Man, I've been alternate picking literally EVERYTHING that I do, so when I'm trying to learn something sort of fast, its so difficult and frustrating. but i watched this video and just tried it, then tried to apply it to all those solos I could never play, and oh my goodness its so much more comfortable and cleaner, definitely watching more videos

Tom Hess is amazing teacher imo

I've been playing for 19 years, and it's honestly been a really long time since I had an "aha" moment with playing. I'm trash at this exercise right now, but I can feel the latent speed wanting to be unlocked. Thank you so much for this.

Hi I'm Mark, I always played guitar by ear and tabs since I was young. We didn't have guitar in grade school so I never was able to learn the correct way of playing guitar. I did play clarinet for 8 years in grade school but that was never my passion. I'm 51 now and growing up with friends that did play guitar somewhat helped a lot but they did not know how to teach. For now I've decided to learn the right way, and with a lot more time on my hands now I'm able to do that. Between you, Troy Grady, Paul Gilbert, Michael Angelo Batio, and a few more I'm finally starting to unlock everything I should've learned back in the day. I'm thoroughly excited that everything is starting to click now and I can start again knowing the correct way to play. Thank you for that knowledge and thank you for caring enough to show people how to play guitar.

The idea of efficiency being a key to speed is a game changer! Thanks Tom Hess! On another note, true story: you finally convinced me to go all in with directional picking (after I first started doing it instinctively on my own, then was convinced by another teacher to switch to strict alternate picking). It was a pain in the ass to change my technique 3 times, but was so worth it! Thank you :)

Why do people put a thumbs down when a seasoned professional shares information online, whether it’s something you are interested in applying or not. It’s useful for many, flawlessly executed and well explained. What exactly is the thumbs down about. Thumbs down should require the individual to say I gave this a thumbs down because……and have the courage to take a stand. It’s one thing if the presenter is rude, cruel to certain musicians or is not at a level to present useful information (I have seen many because of the zero barriers to entry that teach techniques incorrectly, show songs that are all wrong or simply lack the experience to get online and purport to share musically useful information. You should be held to a minimum standard of proficiency based on what you teach. I have seen players who purport to teach cascading pentatonic runs in the style of Eric Johnson and Bonamassa which obviously require substantial technical ability even if you are simply showing the example at a slower tempo or if you are explaining the concepts and showing how these players use staggered repeating sequences 5 and 6 notes or often mix up the sequences perhaps beginning with a triplet, backing up to note 2 of the triplet and playing 4 notes prior to

So what is directional picking exactly? To me, the examples are just exercises for economy picking. What's the difference between directional and economy?

Words cannot describe how great of a teacher that I think you are & how GRATEFUL I am that you do these lessons. I have struggled with these types of different picking styles for over a year. Thank u so much!!!!

Great breakdown of the difference between economy and directional. I favor directional myself because I don't want to have to plan technical things out, especially during improvisation when I have plenty of other things to consider. Cool exercises, too. Thanks!

This is great. I never really got into economy picking and always assumed Yngwie was using alternate picking. The opening run on the I am A Viking solo is incredible. That whole solo is fantastic!

The best explainiation on you tube 😊

I played for years in numerous bands many said I was pretty good and fast but after I was almost killed in a car accident I had to stop playing and it took me years to recover fully but now that I have no matter what I do I just can’t seem to regain my previous ability so I’m praying these tutorials will do the trick.

I always just considered directional picking to be logical picking. It seemed the most logical way to do it when i was first starting out. Took me a little while to realize I wasn't actually doing alternate picking like I thought.😂 It's cool to know it's a real thing. I always just thought I had poor technique.

Finally the difference between the two techniques has been explained!

Excellent information, I am even more impressed by your teaching methods... thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Great explanation of what each picking style is.

I was an alternate picker my whole life until I forced myself to learn economy picking. Difficult at first,because you have to reprogram your brain. But now I curse myself for not having done it sooner. It opens up completely new doors for you.

Thanks Tom Hess. Great video and lesson. Jumping between 5 & 6 is pretty cool. I'll use these to really try to get some speed.

Wow, thank you so much Tom Hess! Grabbing my guitar right now and practicing this.

Thank you for such a clear explanation of these picking methods!

Great guitar step wise guide with patience. That you Tom.

I'm having a lot problems keeping my strings quiet. But I need to keep practicing!

15:11 That's insane. sounds awesome to be able to do that. So, one should practice less than 5 minutes these exercises and go into something else. Then come back later and do a few more minutes more. That sounds reasonable to me!

Great video and well explained. My picking made a big jump once I shifted from alternate picking to directional picking years ago. It feels unusual for a week, then it feels like the most natural thing ever. :)

Damn I wish I found d this years ago!! I love these little licks and plan on practicing g then just like the man says! Thanks Tom!!!

Awesome video lesson! It really helped me clear up the difference between economy picking and directional picking... and why directional picking is SO much better! Thanks for sharing!

Awsome. It finally clicks. Mr Hess you have something here. Thank you.

I really was looking how to improve my speed on the picking hand , find yours exercising fanrastic , let you know my improvement as soon get there , thank you 🎵🎶🎼🎸🙏

Awesome Video, thanks for breaking it down in such great detail

Pure wisdom...starting now!

I'm confused, the title says Economy Picking vs Directional Picking but every example shown seemed to be Economy Picking licks. I'm still confused as to the difference and how it applies to multiple string set changes as well. I use Economy Picking often but as you said, " it takes preplanning" which doesn't always lend itself to improvisation. I believe that it can also lead to rehashing the same licks over and over when improvising. If "Directional Picking" doesn't require preplanned licks then I'd say that is a huge advantage when improvising. Only thing, this video wasn't clear enough on the difference and application for me. Please don't think I'm being salty, I really do want to understand the difference. Thanks Tom!

Over 30 years ago, was a guitar major, had been working on the economy picking, my instructor said what are you doing? He said never never ever let me see you do that, ALWAYS alternate pick. Fast forward to a couple months ago, i realize my speed still sucks,lol

GREAT Video Thank you

I like how the perspective when you talk changes sometimes from you being in the center, then you being more to the side. Helps me to stay focused and maintain my attention :)

Thank you sir. You certainly have the gift of teaching that makes people understand the learning process. Now excuse me while I go and practice what you just taught me .

The tip I'm going to use is practicing a particular technique less than 5 minutes a day. Thanks a lot Tom.

Nice compact lesson

holy crap.. i just focussed on all your video's bought some of the guides and it just made soe muh sense.... meaning i have been doing stuff wrong for 20 years !!! and the fixes are so simple. thank you sooo soo soo much!

it;s really clearly one, thank you very much

Great video lesson! I’m always interested in gaining a better understanding about the difference between economy and directional picking, which this video provided.

Great video and amazing explanation. Should I say goodbye to Alternate Picking?

Awesome, thank you for this video!

There is only a few videos on youtube about directional picking and they dont really show what to do to learn the technique, no tabs or anything. Can you possibly post up a couple more, thanks.

Thanks for this! What stood out to me was taking breaks between sets. Normally, I just practice an exercise over and over again without breaks before moving on to the next exercise and practicing it over and over without breaks. I'm going to try practicing things for shorter amounts of time, but rotating between them and see if it helps.

Hi Tom, Another great, well taught lesson, sensei! Your teaching style is very similar to my martial arts masters' ! Been doing that 45 years & still learn continually...just like music, too! Thanx.

Did I miss the directional picking part? I knew economy already; I think I understand directional but want to validate my thoughts.

Hey man! What a great video. Thanks for this lessons and your useful advices. Cheers from Chile! 🇨🇱

Thank you so much for this. I am practicing this now. Alternate pickere here. Keep on making videos ! God bless you sir!

Maybe I'm missing something, but why does directional picking require no planning but economy does require planning?

I didn't get the difference between "speed" and "directional" picking.

This channel is gonna blow up. 500k subs minimum by the end of the year of you keep posting videos. Of course, sponsors are most likely gonna contact you and send you products to test out. Wish you the best of luck brotha!! 👍

Thank you. 🎉

Directional picking is amazing!

Accually the last tip you talked about short practicing and taking breaks was the best one haha. That's what keeps you motivated and get more focus.

Hey Tom, thank you so much for this video I wish I had seen it years ago. It explains economy picking and directional picking really easy and makes playing fast really obtainable with some practice! Will definitely be putting those examples into my practice session.

Great video Tom Hess! I will definitely try that taking breaks you talked about between them. My favorite example was 5.

So, is there any reason to practice alternate picking at all then, since economy and directional picking exist? Is it a waste of time, or is there good reasons to use both, that I dont know about now?If there is a reason for alternate picking can you tell us what it is, and when there is an advantage to use it? Thanks. I have gone through endless frustration trying to learn how to play lead guitar, I got to solve this.

Excellent teacher, thank you, I just liked and subscribed 🎸🎶🎵👌

Awesome!

Great tutorial! Keep up with the good work!

I'm at the transition point where I am not alternate picking anymore, but can't do the directional picking the best way that I could, so I kind of suck at everything I could play before😅😂. But I can see already that this way of picking will benefit me greatly! For now what I find a bit difficult with it is thumb muting, because I keep getting accidental harmonics when I transition between strings. I'm still trying to find the best position of the pick and my hand. There are few more things to work on apart from that, but I don't want to write an essay about why I suck😄

I just cannot think that way. Most of times we are playing 3NPS then it changes to 2NPS and then a skip string is required... I spend more time thinking if I have to alternate or sweep up or sweep down than on the notes I have to play.

Awesome lesson, thank god i have done this kind of picking from the start (combined with alternate picking...), but what about string skipping, does anything change? Would awesome to have sequel lesson to this!

My favorite was exercise #4....It was the top 2 string to the B Pentatonic...And I just continued the.flow down the scale. Did it up 5he scale and said ....A Haaaaaa....Thanks

It's so easy, it almost feels like cheating! This is a really great video....the closeup/detailed/splitscreen view really makes it crystal clear what needs to happen. It's very thoughtfully explained as well. I feel like someone who's reasonably good at applying him/herself could get a pretty solid handle on the technique just from this video alone. Tom, this might be my favorite of all your videos I've seen so far.

I'm still trying to understand the difference between economic and directional picking?... Maybe I'm just slow...but they seem to be the same...to me, at least. You're a great guitar player, for sure though!

I used to do directional picking naturally and was really good at it until a friend told me I need to do alternate picking only or I will be hurting my playing in the future. so, trying to learn alternate only, I ruined my technique. I hate alternate picking.

Still confused on what or when "Directional" part is. I understand the concepts of alternate picking and economy picking but I'm not seeing or understanding what "Directional" picking is.... anybody?

Maestro!

how to get that tone man❤

great lesson! thanks

Thx Tom, I’m sure this would help me out of crazy bebop lines!

How do you approach a phrase that alternates between 2 strings with every note?

Hi Tom I notice that you stabilise your picking hand with your third and fourth fingers. Do you have a video explaining that technique? Many thanks 🎸🎸🎸

I saw this video yesterday and have been using the technique. I can see how speed does come fast. What i found is that once i start getting speed going, my brain kicks in and wants to go back to alternate picking.

Great lesson Tom Hess!!

Thanks for the excellent lesson. But what if I have to play two notes on a string an three notes on the other strings, as it is normal in diatonic (not pentatonic) scales?

You are the best man 👍

Does it work better with being a downward pickslanter?

How do you play the Eric Johnson fives lick though? DUUDU right?

I've always used directional picking. When I found out there was alternate and economy picking, I thought it made no sense. Kinda like the three notes per sring vs cage. Makes no sense.

Great, informative lesson here. What for rig are you using? You have sustain for days.

what number pick do you recommend starting with?

I still don’t understand the difference between economy and directional, could you make a video that shows the same lick, one economy picked and one directional picked?

What seems funny to me is that when I started learning alternate picking (after first week of only using downpicking), the directional picking evolved totally naturally. Even funnier seems to me that it seems that I'm a very rare case in that sense. Should mention that why I was looking for videos like these is, because I thought about forcing to play strictly alternate picking cause it's maybe better in the long run. The reason being that once in a blue moon, I stumble on a pattern, that really messes with the directional technique. Still, I could prolly just rearrange the pattern, but still....

Soooo....what about 3 note per string lines?

I ascend through the scale with economy, and descend through alternate picking. It's because, while descending through the scale, I like to be more agressive. But I just want to know, what type of picking does guys like Jason Richardson, and Jacky Vincent uses? They are just on another level.

What about three notes per strings ascending and descending run patterns using economy picking? Would be great to have some more ideas about economy picking.

Great advise executed in a simple easily absorbed context. Well done sir! How do I sign up for lessons?

How do you do long runs using directional picking instead of short licks ???

Hi Tom Hess, I find your Music Career Advice And Articles very informative.May I ask permission to use it in my music class? Thank you.

This is cool stuff Tom. I am super stoked you introduced this to me a couple of years ago. What has it done? Allowed me to play with a lot more ease. With a lot of my licks, scale sequences and arpeggios, I have gone from playing 300 notes per minute to 600. And... it feels comfortable and easy. :) . Andy Bamford

Maybe some Legato lessons? Great video, cheers.

@TomHessMusicCorp Hello there! So far, I have employed tilting my pick at a 45 degree angle, playing in a straight line as much as possible when I'm going up and down the strings, and am currently practicing directional picking. I can see my picking hand flow smoothly across the strings but only at a slow pace. How can I greatly improve my picking speed?

Great explanation Tom!!! On a side note, what brand of guitar are you playing there?

If you don‘t plan ahead, how do you move to a higher string after an upstroke according to your system?

Haha. Seems almost unnatural to sub divide the picking strokes into less than what would be the obvious movement to strike each string. ... but gradually the wrist seems to get the picture of this blind perspective. Great lesson.

Mr. Hess, thank you so much for posting this and your other videos. As a long-time player trying to maximize my picking speed, this has been greatly helpful. I have also introduced a friend who is just starting to play to this technique, so he doesn't have to go back years later and fix his picking, as I have. To ensure I'm applying this correctly, I have a question: when, for example, moving from a downstroke on a lower-pitch string to a higher-pitch string for one note, then back to the lower-pitch string, should I be hitting the higher-pitch string by continuing my downstroke, then reversing and going back to the lower-pitch string on an upstroke? Also, is there any difference when playing legato? Thank you again for the great videos!

This is the way that you play Yngwie Malmsteen’s “Rising Force” solo.

Directional picking kinda looks like sweep picking to me?