About picking

Hello, I have a question about picking. Do I have to pick up and down? it seems to me that when I pick down the guitar sounds perfect, but when I pick up the sound is different, weak. What happens if I always pick down?

Thanks, I hope you can help me with this quiestion.

This is a frequent problem for intermediate players. We've all been there. It seems like "why bother?" But I urge you to keep at it until you get used to it. There's a lot you won't be able to do if you try to skip upstrokes in your picking.

Jon

Hey man, upstrokes are actually really helpful to practice! If you play a song purely with upstrokes, it will actually improve your downstrokes. This is because even if you are only downstroking, you MUST make the upstroke motion back in order to make another downstroke... so why not actually put your focus into practicing upstrokes so that way your muscle memory develops faster, correctly, and also gives you more control over your picking overall. :)

All you need to do is play something like master of puppets with all upstrokes, and you'll instantly see the results after like 5 minutes of practice.

Some things this affects:
-string skipping
-sweep picking
-strumming
-alternate picking
-speed of playing
-control over your picking
-picking power

Hi Oscarocker.. Welcome to GuitarTricks..
Dont be afraid to experiment. Try different thickness of picks. Hold closer or further from the tip. Striking string at a slight angle. Even hand placement..
Good luck and keep on pickin'

Alternate picking (down, up, down, up) is necessary for a lot of licks. Now that I'm used to it, I actually like to end on a big note with an upstroke. I seem to get more "slap" from an upstroke. Whenever you're ending a lick and holding a note with vibrato, try it with a stiff upstroke. Sounds great!

Originally Posted by: maltmnHey man, upstrokes are actually really helpful to practice! If you play a song purely with upstrokes, it will actually improve your downstrokes. This is because even if you are only downstroking, you MUST make the upstroke motion back in order to make another downstroke... so why not actually put your focus into practicing upstrokes so that way your muscle memory develops faster, correctly, and also gives you more control over your picking overall. :)

All you need to do is play something like master of puppets with all upstrokes, and you'll instantly see the results after like 5 minutes of practice.

Some things this affects:
-string skipping
-sweep picking
-strumming
-alternate picking
-speed of playing
-control over your picking
-picking power

So true!!! I practice this and it works.