Overview of picking styles?

[Flat5]

" Barney Kessel used downstrokes,so did Wes,albeit with his thum. I play
both thum and pick.LG.."


George Benson contends that Wes Montgomery played both downstrokes and upstrokes utilizing the "corn" that he had on his thumb.

[larry graves]

I think you're right when you quote GB. Wes did use up strokes,but only when he played either rhythm or single notes,not both, I dont know which
though. Does anyone out there know? I do know Joe Pass cut his picks in half and
used the pointed half. Wes contradicts at least two discussions on this
forum i.e--no pick--no theory. Nuff said. I feel that, when playing with
the thumb, you get more response than you do from a piece of plastic.
[ The spirit lives through the nerves in your thumb,or was it brush?-same thing]...

[Turtl3]

I would say maybe finger pick for comping and use a pick to solo.

[Scrybe]

I've found that the way we're told to hold the pick, ie, first finger bent on itself, pick tight between thumb and first finger, rest of hand either folded under or finger tips on pick guard, takes fine hand and finger movements out of the equation, and results in larger-than-necessary wrist and forearm movements instead of hand and finger movements. I find that rather (ahem!) heavy-handed, and not at all flexible. So I hold my pick between thumb and forefinger with forefinger almost vertical (perpendicular to the strings), thumb where it wants to lie, and pinky and maybe ring finger on the pick guard. This way I can pick single strings with a simple finger movement, or with more hand in it if necessary. My rule is, if it doesn't feel comfortable enough to forget, don't do it.
A friend I know decided to take a lesson or two from Tal Farlow, so he made his way down to Sea Bright with his guitar, all excited, and ready to come away with some of Tal's great chording under his belt. When he told me about the lesson, he was cursing, something he never does. He said that they spent the entire hour with Tal showing him how to hold the pick. and he never got to play a note, or hear Tal play!

Tommy/

That's what Ive just switched to doing! Glad I'm not the only one who finds this better, tho I play with my hand not anchored at all. This is how I'd hold the pick when strumming, and always had some trouble because I basically had this grip for strumming, then the "standard" grip for soloing. It's a bit of a pain to relearn now, but I'm finding the more I build it as a habit, the better everything feels and sounds.

[AmundLauritzen]

GJ guys definitely use economy picking. Frankly, anyone who doesn't is limiting themselves imo.

Not true. I learn from Stochelo Rosenberg, and he always uses a downstroke when changing strings. Some diminished runs are played with strictly downstrokes. The Dutch school of GJ has an abundance of downstrokes, while the french school has a "softer" picking approach with different articulation, but still adhering to gypsy picking where you use downstroke on each string change.

All the authentic players adhere to gypsy picking: Stochelo Rosenberg, Jimmy Rosenberg, Angelo Debarre, The Schmitt family, Adrien Moignard, Sebastien Giniaux, Gonzalo Bergara, the list goes on. Economy picking simply will not allow the Selmer-type guitars to produce a rich or loud enough tone to sound authentic. Many players favor 3.5mm picks, some up to 5mm but that's extreme.

Some contemporary players like Bireli Lagrene occasionally use economy picking to be able to play certain licks, but it's a rare occurrence.

[tele jazz]

Bit off topic but apparently Charlie Christian used only downstrokes and planted his other fingers on the pick guard quite hard, and used a big thick pick

[cosmic gumbo]

This particular picking technique uses only downstrokes.

[fumblefingers]

GJ guys definitely use economy picking. Frankly, anyone who doesn't is limiting themselves imo.

yeah, sweep or economy picking for rapid "horn-line" arpeggiation is a critical skill to build - even for alternate picking die-hards!

alternate picking is not the absolute fastest way to play but many great players are able to get all the speed that the music requires and then some (see John McLaughlin for example).

alternate picking is a bit more percussive and has a certain sound that gypsy, sweep, and economy picking don't quite produce, IMO. its a bit more like flamenco punctuation, and is very appealing to a LOT of listeners.

i also play classical and plectrum styles. i hate to say it, but there is no friggin way that one can play the same kind of "classical" or "latin fingerstyle", etc music on a one-for-one basis, with a pick. so, just accept it.

my advice to the OP is to listen to players who are well known for a particular style of picking, and if you are certain that you want to sound similar to that, use the same approach. you owe it to yourself to listen and be certain of what you are hearing, because any path that you will take will require dedication, work, and time. we all only have so much time.

[Tom Stewart]

Picking styles? Check this out:

[Prome]

It's helpful to think of where the energy of the pick stroke comes from. For years I've used "circular picking," which is where the energy of the pick motion comes from the thumb/index finger joints, leaving the wrist and elbow relaxed and static. With this approach, your wrist and elbow move only passively, not actively, though the elbow does move a bit to position your pick on different strings.

Another approach -- one I've gradually been moving towards -- is to keep your index/thumb essentially locked, though relaxed, and to pick from rotating your wrist as if turning a door knob or shaking water off your hand. A good way to get a feel for this is to use all down strokes on one string, resting the pick on the adjacent (higher pitched) string after each stroke -- thus, this is called "rest-stroke picking." This style is basically what Russell Malone and Benson use, though they both angle the pick differently than most guitarists. The Gypsy guys are basically using this approach as well. You get a better pop, and the upstrokes have a lighter, breathier sound. Keeping good time with single note lines at fast tempos is easier with this technique, I've found. It is in this technique you more often find the consecutive/economy picking directions mentioned throughout this thread, as opposed to the strict alternate picking that guys like Johnny Smith use(d).