Speed exercises vs Alternate Picking

[wishface]

I prefer to rake, it's more comfortable.
However when practising exercises to build up speed, should I use AP?
I ask because I've seen a number of such exercises that say yes.

 

[FatStringer52]

Either technique will work. The key is that you have to find which works best for you. Spend a little time exploring both. Then pick the one that works best for you and stick with it!

 

[wishface]

What speed exercises do you (others) recommend?

 

[JRA]

IME: it's more a matter of knowing when any technique works best, for you, at a precise moment/phrase/line/tune/yada. so: you practice them all!

welcome, good luck!

 

[Guild B301]

I play guitar also, so I‘ve always done alternate picking. If you are tired of the normal bass studies, there must be billions of speed exercises for guitar which use straight and alternate picking. I just transfer those onto bass. If you are not worried about “proper” form for bass, but are just trying to increase speed, those can be great exercises. I’ve always enjoyed this guy on YouTube:

 

[wishface]

Moving on...I find I can play more using strict alternating. However it's more comfortable to rake; my hand and wrist tends to curl away from the instrument when i alternate. If I rake, I can lay may hand more comfortably across the strings. It's a weird paradox. I prefer the raking posture, however my fingers move more economically when I alternate. If that makes any sense.

 

[wishface]

I play guitar also, so I‘ve always done alternate picking. If you are tired of the normal bass studies, there must be billions of speed exercises for guitar which use straight and alternate picking. I just transfer those onto bass. If you are not worried about “proper” form for bass, but are just trying to increase speed, those can be great exercises. I’ve always enjoyed this guy on YouTube:

Does the comparison really work between plecturm ap on a guitar and fingerstyle on bass?

I'm all for plectrum on bass as well, but that's something i work on in the background.

 

[James Collins]

In the bass guitar world, the debate rages on.

In the finger picking guitar world (classical and flamenco), strict alternating is considered faster and superior in every regard since the 1800s.

 

[wishface]

I think there are sufficient differenes in the instruments that make the debate valid

 

[SteveCS]

I prefer to rake, it's more comfortable.
However when practising exercises to build up speed, should I use AP?
I ask because I've seen a number of such exercises that say yes.

I'm sure we've been here many times before, but IMHO there is as much value in practicing something in a way that you have no intention of using in performance as there is in expecting to be able to perform something in a particular way without having practiced it that way beforehand... Most folks would not rehearse The Tempest for a run of Hamlet...
YMMV

 

[Lagado]

You should use and practice both. But I would spend far more time on AP, that's the harder one. Raking comes naturally.