How to Play Faster on Guitar: Downward Pick Slanting for Jazz Lines

Short answer: The thing that let me play fast jazz lines was a picking system called downward pick slanting with upstroke escapes. With the pick slanted down, every downstroke gets trapped between the strings and every upstroke comes free, so you plan your lines around one rule: going from higher notes to lower notes, the last pick on each string is an upstroke, which usually means two or four notes per string. When a line doesn't fit that, a pull-off or slide resets your picking hand, and when you're going from low notes to high notes you can also use two downstrokes in a row (a sweep).

I first learned about this from Troy Grady, who does detailed picking analysis of all kinds of guitarists, and "downward pick slanting with upstroke escapes" is his name for it. I wish I'd had it when I started playing. Once I put these moves into my practice, my playing changed fast. ▶ 0:46

A disclaimer up front: this is not the only way to play fast. There are a lot of ways people do it. This is the way that worked for me, and a lot of the guitarists I look up to pick this way. If you're having trouble playing fast, I'd recommend trying it. ▶ 2:28

What is downward pick slanting?

Look at the wrist. A neutral pick position is when the pick is perpendicular to the strings, basically sticking straight out of the guitar. For a downward pick slant, I turn my wrist so the pick tilts: the top of the pick goes down and the bottom of the pick goes up. ▶ 1:54

Here's what that does. On a downstroke, the pick gets trapped between the strings and ends up resting on the next string. On an upstroke, the pick comes up above the strings and escapes. ▶ 2:28

That means after an upstroke you can go to any string right away. After a downstroke you can't, because first you'd have to get the pick back out of the strings, and that's slower. ▶ 3:12

Rule 1: going from high notes to low notes, the last pick is an upstroke

When a line moves from higher notes to lower notes (toward the low E string), the rule is: the last pick on any string has to be an upstroke, because the upstroke is what frees you to move to the next string. ▶ 3:50

If you're alternate picking (down, up, down, up) and always want to end on an up, that means an even number of notes per string. Two notes: down, up, done, next string. Four notes: down, up, down, up, done. In practice it's usually two or four, and only occasionally six. ▶ 4:28

This matters when you build your lines. If you think about your lines this way, you can write them so they fit an even number of notes per string, and that's what allows the fast picking. The first example in the video is all even groupings, two, two, four, two, two, four, played with a track. ▶ 4:59

What if the line starts with an odd number of notes?

Start with an upstroke. If the first string has one note, pick it up and you're already free to move. If it has three, go up, down, up. Then you're back to two or four notes per string. The second example starts with one note on a C♯, then four, four, four and four, played over Impressions. ▶ 5:26

The pull-off save: fixing an odd number of notes mid-line

When you're improvising, sometimes you'll end up with three notes on a string in the middle of a line, because that's what you're hearing. That's what I call the pull-off save. If your last pick was a downstroke but you need one more note on that string, play that note as a pull-off with your fretting hand and use the time to reset your picking hand. ▶ 6:44

In the example, the third string has three notes: down, up, then a pull-off to the last one. Because the third note is played by the left hand, the right hand still effectively ends the string on an upstroke, and the line continues down, up, down, up from there. ▶ 7:33

You'll hear guitarists who pick this way do it a lot. George Benson does this all the time. It sounds good, especially on these lines, because it gives the line a smoother articulation instead of every note being picked. ▶ 8:12

String skipping and one note per string

What if there's just one note on each string? In this style we don't do multiple upstroke sweeps. It's always alternate picking except for the moves on this page. With one note on consecutive strings, you alternate: down, up or up, down, depending on where you are in the line. ▶ 8:44

The example runs through a G triad. I start on the first string with a downstroke on purpose even though there's an odd number of notes there, to show that a slide works the same as a pull-off for getting yourself out of it. Then there are two-note strings (down, up), and the line finishes with a hammer-on. Keep the downward pick slant the whole time. You don't want to tilt your wrist too much, though sometimes we do as a way of compensating. ▶ 9:17

Rule 2: going from low notes to high notes, end on an upstroke or sweep

Going from low notes to high notes is easier, because you have two options when you finish a string: ▶ 10:59

1. End with an upstroke, the same as before.
2. Play two downstrokes in a row, usually called a sweep. Across just two strings it's sometimes called a half sweep. ▶ 11:31

A downstroke normally traps the pick, but when you're going up in pitch you're not trapped: the pick is resting on the next string you need, so you can just do another downstroke. In the example line, it's down, up, down, up, down, up, then down, down onto the next string. When the line turns around and comes back down, it goes back to Rule 1 and ends each string with an upstroke. ▶ 11:53

The last example is in F minor. It combines a two-downstroke sweep with the pull-off save, and it has six notes on a string, which is still an even number. It's less common, but it happens. ▶ 13:01

The picking rules at a glance

Do you have to think about this while you improvise?

The usual criticism of this picking style is that there's already enough to think about when you improvise. How are you also supposed to think about whether you start with a downstroke or an upstroke? ▶ 14:50

For the most part, it doesn't matter which pick you start with. In the video I play the same line starting with an upstroke and then starting with a downstroke. The downstroke version uses a two-note sweep instead of a three-note sweep, and both versions still land on an upstroke on the same B note on the third string. ▶ 15:24

Once you've internalized the technique, your hands fix it for you as you improvise, because you have the sweeps, pull-offs and hammer-ons to correct yourself. In my experience it's made my improvising smoother, because I have a standard method for learning and building lines so I know how to play them fast. ▶ 16:39

Most of the lines in the video come from my ebook, The 60 Master ii-V-I Lines: five lines in each of the 12 keys, 60 in all. I wrote them because most of the lines I found were saxophone or piano licks that didn't work well on guitar, and I wanted lines built to be picked this way. ▶ 13:45

Frequently asked questions

How do I play faster on guitar?

The method that worked for me is downward pick slanting with upstroke escapes. Build your lines so each string ends on an upstroke (two or four notes per string when going from high notes to low notes), and use pull-offs, slides and two-downstroke sweeps to handle the spots that don't fit.

What is downward pick slanting with upstroke escapes?

It's Troy Grady's name for picking with the pick tilted so downstrokes go into the strings and upstrokes come out above them. Because the upstroke is the one that escapes, it's the pick you use to change strings.

Why should the last note on a string be an upstroke?

After a downstroke the pick is trapped between the strings, so you'd have to get it out before you could play another string, which is slower. After an upstroke the pick is already above the strings and free to go anywhere.

What do I do when a line has three notes on a string?

Use the pull-off save: pick down, up, then play the third note as a pull-off so your picking hand can reset. A slide works the same way.

Do I need to plan every pick stroke while improvising?

No. Once the technique is internalized, it mostly doesn't matter whether you start with a downstroke or an upstroke. The sweeps, pull-offs and hammer-ons put you back in the right place.

Keep learning

• How to play over ii-V-I progressions without memorizing licks: ii-V-I lines to practice this picking on
• Two shapes for every scale and arpeggio (Corey Christiansen's CAGED alternative): two fingerings that keep your lines in position
• How to practice jazz guitar in 30 minutes a day: a daily plan to build speed without burning out

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Chase Maddox is a jazz guitarist and educator in Miami and the founder of Chase's Guitar Academy. George Benson has called him "an amazing instructor." More free lessons are on his YouTube channel.