: Guitar Alternate vs. Economy vs. Directional Picking Styles Paul Gilbert has this simple lick in his Intense Rock 1 video (see video). The notes are: d u d u d u e|----------12-----------| B|-12-13-15----15-13-----|

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DP is not entirely the same as EP in that the latter intentionally picks an odd number of notes on a string to move to a new string in a particular direction, and an even number of notes to redirect to the opposite direction as defined by EP author Frank Gambale himself. DP however, is the liberated version of EP, you can play as many notes on a string as you wish which will result in either an inside picking or a sweep when moving to another string.

So EP players seem to be avoiding the inside picking technique whereas DP players embrace it. What DP players avoid is the Outside picking which strict Alternate pickers prefer.

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I always understood directional picking and economy picking as the same ( could be wrong ). However, in terms of picking patterns they are identical. So if we using the example you gave the picking pattern would be DUDDUD for both Economy and directional picking. The general idea of economical/directional picking is the transition between strings is very "sweep-like" in nature or "fluid" as possible. Another way to look at is this way: Consider the alternative picking exercise you gave which is DUDUDU on the fourth note (E assuming standard) you'll notice that in order to achieve the up pick you'll need to make a down motion to go past the highest (High E string) string and then make the up motion just to pick the note whereas in economical picking/directional picking you would just need to the down motion to pick the note.