Hey Friend,
Ah, the joys of computers… I sat down to write this morning and was handicapped within minutes. The mouse battery was drained, so I’m having to brush off my ninja keyboarding skills…
Boy, am I rusty!
Anyhoo, let’s hope your day is starting out more on track than mine (I keep reaching for the mouse, but it’s in its charging spot).
Downstroke Motion
Let’s start by opening the PDF file so you can follow the tabs.
The first picking pattern to try out is straight downstrokes. When you look at tabs, there will be a symbol that looks like an open box turned upside down. That symbol indicates a pick downstroke or strum.
Just to be 100% clear, on your guitar, that means you are moving in your pick (plectrum) in a direction towards the floor across the strings.
On Exercise 1, simply play each note of the G major scale using a downstroke.
Simple, right?
This downstroke motion is used a lot in playing chords (particularly power chords) in Rock music. Many times, you’ll use the palm-muting technique to muffle the strings so each downstroke has a percussive sound to it.
The resulting sound takes on a sound like chugging (like a train, not a beer!).
The second exercise demonstrates the sound and the palm muting technique.
If you’re not familiar with palm muting, you use the side of your picking hand to dampen, or muffle, the strings as you play them. That’s another lesson, so if you need some pointers, let me know.
I pulled this exercise from the intro of “ Hot Blooded” by Foreigner. This link will take you to Youtube to check out the song.
It’s a mid-tempo song, and this riff uses straight eighth note downstrokes. The key to making this sound good is keeping your timing tight with the beat.
The last exercise is the intro to " Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne.
I’ve tabbed it at 80 BPM and then at full speed.
Technically, this intro riff is played on bass guitar, but for our purposes, I wrote out power chords for you. As you an see, each chord is played as a down stroke.
The downstroke is effective for Rock because the lower bass frequencies for the sixth and fifth string notes create that solid foundational sound that the mid-range frequencies of vocals and guitar solos sit so well on top of.
There’s nothing too difficult in today's lesson, so let me know if anything gives you trouble.
The name of the game is timing your downstrokes with the beat, and these are good exercises to help you tighten up that skill.
Super important for both rhythm and lead guitarists, so have some fun with these. Happy Friday!
Peace~
Dave
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