- Downpicking
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Downpicking is the technique used by musicians that perform on plucked string instruments in which the plectrum, or pick, is moved in a downward motion, relative to the position of the instrument, against one or more of the strings to make them vibrate.
The style
Guitarists of hard rock genres will often use downpicking as much as possible to create a "heavier" sound than the one created with alternate picking, which is a downstroke followed by an upstroke or vice versa.
Downpicking tends to be slower than alternate picking, but is often easier for beginning guitarists to use. Downpicking can also be faster than alternate picking using a technique called sweep picking or 'raking'. It should be noted, however, that a strictly downpicked cross-string sequence of notes will have a choppy, staccato sound (0:50-0:52 of the Metallica song Master of Puppets), whereas those same notes sweep picked will sound fluid and continuous.
Downstrokes picking is a guitar playing technique made famous by punk guitarist Johnny Ramone which used only downstrokes in playing, not upstrokes.
Effective downstrokes picking requires a strong wrist to make all the movements as tension-free as possible. Picking downstrokes makes the guitar sound tighter, more aggressive and fuller. It also creates the impression that songs played by picking downstrokes are fast even when they're not. Down stroke picking is a common technique in metal and thrash rhythm playing, notably exemplified by Metallica's James Hetfield, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine, Slayer's Kerry King, and Anthrax's Scott Ian among others.
The nature of downstroke picking more than doubles the exertion of the right hand. For long or extended passages, endurance becomes the focus, because as many inexperienced players begin to 'feel the burn', the quality of the music suffers, becoming choppy and disconnected sounding. The popular, easily recognized guitar work of Metallica's "Master of Puppets" is almost entirely played using downstroked eighth notes at a tempo of 216.
A "down(ward) stroke" is a furious, repetitive fast ballistic downstroke. Immediately after strumming all the strings, the pick's trajectory converts to a positive vertical velocity. During the time it is moving upward, the tip of the pick never comes in contact with the strings. This cycle can be repeated however many times is necessary.
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