Alternate picking advice for EP455

[Alexander L]

Hello,
I’ve been practicing ep455 for about two months now. I can finally play fairly solid with the slow track now. My goal is to finally get up to the normal track with speed training. Unfortunately bars 18 & 19 are really putting me in my place. I’m constantly stumbling with the progressive speed increase and was wondering if my picking approach is wrong.

How are you guys picking the second note E after the first bend? Are you attaching it with a down stroke or an upstroke? I’m trying alternating picking from there, but have not felt a right one. Would like to know how you guys are going at it.
Thanks

[Garry]

Hi Alexander,

I haven’t played this one myself but I just grabbed my guitar and had a look at these two bars.

You’re right, alternate picking works best here. I would play the bend with an upstroke and then hit the high ‘e’ with a down stroke and alternate the rest of the bar.

I always try and play a down stroke on a beat for emphasis and this also helps me with phrasing.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your playing.

Garry 🥸🎸🥸

[charjo]

Hi Alexander,
This probably won’t be helpful. I would pick the bend with a downstroke and then the E note with an upstroke and alternate pick from there. Likewise, if I was to play a classic Chuck Berry lick, I would downstroke the G and B strings and then upstroke the E string. I used to feel like Garry, that I had to play a downstroke on the beat, but have gotten away from that and just try to do what is most efficient. More than one way to do it, you just have to do what’s comfortable. This is a move you will make frequently in rock or blues.
John

[Alexander L]

Thanks for the answers Garry and John!
As always different strokes for difference folks:) Its great to see how every one approaches it though.
I’ve been practicing both methods with speed training, melting my mind a bit switching between them…

1.upstroke and the bend and down on the E
2.down on the bend and up on the E.
then alternate picking from there

down on the bend and up on the E, feels like if flows a little better as its attaching the arpeggio in the direction of string changes. I tend to have the most trouble jumping from the B to G string, this feels like it getting me in a more stable spot for the G string notes. I’ll spend the next week with this and see how it goes.
Cheers!

[Richard W]

Hi Alexander,

Thanks for reminding me about this lick! When this lesson came out, that lick really caught my ear also and I worked on it off and on for a couple of days, but then forgot about it … probably because it was so tough 😂

I just tried it without any thinking and found myself picking down on the first bend AND on the high E note. Then an upstroke to grab the 15th fret on the B-string. I do put a couple of pull-offs in there where Brian has notated the notes to be picked: I pull off from 15 to 12 on the B-string and also from 14 to 12 on the G-string after the 15 to 14 slide on that same string. But, per Garry and Charjo’s comments above, all these choices are very personal. What feels natural to one person might not feel great to the next.

Another possibility to try is grab that high E note with your middle finger, hybrid-picking. That way you altogether eliminate the challenging picking transition from the high E-string to B-string.

One more thing about this lick. When I was first trying to learn it, I had to work a bit to internalize the rhythm of the lick. While working on it, I realized that if I was jamming in E-minor pentatonic or E Dorian, pretty much any notes I played with this exact rhythm sounded like a cool lick. Really highlights how sometimes it is more about the rhythm of a lick rather than the exact note choices. And you can find lots of good note choices with this same rhythm that are easier to pick 😀

[Alexander L]

Hi Richard,
Thanks so much for the response and tips.
Those are all great alternatives, the pull offs can be a bit more forgiving than full picking for sure. The Hybrid picking the high E after the bend is a nice alternative too. I’m going to have a go at them tonight!

I agree with the rhythm, when Brian puts those 16th rests after the runs they sounds great. I always make a guitar pro file for all the lessons, I find guitar pros speed training and metronome have a bit more control than the web app. It defiantly been helping…I’m slooooowing getting up there. I can play at 85% now, on a great day 90%. another 2 weeks and I think I can get there.

Also for the two runs(D dorian and the diminished run) I’ve switch to economical picking. So starting with an upstroke. I find that can get me a bit faster than alternative picking starting with a down stroke.

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