Fast Downstroke picking

[Rad Synner]

Hey guys!
Was wondering what do you all have to say about fast downstroke picking. Im actually working on it right now and its something I really like to do and incorporate in my playing and was wondering about any advice do you guys have about it. If im not clear enough, when I say fast downstroke picking, i’m talking about playing songs like master of puppets, blackened or creeping death ENTIRELY in downstroke picking, which is quite hard and the last thing I want to do is not developping my technique good enough and then risking hurting myself!

 

[Ed Seith]

Metronome or Amazing Slow Downer and work the parts at slower tempos. MoP is all about speed and endurance – it’s unrelenting 8th notes at 210BPM. I never really put serious time into downpicking like that because it wasn’t my style of music when I started, but I’ve been working on it a lot. MoP intro to first chorus is a good workout. If I’m practicing it diligently and really warmed up, I can do it at about 195BPM before it gets too sloppy. At my age, I’m unlikely to increase it much more than that, but you young guys can get there pretty easily, I bet.
Pay attention to relaxation, from the fingers all the way up to your shoulder – that can be a real bad tense-up spot. Build speed and endurance slowly. Stir and repeat. Faster. Faster.

 

[idssdi]

I’meant not a downstroke picking expert at all. But I think ithe would work exactly like every single fast thigh you want to learn. Start slow woth a metronome and only downpick a note and gradually increase the tempo while continuing with only downpicking.
Hope this helps

 

[Rad Synner]

It does but working my way towards it is not much of a problem as I am already able to play the song at 210bpm. Actually my warm up in general is playing MoP AT 190BPM and im pretty tight but what i am worrying about is really the way im picking it and to play it as relax as I can because sometimes after I played it, I feel my shoulder really worked up. It doesnt hurt per say but I just wanted to verify with other people if thats bad or if its normal you know? But yes thank for the both of you for your advices and comments!

 

[Ed Seith]

Reducing tension:

 

[Rad Synner]

Very useful! Thank you a lot!

 

[Ben Thorpe]

I’m struggling with the same thing. Playing Master of Puppets at speed makes it feel like youve got carpal tunel syndrome, but just start off slow to a metronome and gradually build up speed!

 

[Daniel Sobota]

Fast downstrokes is something I want to master as well, because I’ve got to know how to do it for dem thrashy riffs. The way I practice is is that I pick just one string at a time and I pick it just from the wrist, without moving the rest of my arm too much, because If I do, I’m gonna get tired a lot quicker and the picking won’t be as tight.

 

[Rad Synner]

Yeah Daniel I feel you man. Thats also how I got started but sometimes i stop thinking when im playing and just play to follow the song. While I would say that I am pretty tight, I think its purely about the tension that im worried. obviously i need to use some muscle but i just feel like its when im playing while sitting that I get my arm a bit worked up and i just need to really work on that as I know i can go fast and tight. Its actually the same thing when i play alternate picking and wanna go fast. Idk why but it just feels hard to play fast and relax

 

[Calvin Phillips]

I used to downstroke everything.. lol. If I could do it I would. I still find myself trying to do it. It’s a bad habit that I’mtrying to get out of because it really does make it harder on you.

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Glad you mentioned that Topic @Radu-Cristian, I’ve been wondering how to approach that Topic lately too! It is kinda frustrating when you can Play master of puppets at full Speed and then try to Switch to downpicking only and find yourself at the start of it all again lol

 

[Rad Synner]

@calvin Phillips well actually it really depends. Playing fast downstroke picking can be really useful if done right and this is were i think most struggle. I feel like playing a song only downstroke gives it a certain edge and aggressivity that you sorta lose if you would play it alternate picking. Once again, best exemple would be master of puppets. Ive heard people playing it in alternate picking and it suddenly got sorta sloppy and not quite as tight and aggressive as downstroke. Finding the line between when to go downstroke and when to go alternate is really hard as its kind of a gray area concerning picking speed.
@dominik Thanks man! and yeah! luckily I read about metallica a bit before so when I started to learn master, I was doing it downstroke so I developped my speed and technique there and I keep practicing it. But yeah man like I said its like we are entering a gray area in picking speed and its hard to find the line on when to go full downstroke picking or its getting to0 fast, better start alternate picking. But yeah im happy you feel its a topic worth discussing! Almost all my friend feel like fast downstroke is just a struggle and doesnt bring anything!