Originally Posted by: SpeckledJimalternate picking when doing a scale coming back up

Just my 2 cents on alternate picking- instead of picking in a straight up/down manner, try picking in a tight circle; matter of fact, I think I read somewhere that's called circular picking. Practice slowly at first up and down the neck, especialy 3 note triplets. Make the cirlcle smaller and smaller as you progress. Actually, the shape of the "circle" is more like an elipse - kinda like this if you look at it sideways: () - but make it tighter and tighter as you go along. Personally I don't strictly alternate pick, if the string is there, I'm not gonna change course just to keep the alternate thing going.