Inside to outside

A while ago I made the decision to improve my alternate picking technique. Aided by instructional DVD's from Paul Gilbert and John Petrucci (although mostly the former), I set out to basically change the way I have played guitar since 1992. I've always used alternate picking, but I've always incorporated sweep picking and economy picking when crossing strings, to get a more fluid, legato-like sound. Problem is; it has kind of worked all too well, in that when I pick fast, you can't hear the "attack" as well as you would if I was playing with strict alternate picking, meaning that I sound semi-legato even when applying muting techniques - but only when I play across two or more strings. Players like Frank Gambale also do this exclusively, but guess what; their playing also sounds legato-like almost no matter what amount of muting they apply.

I spent a lot of time with a metronome getting my technique to where it is (or was) at, and in a not so surprising turn of events it's hellishly hard to change how I pick. Basically, I've changed from inside picking (which allows me to "sweep" across two or more strings using one down- or upstroke) to outside picking, where I religiously alternate up- and downstrokes (unless I'm doing sweeped arpeggios, in which case it's business as usual). The result: my technique sucks now, and I'm relegated to playing runs and phrases at less than half the speed I'm accustomed to. Even worse; when I play pieces I've done for years, muscle memory is working against me, and I revert to my "old" picking patterns, only to catch myself mid-run.

At the end of the rainbow there's hopefully a more crisp tone, but at the moment it kinda' just sucks, because while I have no idea how long it'll take to build up my new technique, I'm not practicing technique the old way.