question about picking

[mycdplayerisbroke]

hah yes i have a question about picking

sometimes i see people go like 'up and down' when they pick
but a some people only go down when they pick
this is pretty tough when the time is like "1 e & a......"
maybe it's easier on guitar im not sure but the bassist for the strokes goes down all the time too. i can barely go through a whole song doing it that way.
does anyone else pick like this?

[Valleyboy]

You know, i always wondered that too.
I think it really doesn't matter though. Like, i dunno, but whenever i have to play "fast songs" like, the strokes and franz ferdinand kind of songs, i do the down picking thing, but if i have to play some coldplay kind of songs, like gpasuyf, clocks, etc. i go up and down.
I think it really doesn't matter, but that's just me.

Maybe someone smarter, like ryan or tom p. will be able to give you better answers.

[mycdplayerisbroke]

idk i think it sounds better for the most part if you can play down all the time

[Professor Peedston]

If you're playing straight 8th or 16th notes or something like in every Strokes song I've ever heard, it does sound better to use all downstrokes (in my opinion), because it gives all the notes a more uniform sound, rather than the alternating sound that you can hear if you're going up and down.

But if you're playing something based more on melody, like a Coldplay song, the rhythm and notes aren't as consistant, so you can't really hear as much of a difference between the two picking styles, if you can hear one at all, and it's much easier to alternate your picking than to use all downstrokes because you're jumping across strings more.

Or at least that's how I see it, I guess. :confused:

[mycdplayerisbroke]

genius

[Skinned Alive]

Using just downstrokes gives a song a more "driving" rhythm, and more apparent energy. The Strokes are pretty much addicted to using downstrokes in their songs (not only Nikolai, but Nick and Albert do it on guitar as well)

Using a combination of down and upstrokes gives a song much more rhythmic feel, and gives subtle contrasts in dynamics and tone. Wonderwall by Oasis is played with a combination of up/down strokes - try playing it with just downstrokes and you'll notice a huge difference.

After a while, the method behind it comes naturally. You get used to strumming in the right direction according to the sound you want, and your hand will start moving more rhythmically over the strings.

[Gas_Man]

^^ some people don't have natural rhythm in them...and will never be able to do this...i have a couple of friends who try to play the guitar, but they just have no musicalness in them. Wonderwall is a test for people, if you can strum that and have it sounding really similar to the record (not saying it's a HARD song to do) then your rhythm playing isn't pretty much ok.
i think anyway:)