What Is Double Picking on Guitar?

What Is Double Picking on Guitar?

Once you’ve gotten the hang of holding a guitar pick and mastered basic techniques like downstroke and upstroke picking, it may be time to try some double-picking. You’ve likely heard forms of guitar double-picking in your favorite music, such as the ultra-fast riffs of traditional bluegrass, the precise stanzas of progressive rock or the unique shredding of black metal. (If you’re daring, you can try double-picking with your thumb like Victor Wooten does on bass.)

Knowing how to double-pick will greatly expand what you can play and create the sounds you hear in your head. This guide takes a closer look at double picking on guitar and offers some tips for mastering it so you can feel more like a musical master.

Double Picking Explained

This picking technique isn’t about seeing double — and it doesn’t mean playing with two guitar picks. (We hear a few of you breathing a sigh of relief.) Double picking is when you repeat the same note in a sequence while treating it as a single note value. For example, if a riff calls for a quarter-note A3, double-picking it would mean playing two eighth notes — but within the rhythm, it’s still considered a quarter note. Double-picking is done by alternating upstrokes and downstrokes (alternate picking) as this makes it much easier to keep up at faster tempos.

There are two main purposes for double picking. One is a general technical exercise to work on picking speed, accuracy, articulation, consistency and keeping a beat. After you’ve gotten the hang of double-picking, you can use it to add intrigue to riffs and solos. Double picking can make music feel more intense, give it complexity or add sharpness like an extra layer of percussion. The technique is often used for walking bass lines, and on a guitar, it lets you play in unison with the bass to great effect.

Double Picking vs. Tremolo Picking

People often refer to double picking as tremolo picking. They’re very similar, and we won’t get mad if you use the terms interchangeably — we’ve done the same in the past. However, if you want to be a stickler, two key points separate double and tremolo picking:

1. Tremolo picking involves repeatedly playing a single note on a single string whereas with double picking, you can frequently switch notes and strings during a sequence.

2. Tremolo picking focuses on going as fast as possible so it sounds like the music is trembling (hence the name). Double-picking can be done at any speed and sometimes is even used to make a song feel slower.

Essential, tremolo picking is a specific type of double picking. Again, though, you can refer to them as the same thing and we won’t raise a fuss.

Tips for Double Picking

So you’ve decided you want to learn how to double-pick. What should you do? Use these five tips to help you master the technique and incorporate it into your playing.

Start Small and Slow

Great double-pickers like Paul Gilbert and Al Di Meola didn’t begin that way. They built a foundation first — and so should you. We recommend starting with scales on the same string and double-picking them in quarter-note values. For a C-major scale, this would mean double-picking two C eighth-notes, then two D eighth-notes, etc. Once you’ve gotten the hang of this, you can progress in several ways, including speeding up, switching note values, going up and down the neck and incorporating string changes.

Play with a Metronome

You may feel like you’re keeping a consistent tempo — but an objective beat is the only way to be sure. Set your metronome to a beat and play along. Since metronomes are traditionally used to track quarter notes, consider playing your scales (or other exercise) as quarter notes first to get in a rhythm, then double-pick them. If the initial beat you set is too difficult to keep up, don’t be afraid to slow it down.

Use the Right Pick and Hold it Correctly

A medium or thick guitar pick is best for double picking as it offers stiffness and control. Hold the guitar pick using your thumb and index finger so only a little of the tip is visible. Your pick should be pointing downward and at a slight angle so it doesn’t get caught in the strings. To double-pick effectively, your pick hand needs to be relaxed and loose. Rigid, tense hands are harder to move back and forth and will get tired faster.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Like any new technique, you’ll need to put time and effort into learning it. Set a certain amount of time during each practice session or certain days of the week when you’ll commit to working on double-picking. You may also find a song you like that requires double-picking and make it a goal to be able to play that song.

Don’t Use it Just to Use it

Remember that although double-picking is a good tool to have in your guitar toolbox, it’s not always necessary or even desirable. For example, arpeggios (i.e. broken chords) don’t lend themselves well to double picking; sweeping is better for these. Furthermore, while double picking has its uses at medium and slow tempos, the technique won’t give the music as much drive. If you want slower music to maintain the aggressive tone needed in punk and metal, stick to pure downstroke picking.

Play Double with Double Picking

You can play more of the music you love when you’re able to double-pick. It doesn’t require any fancy equipment — just good technique, time and patience. Enjoy learning the art of the double-pick and seeing where it takes you!