Originally Posted by: Douglas ShowalterTrue. Remember that you don't have to alternate pick everything, and there are many situations where that won't sound the best musically speaking. Unless you are playing just a ton of metal, or simply love to play fast; being a crazy alternate picker shouldn't be your top priority in my opinion. Hammer ons, pulls offs, legato playing; all of those things work great in soloing. More importantly, you really want to work on your phrasing and "what you say" in your soloing; no just how fast you can play. You can play scales and modes at 300 bpm all day long, but your goal should be to make meaningful music and to be very expressive with your instrument. This is not to discourage anyone from practicing this stuff, but don't get too bogged down by it.

Make your alternate picking practice a part of your routine, but also prioritize many other aspects of your playing.

Question; who are some of your favorite guitarists?

I remember in the 80's where, if you weren't solely alternate picking, you were cheating. I remember a criticism of George Lynch that he was pretty good but he used hammer ons/pull offs in his playing so he was really just ok but truly a great guitar. In the discipline of guitar playing which is already fraught with a myriad of stupid, elitist playing rules...That was the dumbest.

I think all levels of picking or striking a note are part of a vocabulary that gives playing flavor. I think that once you define a rule of what is the 'right way', you then limit what it is that you can do.