I could use some picking advice

Joachim,

I'm not the person who should be answering this since I can't pick very fast. However, not knowing what I'm talking about has never stopped me in the past. Since I took up playing again in Sept 2013, I've tried to stick to alternate picking when doing exercises. I began to notice that I didn't strictly observe it when actually playing, so I started doubting those who advocated strict observance of alternate picking in all situations.

I think the people to look to for advice on picking fast are the people who do it the most and the best. I'm thinking of shredders and Gypsy Jazz players. They both say to do the same thing - some form of what's being called "economy" picking. And from what I've read, it may very well be that the shredders got this concept from the Gypsy Jazz guys. In a nutshell you routinely alternate pick except when changing strings - then you use down-strokes when moving from 6th string towards 1st string and up-strokes when moving from 1st string towards 6th string.  

Now, you could drive yourself nuts strictly applying this concept so you might want to continue practicing alternate picking and also practice sweep picking. Then, don't dwell on how you are picking. When you are proficient at alternate and sweep picking just use whatever comes naturally while playing a lick. I imagine that some super fast runs might actually require some planning on how to pick it most efficiently, but I'm not at that level yet.

So, to answer your question I'm starting to believe that "economy" picking may be the answer to playing very fast licks. I came to this conclusion when I saw a Gypsy Jazz guitarist explaining how he was able to play such fast licks, and he said exactly the same thing that I heard shredders like Tom Hess and Mike Philippov say.

Phil,  thanks for adding to this.  I also imagine that experienced players plan picking just as well as finger positions when practicing something difficult,  and I would love to see an example with picking guidelance by John.  For example, in BRYCU he gives instructions for up- and down-strokes for difficult lessons with 16th note strums, and some similar guidelines into good picking habits would be wonderful.

Right now I try to stick with alternate picking, but it's more or less random whether I start with an upstroke or downstroke, and I tend to alternate regardless of whether I am playing 1/4 or 1/8 notes.  I think many players use the down-pick to keep track of the beat,  so if a lick starts off-beat, should you then correct picking to start with an up-pick?

I think I do about what Phil does - it seems like alternate picking but if I actually stop and look at what I'm doing, there's a surprising amount of economy picking going on. Sometimes with really fast stuff I'll be having a problem with picking it, analyze what I'm doing and try other things, and then usually go back to what I was doing in the first place. There's also "inside" vs. "outside" picking; for instance if you're playing on the B and high E, and you pick the high E with a downstroke and the B with an upstroke, that's "inside" picking. If you pick the high E with an upstroke and the B with a downstroke, that's "outside" picking. Sometimes if you're encountering a problem and notice that you're doing it one way, it can help to try it the other way instead.

As far as upstrokes on the upbeat, it really depends on if it's causing a timing issue or not. I much prefer to strum chords on the upbeat with an upstroke, but with solos it doesn't seem to make much difference to me. I've noticed that trying to use upstrokes in a fast passage can really mess up whatever picking pattern you would normally use because you're going up down up down etc. but trying to force in an extra upstroke where it doesn't belong, but that's just if something is really fast.

When I do that lick repeatedly (the very first one in Hard Edge Blues) I notice I'll play it up-down-up on the G, B and E followed by a downstroke on the B for that bend.  I don't  know if that's just a habit I've fallen into over the years or if it's actually an efficient way to do it.