Down Picking Part 1

Down Picking is a technique used on the guitar to demonstrate the use of a downward motion of the wrist/forearm onto the guitar strings to make a note/noise. The technique is used to emphasize an emotion or feel of a song. Popular genres where the technique is used, Rock, Metal, Country, Funk, Jazz, Pop, etc... Down Picking is very applicable to any song/style and is moderately easy to master.

Most guitar players’ max speed in any technique is sixteenth notes at 120 BPM. Often referred to as 8 NPS (Notes Per Second). A reasonable goal for Down Picking speed should be 80-100 BPM. Master of Puppets is widely regarded as a very fast song that is mainly Down Picked, its BPM is 106. At 100 BPM a guitar player should be able to play a vast majority of songs with Down Picking.

Some struggles that a guitar player faces when starting to Down Pick are,

Tension

Fatigue

Accuracy

String Skipping

Syncopation

Most of these obstacles appear early on and require specialization to overcome. There are no quick fixes or magic bullets to offer correction to any flaws or bad habits in Down Picking.

To avoid and overcome tension it is best to start slow and work up from a comfortable tempo. Most players’ comfort tempo is about 60-72 BPM. Start relaxed and play any musical phrase in a relaxed state. When you feel stress, pain, or any tension then stop and take a 2–5-minute break and try again.

Fatigue is handled and overcome in a very similar way to tension. The way to overcome fatigue is to build endurance. Start by going with a moderately fast tempo and playing for 30 seconds straight. No pauses, breaks, or rests. After 30 seconds take a short break and do it again. Rinse and repeat for 15-30 minutes. When 30 seconds becomes too easy, up it to 1 minute. Remember to stay hydrated and if you start to feel pain, then stop and shorten the length of time.

Accuracy: often when guitar players are trying to push themselves past a goal or limit in a short amount of time, they sacrifice their accuracy. When this happens, notes run together, they don't have proper length, or they can become sharp/flat. Take the time and ask yourself if the passage or phrase actually sounds good. Record yourself and play it back. Did you play the music properly? Did it sound good? Those questions are important to any technical growth on the guitar.

Rarely do you see String Skipping in a Down Picking setting. Sometimes they pop up in a bridge or a pre-chorus. Make sure that your economy of motion is as small as possible. This helps make sure that your motions do not go into any other strings causing excessive noise.

            Syncopation: within recent years the prevalence of syncopation has been more popular in mainstream rock and metal. Syncopation occurs often in breakdowns. Education is the most successful way to overcome this obstacle in Down Picking. Knowing what the difference between a gallop and triplet is key to counting and making sure that the placement of notes is strategic and correct.

            Various techniques are often added to Down Picking to add flavor and difficulty to the technique. The techniques include:

Legato (Hammer-ons and Pull-offs)

Palm Muting

Finger Picking (Also known as Hybrid Picking when mixed with Down Picking)

Staccato

Pinch Harmonics (Also known as Artificial Harmonics)

            These techniques come in many variations with the most popular being Palm Muting. Palm Muting is essential to the Down Picking technique as it is easy to master and provides a different definitive sound with additional presence. Start by placing the side of your hand down on the saddles of the bridge and play a note. The sound should produce a low-end noise that rings out a muted sound. There is no dedicated exercise or article to master this technique, it develops with time and attention.

            There are 4 main exercises that I highlight in this article and the accompanying video. All exercises are using palm muting throughout the passages and power chords are optional.

Exercise 1, this exercise goes through various rhythms that you will see in the mastery of Down Picking

Exercise 2, this exercise provides a fun thrashy riff that is easy to learn and memorize

Exercise 3, this exercise provides sixteenth notes to build endurance and fretting to make sure that the exercise played accurately.

Exercise 4, this exercise is another fun riff with a small amount of String Skipping and triplets.