Originally Posted by: raymond james And please don't think I'm an idoit. Thankx

Why would anyone think you're an idiot?

Along with economy picking as already described, do you circular pick, or you pick in a straight up and down manner? Circular picking isn't straight up and down; you attack the string at a slight angle both up and down- kinda like this if you pick right handed: down:/ up:\. You can start with large circles at first, then make them smaller and smalller, so the shape of 1 up and down would look like an elipse: () <- look sideways. Then make that as small as possible. I also found playing on a steel-string acoustic with a high action helps using as hard a pick as you can find. If you can pick fast and clean on an acoustic, then you should be ripping right along on an electric. I find 3 note triplets across the neck a good exercise. When you get circular down, incorporate economy picking. It does take awhile to get this into your "muscle memory"- but once you get it, it's like riding a bike. I've just started playing after a 15 yr. layoff, and not too up on the latest players. Last week I saw an instructional video by Zakk Wylde using the pentatonic scale, and all I could think was "WHOA!" regarding his speed. It took me about 15 mins. to play some of his riffs as fast as him...distortion helped a bit, lol; playing clean, I could hear my mistakes. Oh, I think using a medium gauge teardrop "jazz" pick using the very tip only helps, and using the meat of your thumb gets you some nice harmonics. Congrats on your success. I envy you.