Hi,

From the video's I gathered that Pebber does not feel natural using directional picking. Presumably having used alternate picking a long time it becomes difficult to make directional picking seem natural. My main question is if (having no ingrained system yet) it makes sense to study directional picking?

When doing 3 note scale patterns (playing notes 1,2,3 and than moving one step to play 2,3,4) I noticed that while using alternate picking I occasionally use directional picking. Reason I found out is because it messed up my flow/timing. To me it seems that directional picking is more efficient than alternate picking, but it feels more difficult to keep in good timing.

On the other hand my timing should not be dependent on having a regular up down motion, at least in my view. I know that some teachers use alternate picking to teach consistent timing. Using for example down strokes only for 1/4 notes and playing 1/8 notes using alternate picking. For me it helps to be more consistent in my timing this way, but you end up making a lot of empty movements when playing the 1/4 notes. And the problem gets worse if you start doing up/down timing based on 1/16 notes.

So if the timing is separate from the picking system, the logical choice would be to study the most efficient motion (directional picking). But if directional picking is much more difficult to master, than it may make more sense for me to study alternate picking instead.

Any experience/views are appreciated.

Regards,

Frank