Most players, upon picking up a guitar for the first time, have a tendency to strum or pick the strings in a series of either downstrokes or upstrokes. For the rank beginner, this is fine, but the limitations of this pattern soon become self evident, requiring the player to expand his technique if he is to progress as a musician. The first and most obvious improvement one can make is to begin combining upstrokes and downstrokes in an alternating fashion, known as "alternate picking".

By making use of both upstrokes and downstrokes, alternate picking allows the player to play more efficiently, and can lead to an audible improvement in one's playing literally overnight.

The important thing to remember with alternate picking is this:

Less wasted motion = better quicker playing!