Originally Posted by: jimmy_kwtxHammer ons and Pull offs.

Don't let vidoe fool ya'

After all it killed the radio star :rolleyes:

Both alt and trem picking has it's uses. But try to look at it from a realistic (non-video) stand point. Your fingers (regardless of practice and time ) can only go so fast "together". Thus you have the need for HO's and PO's.

Sometimes it may look like someone is picking a note on a video when in reality they are not and they are using a HO or PO.

IMHO focus more on the HO's and PO's. Trem and Alt picking should take serious consideration but not you full attention.

2 cents

Agreed. If you want to improve your speed, hammer-ons and pull-offs are your first priority. Those machine-gun alt-picking passages will be much easier for you when you've trained your left hand by practicing HO-POs.

And don't worry about the fact that you can't sweep pick yet. I just got the hang of it recently, and it isn't all it's cracked up to be :).