If you’ve been playing guitar long enough, you probably already know about inside picking and outside picking.
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For example, inside picking is the sensation of playing an upstroke on the A
If you’ve been playing guitar long enough, you probably already know about inside picking and outside picking.
For example, inside picking is the sensation of playing an upstroke on the A string followed by a downstroke on the D string. Your pick feels like it is moving inside those two strings.
Outside picking would be a downstroke on the A string followed by an upstroke on the D. Here your pick moves from the furthest sides of each string by reaching over the top of them. Chances are, you're better at one of these than the other.
Of course, we can always practice and get better, but sometimes there’s no getting away from the fact that we just prefer one way over the other because it works best for us. And remember; the listener doesn’t care either way.
There’s a way in which we can exploit our preferences to our advantage. Every famous guitarist works to their own strengths, and that’s what you’re going to do here. If you played a three-note-per-string run from the low E to the high E, you’ll encounter both string-crossing mechanics. If you only want to use one of those mechanics, the way to do that is to change the number of notes on each string, which will change the pick stroke that occurs just before you change.
With three-note-per-string licks, the easiest way to do that is just to add another three-note shape next to the one you’ve just played.
Take a look at EXAMPLE 1. This is a three-note-per-string run in A Aeolian that has been worked so that it uses only outside picking. With an ascending lick like this, the key is to make the last pick stroke before the string change a downstroke.