion. That is, the simple notion that we only need to use the minimum amount of movement with the right hand in order to play the notes we want to play. Minimum movement means less effort and less effort means lots of happy guitar players! It’s not quite as cut and dry as that though and I’m sure you already know that there is no short cut to playing the guitar. In actual fact, economy picking is by no stretch of the imagination an easy technique to employ. But, with the correct approach to practice, it can enable you to play with a lot of speed and a lot of control with minimum exertion. In order to get to reach a high level with the technique, some essential elements of the technique must be understood. Firstly though, lets take a look at the main stumbling block that all players need to be aware of: crossing strings.
Crossing Strings: A guitarist’s nightmare!
In order to create true economy of motion with the right hand, we have to look at how the right hand moves when picking and, more specifically, when crossing strings. If guitars were strung with one string only then playing the guitar would be a lot easier. It would be a lot more dull too! But in this world we have 6 strings to contend with and it is in the negotiation between one string and the next that most difficulties rear their ugly heads.
Essentially, there are 3 main movements that enable us to negotiate crossing strings when playing with a pick only. These are (when ascending):
1. Downstroke to Upstroke = Outside Movement 2. Upstroke to Downstroke = Inside Movement 3. Downstroke to Downstroke = Economic Movement If you are descending simply reverse them: 1. U p s t r o k e t o D o w n s t r o k e = O u t s i d e M o v e m e n t
2. Downstroke to Upstroke = Inside movement 3. Upstroke to Upstroke = Economic Movement Outside movement is when your pick travels outside two strings. Inside movement is when your pick travels from one string to the next inside the strings. Economy movement is when your pick travels from one string to the next inside the strings. The difference between inside movement and economic movement is that your pick moves in the same direction between strokes. In other words, economy of movement is achieved because at no point do you have to stop your pick to change direction of the pick stroke. As a result, it enables us to play lines at great speeds with the minimum of effort, which is always useful! In the main, players who utilize economy picking technique will normally favour the latter two movements when crossing strings. That is: inside movement and economic movement. The outside movement technique is usually abandoned due to the excessive nature of the movement. It is inside and economic movements that we will be focusing on within this lesson. Personally, I do use the outside movement quite a lot in my playing as I find it to be a very useful movement for specific purposes. So, my advice to you would be not to abandon it completely. Only do so if you feel that you would not benefit from using it.
Feeling and controlling the movement
Correctly executed economy picking is the perfect example of tension and release working in conjunction with one another. As a classical player as well as an electric player, I often refer to the classical technique of the ‘rest stroke’ as a way of explaining the economy picking right hand movement, as it is essentially identical. The classical ‘rest stroke’ is also the same technique that modern bass players employ when playing with the fingers of the right hand. For example if I were to use the index finger of my right hand to play the open 1 s t string, I would play that note and immediately afterwards would let the finger ‘fall’ and come to rest on the adjacent 2 n d string underneath. We need to create tension within the right hand in order to sound the 1 s t string but then this is immediately followed by a completely relaxed movement, which allows the index finger to fall to the adjacent 2 n d string, and is then ready and prepared to play another note. This is a perfect example of tension and relaxation working in conjunction with one another and forms the basis of economy picking and economy of motion. Just the right amount of movement is required. No more no less. With economy picking we are recreating the same movement as described above but achieve it by using a pick as opposed to fingers. Not only are we using the most efficient method to move from one string to the next, we are also ‘preparing’ the pick by placing it on the following string. Because the pick is in contact with the next string, this, technically, precludes the possibility of missing the string. This ‘preparation’ is a fantastic by-product of this economy of movement principle and in my opinion is worth its weight in gold. Be sure to take
this on board because it is this very by-product that we will be using as a practice tool later in the lesson ;-) A great place to start is to take the open strings of the guitar and begin with the 6 t h string and play through to the 1 s t string making sure all the way along that you are applying the required amount of tension in order to sound the note, followed immediately by a relaxed movement resulting in the pick falling to rest on the adjacent string. You can the reverse the process and practice staring with the 1 s t string and finishing on the 6 t h string making sure that you are applying exactly the same principles we talked about. This always feels pretty awkward to start with but as with everything, the more you practice the more natural it will feel to you. Unless you are already an experienced economy picker, I would try to resist the temptation to speed up at this juncture, as that is usually where things start going pear shaped!
Planting technique
One of the most important elements of economy picking that I have discovered with my study over the years is the use of what I like to term ‘Planting’ technique. Correct use of the ‘economic movement’, which we have already discussed, involves pre-preparing the pick on the desired string ready to play the note. Personally, I have found this technique to be one of the best ways to improve economy of motion and accuracy regardless of which picking technique you employ as a guitar player. The planting technique forms the basis of the string crossing movement in economy picking but is not usually applied to the use of alternate picking on individual strings. Though it is a prerequisite for
economy picking technique when crossing strings, it can be applied to other techniques such as alternate picking and hybrid picking techniques to great effect too. It serves as an excellent method of training for the right hand to make the minimum and most accurate movement required and can also be used in a variety of musical situations where more control is required. It is not a practical way of playing the guitar however, mainly due the staccato sound that you will get when playing scales and arpeggios. So, in my opinion, it should be used mainly for right hand training and development. A good place to start in order to get a real grasp of this technique is to take a single, open string, the low E for example. We’ll start by placing the pick on the top side of the string ready to play a downstroke. Once we have played the open string as a downstroke, the right hand then immediately places the pick on the underside of the string ready to play an upstroke. That is planting technique. The key with this is to get the next stroke position as quickly and as efficiently as you can, making sure to waste no time and energy in the process. When you first attempt this it will no doubt feel very strange and very awkward. This is a perfectly normal reaction and will begin to feel less alien to you as you integrate it into your daily practice routine. It is most definitely one of those techniques that you have to find the ‘feel’ for. Like I said, it will come with time, patience and practice.
Building the foundation: Essential exercises
In order to build a solid economy picking technique, it is of paramount importance that you build a solid foundation upon which you can further develop and refine your technique. I have put together this collection of exercises, which I feel are among the most effective and the most commonly used economy picking permutations. These patterns will form an integral part of your technique and will enable you to play a variety of different scales, arpeggios and musical ideas with ease, once mastered. These permutations are certainly the ones that I use on a regular basis. When playing these exercises, it is ESSENTIAL that you apply the principles that I have outlined within this lesson. Remember that we will be using both economic movement AND inside movement to negotiate string crossing. Regardless of the movement used, string crossing must be executed using true economy of movement and you should also consider practicing using the planting technique. Be sure to stay in complete control before you even think about pushing the tempo upwards. I know that you will want to test yourself but I think it will be better in the long run to maintain your control rather than push too early.
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Example 5
Example 6
Example 7
Example 8
Example 9
Example 10
Example 11
Example 12
Example 13
Example 14
Example 15
Developing Technique: Advanced Patterns
The following examples are lines that have cropped up in my playing over the years. Some have appeared in recordings I have made and other are simply patterns that I have internalized and made a part of my particular vocabluary. All of the following examples contain elements of the foundation exercises that we have already covered, so you can see how my economy picking technique works in a more musical context. That being said, I have decided to demonstrate these lines over a drum loop rather than a specific series of chords, the reason for which is so that you can put 100% of your concentration onto the technique and not be distracted by other things. I have also chosen to keep a consistent maximum velocity with which I play the examples, that being: 160bpm. Once you have a firm grasp of the picking patterns I encourage you to push the speed as much as you can , whilst retaining complete control of your technique, of course. Ok, let’s get cracking!
Example 16
Example 17
Example 18
Example 19
Example 20
Example 21
Example 22
Example 23
Example 24
Example 25
Example 26
Example 27
Example 28
Example 29
Example 30
AFTERWORD
I hope you have found the information which I have presented to you thus far to be very useful. I have to be honest, in preparing this lesson for you, I have discovered areas of my picking that I would like to pay more attention to so, I will most certainly be using this lesson as part of my practice routine! As always I encourage you to use this lesson as a basis for your own study so, be sure to use what I have presented here to further explore new areas of the technique, which you feel will be of benefit to you. Take the lines and morph them so that the lines become your own. Be as creative as you can and you will be amazed where it will take you. On another note, I’m currently working on Economy Picking part 2 which will pick up where we left off and delve into more advanced applications of this fantastic technique. I hope you have enjoyed this lesson and I look forward to catching up with you again for the next very soon.
Take care and above all, have fun!
Rick Graham www.rick-graham.co.uk
