Top 10 Types of Guitar Picking
I am not a professional guitar player yet, but I am learning guitar. So, I have come up with a new list that contains some of the greatest guitar picking techniques. This includes both picking styles, whether using a pick or simply using fingers.Adding ten items was kind of difficult, so I may have made some mistakes. If I am mistaken somewhere, I apologize in advance and will appreciate any corrections.
Sweep picking creates the most unique sound among all these techniques. It's one of the most essential techniques in shredding. If you listen to songs by Jason Becker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Angelo Batio, Rusty Cooley, or Muhammed Suiçmez, you will know how great sweep picking is.
Non-metal artists like Frank Gambale, Steve Hackett, or Les Paul also used sweep picking. Besides metal and rock, jazz is most famous for using sweep picks.
I agree with this at #1 - this is the most beautiful guitar sound for me. And yes, it's very hard to play. By the way, you added great images to this list. Very good job.
Very close to strumming, alternate picking involves picking notes downwards and upwards. It's one of the most essential elements of metal riffs/solos. It helps to build speed and sometimes makes brutal riffs.
Like sweep picking, it is required for shredding. But it's not as smooth as sweep picking. Sweep picking is like continuous smooth beats, while alternate picking creates a different sound - upbeats and downbeats.
Downpicking is also a great technique to pick the strings. When I first started, I could only downpick. It means picking/strumming the guitar strings downwards.
It's easy to pick like this. It's the best picking style if you want to build speed but aren't good at upstrokes. Generally, it makes a one-way sound because it only features downstrokes. But there are great examples of downpicking guitarists. James Hetfield, Johnny Ramone, and Dave Mustaine are some of the greatest downpickers. Downpicking is very common in punk rock and thrash metal.
Along with tapping, fingerpicking is one of those techniques where you play the guitar without a pick. It can be done on both acoustic and electric guitars, but I would say it sounds better on acoustic guitars.
Along with sweep picking, fingerpicking also makes a less harsh sound. It's a very common technique and can be seen in genres like blues, folk, rock, southern, country, etc.
Quite a difficult technique, it requires both fingers and picks. Grip a pick with the thumb and index finger, and it leaves three fingers - pinky, ring, and middle finger. Pick some other strings with those fingers, usually the middle and ring finger.
I didn't add it higher because, according to some people, it's just a part of alternate picking - the fastest alternate picking. Performed on a single note, it is most popular in death metal, black metal, speed metal, etc., genres. It's quite a difficult technique.
I know palm muting isn't a picking style, but I added it based on first palm mute and then pick. It means picking with palm muting.