I jam every friday night when I can. the group varies by instrument and age of players often. lately, we have a lot of twenty somethings showing up. it is great. new blood!
one thing I have noticed is that all of them only downstroke. they pick three notes and downstroke forever.
it really shows when the geezers play; we have rythym styles. up and down , and all the combinations and nuances.
so is this common. younger players primarily downstroke.??
when I read the Beginners section I always wonder why thee are so many question re: rythym patterns. U/U/D/U ,
I thought strumming was a given; a natural we all share.
any thoughts?
Well, I'm 20 and I can say that when I first started playing I primarily used downstrokes. Right now though I use alternate picking unless I'm playing heavy metal in which I'll use downstrokes for the slower rhythmic parts, but even for fast parts and leads I'll use alternate picking... once you start picking both ways you realise it's twice as fast and just makes complete sense.
I would say I somewhat have a rhythmic style, but I have been playing a while and it took years for it to become "natural".
Steve-0
For single note bits, I learned alternate picking right from the start. But I had to force myself to learn chording upstrokes.
I think the light bulb went on learning Born on the Bayou. After the intro, all the tab said was 'E7 x 18'. :shock:
Okie dokie, 18 bars of E7; that could get old pretty fast without a little rhythmic variety!
So I started by learning the Bo Diddley beat and never looked back. :wink:
Don
Only an opinion but the younger players may have started out playing a lot of punk/metal music which uses alot of downstrokes and now it's natural for them.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
i'm 23 and i alternate pick everything
i take offense
i'm 23 and i alternate pick everything
i take offense
my post made no judgements.
Playing all downstrokes isn't a bad thing. If that's all the music you play demands, then go for it. Strumming with up and down strokes didn't really click until I started lessons. I can't say it's not because I did mostly down strokes, however my teacher figures it was because 16th notes are hard to strum to. Playing downstrokes all the time would get hard, I can't imagine playing Smells Like Teen Spirit in all down strokes, even if I could get the right feel, my arm would fall off.
I think it is a bad thing. Sure, maybe the music the person is playing right NOW only requires downstrokes, but eventually everyone branches out, and knowing just downstrokes can ONLY hinder your ability.
When I first started I only played downstrokes, and man, when I wanted to branch out, that REALLY got in my way, took me a while to get out of that bad habbit. Now I basically play everything with alternate picking, completly subconciously, and I know that half the stuff I play I wouldn't be able to do with just downstrokes.
when i see people that play with all downstrokes, it tells me they have never had any lessons
alternate picking was one of the first things i learned when i started 8)
even god loves rock-n-roll
when i see people that play with all downstrokes, it tells me they have never had any lessons
alternate picking was one of the first things i learned when i started 8)
Same here. My teacher would brand my picking hand with a hot iron every time I didn't do it.
...
taso,
i know the felling, nothing like having somthing drilled into your head huh?
even god loves rock-n-roll
I'm 22 and I have a hard time just down picking, I want to alternate pick everything.
I can't work out if the initial comments were about chords or picking, or both.
But for picking, I'd assume everyone should be alternate picking beyond a certain beginner time period.
As for chords, you have to play what sounds right. If that means the majority are downstrokes (which I find is most likely) then that's what you should do. Up stroking or downstroking a chord will make a big difference.
"Today is what it means to be young..."
(Radiohead, RHCP, Jimi Hendrix - the big 3)
This topic is why I'm glad I'm good at teaching myself.
I stop myself when I find myself downstroking too much (it's natural for a beginner). Seems like a lot of those kids didn't stop themselves, which is too bad. Alternate picking helps so much.
if a song requires all down strokes by all means.
I remember a while back David Byrne of the Talking Heads said that the sound and feel he wanted in his guitars was the opposite of what was popular. he wanted that nervous trebly guitar. he said downstrokes only helped a lot.
after hearing that it made a lot of sense.
the reason I posted this subject, and I am happy to hear otherwise, is that I noticed younger players ONLY using downstrokes.
it worked in the jam. but I do feel it can be limiting if one decides to branch out.
more...?
