Economy picking gets a lot of attention as a speed technique, but it’s also widely misunderstood. Before you can use it effectively, you need to be clear on exactly what it is — and what the two different approaches within it actually demand of your picking hand. This lesson sets that foundation and gives you the first exercise to build on.
What you’ll get out of this lesson: You’ll understand the core logic of economy picking, the difference between consecutive-stroke economy and inside-picking economy, and you’ll practise a clean two-string exercise that gets your picking hand used to changing strings with consecutive strokes.
What Economy Picking Actually Is
Economy picking means using consecutive pick strokes whenever you change strings, rather than alternating. In standard alternate picking, you go down–up–down on one string, then force an upstroke to cross to the next string and a downstroke to come back. That crossing motion wastes time and energy. Economy picking eliminates it: if you finish a string on a downstroke and the next string is lower in pitch, you simply continue the downstroke through to that string. You never cross, never encircle, never waste energy returning to where you came from.
Two Approaches: Consecutive Strokes vs. Inside Picking
There are two camps in economy picking. Players like Frank Gambale will map out every phrase so that all string changes are made with consecutive strokes — it’s a complete system that influences your whole vocabulary. Other players, like Rick Graham, take a hybrid approach: consecutive strokes whenever possible, but inside picking (going from an upstroke on one string directly to a downstroke on the next, moving away from the target string) when consecutive strokes aren’t available. Rick Graham is so comfortable with inside picking that his speed there is close to his consecutive-stroke speed. Knowing which approach appeals to you will shape how you practise economy picking going forward.
The Exercise
Today’s exercise is a variation on a classic two-string pattern: 12th, 13th, and 15th fret on the high B string (down–up–down), followed by a downstroke on the 12th fret of the high E, then an upstroke on the 13th fret. The picking sequence is: down, up, down, down, up, then up, down, up descending. The key moment is that fourth stroke — the downstroke on the E string immediately following the downstroke on the B string. That consecutive downstroke across the string change is economy picking in action. Feel how different it is from crossing back.
Making Sure Your Note Spacing Is Even
The most common mistake with economy picking exercises is uneven note spacing — the consecutive string change either rushes or drags because the hand is adjusting to a new motion. Work at a tempo where every note has exactly the same duration. If the string change feels bumpy, slow down until it’s smooth, then build back up.
Economy picking is playing consecutive pick strokes when you change strings whenever possible. We never cross the target string. We never encircle the target string to come back, because that’s a waste of energy, and we lose time, and we have to expend more energy to do that.
Taking it further: Once this two-string pattern is clean, try moving it across different string sets and through scale positions. You can also experiment with what happens when you map a pentatonic or diatonic scale so that every string change lands on a consecutive stroke — you may need to rethink the number of notes you play on each string.
Your homework: Practise the exercise shown above, starting at a slow, even tempo with a metronome. Focus entirely on that consecutive downstroke across the string change — make it feel as smooth as the notes around it. Work through the pattern on at least two different string sets before finishing the session.