Learning new riff...technique advice

[Alicia Willis]

I’m learning “The Kids Aren’t Alright” by the Offspring. There’s a part I’m unsure of which technique to use or if it even matters. I discuss this and show my progress in the video. Would love any feedback !

Side note: I’m still working on my palm mutes ! They’re good I think for the most part but I do have some oopsies still

 

[Jesse Salmons]

Sounds great! Honestly, i think the downstrokes sound good as long as it’s comfortable for you! Alternate picking would be easier and more efficient but i can hear a better attack in your downstrokes! You could either A. Use this to better your alternate picking or B. Keep with the downstrokes bc it still sounds awesome and heavy! If it were me, as long as i was able to downpick it at the normal playing speed, id keep with the downpicking! Kinda like the song Paranoid, i could very easily alt. pick it but i can downpick at the same tempo so i downpick!

 

[Alicia Willis]

Sounds great! Honestly, i think the downstrokes sound good as long as it’s comfortable for you! Alternate picking would be easier and more efficient but i can hear a better attack in your downstrokes! You could either A. Use this to better your alternate picking or B. Keep with the downstrokes bc it still sounds awesome and heavy! If it were me, as long as i was able to downpick it at the normal playing speed, id keep with the downpicking! Kinda like the song Paranoid, i could very easily alt. pick it but i can downpick at the same tempo so i downpick!

Thanks so much for the feedback ! I definitely feel more comfortable down picking and feel like I can down pick faster than alt pick. When I try to alt pick I feel like I have to think about it too much and kind of get stuck lol. I’m def gonna work on the alt pick though.

I’ve often joked that I’m going to emulate James Hetfield and just become the Queen of downstrokes

 

[Donovan Etue]

Hmm looking over a live performance of the song from a while ago it looks like that part you're curious about is alternate picked. Although it does sound fine with you playing it using downstrokes.

 

[Jesse Salmons]

Thanks so much for the feedback ! I definitely feel more comfortable down picking and feel like I can down pick faster than alt pick. When I try to alt pick I feel like I have to think about it too much and kind of get stuck lol. I’m def gonna work on the alt pick though.

I’ve often joked that I’m going to emulate James Hetfield and just become the Queen of downstrokes

You should! That’d be badass

 

[Alicia Willis]

Hmm looking over a live performance of the song from a while ago it looks like that part you're curious about is alternate picked. Although it does sound fine with you playing it using downstrokes.

Awesome sauce ! Thanks so much!!!

 

[Donovan Etue]

Awesome sauce ! Thanks so much!!!

No problem. Happy to help.

 

[Adin Shepherd]

Could be played either way, although I would use alternate picking personally, it will save some energy for the following downpicked chord section.

As a general rule if it's a power chord I downstroke, if it's single notes I alternate pick. There are some exceptions however, the intro to Master Of Puppets as an example, I use only downstrokes when I play that.

Ulimately play it the way that feels most comfortable for you, but don't neglect your alternate picking.

 

[idssdi]

It sounds very well suited for tremolo picking to me which is basically alternate picking. It does sound fine the way you're doing it now too

 

[Firsty Lasty]

Alternate picking + good string muting so you can rock out on stage is the way to go. Let me give you something specific to try- see how it feels to touch your left hand thumb to the fat E string to mute it when needed.

 

[Bellah83]

You could try just using that little riff as your own alternate picking excercise. Played to a metronome of course.

Love the song too, one of the first ones I tried to learn.

 

[Alicia Willis]

Thanks for the feedback everyone !! I’m definitely going to try and practice this doing alt picking now! You guys are awesome !

 

[Bellah83]

Side question, my tube amp makes that same humming/static noise. Anybody know what causes it?

 

[Ed Seith]

Just getting to this. Love that Strat! Great song - I need to look up The Offspring again. They had some great stuff. The part you're asking about is definitely alternate picked and not muted. It has a great, clean flow to it and almost "swings" a little, which is kind of an important part of the feel of it. It's a great lick to work on cleaning up your alternate picking on, since it's not changing notes with every pick. Sounds great!

 

[Ed Seith]

Side question, my tube amp makes that same humming/static noise. Anybody know what causes it?

Gain, honestly (or distortion). Gain and distortion involve heavy amounts of compression which makes everything quiet much louder. Without any kind of noise gate, you just need to learn how to roll off your volume whenever you're not playing.

 

[Alicia Willis]

Gain, honestly (or distortion). Gain and distortion involve heavy amounts of compression which makes everything quiet much louder. Without any kind of noise gate, you just need to learn how to roll off your volume whenever you're not playing.

I noticed the hum after the fact. I actually wasn’t playing on the tube amp this time, this is the boss katana making that hum. I’ve not played it much so I didn’t know how to fix it lol. I did have a noise gate on. But I do love high gain

 

[idssdi]

I noticed the hum after the fact. I actually wasn’t playing on the tube amp this time, this is the boss katana making that hum. I’ve not played it much so I didn’t know how to fix it lol. I did have a noise gate on. But I do love high gain

Depending on the pickup combination you use and whether it is a humbucker or a single coil a strat is always gonna hum. Basically the idea of a humbucker is that instead of one coil you have two where one cancels the hum of the others one(magnetic fields and such) this isn't present in single coils so the hum remains. A way to work around it is by using position 2 or 4 of the pickup selectors, in that case you are combining two single coils so it gives roughly the same effect.

I see your strat has a humbucker in the bridge so it shouldn't hum that much when you solely use the bridge position.

It can also have something to do with the ground.

 

[Bellah83]

Gain, honestly (or distortion). Gain and distortion involve heavy amounts of compression which makes everything quiet much louder. Without any kind of noise gate, you just need to learn how to roll off your volume whenever you're not playing.

I've plugged my entire rig into the exact same amp and didn't get that noise. And I dont get it on my halfstack. It's weird because its so identical to the one in her video.

Boss katana is a solid state amp?

 

[Ed Seith]

I've plugged my entire rig into the exact same amp and didn't get that noise. And I dont get it on my halfstack. It's weird because its so identical to the one in her video.

Boss katana is a solid state amp?

I'm old and my ears don't work like they used to (wear earplugs at concerts and band practice, folks!), so maybe I wasn't hearing what you are. I also didn't have the volume up because I was the only one in the house awake when I watched it.

 

[Bellah83]

I'm old and my ears don't work like they used to (wear earplugs at concerts and band practice, folks!), so maybe I wasn't hearing what you are. I also didn't have the volume up because I was the only one in the house awake when I watched it.

No worries, that's what we all thought too at first. It's the strangest thing and you can't hear it at all while playing.