Using Alternate Picking for Rhythm

Wow, I haven't posted in awhile, still trying to get things back to normal after an insane holiday season.

I'm sure almost everyone has heard the benefits of alternate picking over straight down strokes when it comes to speed, however fewer people know the reasoning for alternate picking when it comes to rhythm.

The idea behind alternate picking is to down stroke the on the beats and upstroke off the beats (the “and” when counting.) This obviously will allow you to play faster but it will also greatly improve your rhythm if you get it instinctual.

If your right hand learns to “feel” the beat when you down pick, and “feel” offbeats when you up pick, then your need to count will actually diminish, at faster speeds, especially when improvising, you can heavily syncopate a line by doing it in mainly upstrokes, your hands will do the rest without thinking.


However there are a couple exceptions to the rules of down stroked beats and up stroked offbeats.

Sixteenth notes through a wrench into the system, therefore when dealing with sixteenth note rhythms you have to change the rules, down stroke the beats and the offbeats (the “ands”, upstroke the sixteenth notes (the “e”s and “a”s). Apply these rules to any phrase with sixteenth notes in them, then switch back when you're not dealing with them.


Sweep picking is done all in one direction, this technique is still perfectly valid when playing notes on parallel strings that are in such fast succession that they are impossible for you to alternate pick.