Fast downstrokes technique improvement
 

Does anyone find it hard playing really fast downstokes? I can tremolo pick really fast, don't even need to warm up, my arm has never cramped up so I guess I'm a natural in the up down movement but dowstrokes I find hard on occasion.

Example: red chord - Like a Train Through a Pigeon 0:12
Between the Buried and Me - Coulrophobia 0:42

BTBAM isn't too bad but the red chord I can do it 3 quarters of the way at that speed but then I just lose it. How to improve???

How to improve? Practice.

Once you get your technique down, you'll only be limited by muscle tension. The more you can teach your body to relax, the faster you'll go. Tense muscles act as a break.

One Word.......SLAYER

I play a lot of Slayer, and I can play it along with the record, but I don't know. That's not all that fast.

The Reign in Blood album is not that fast?

It is fast, but it's pretty easy to play with downstrokes. I think there's more songs out there that it would be better to practice to improve to.

So you are saying you can play Postmortem and Piece by Pice perfect with downpicking..I can do it...but I still call bullshit. Let me know...I haven't really fucked
with staright downpicking in a while....just Cannibal...and I'm really drunk right now

Postmortem is easy as shit! Piece by Piece, I forgot about that one (despite it's awesomeness) but it's mostly tremolo picking, the only part where I'm tempted to sue alternate picking is the triplets in the beginning. For some reason I always want to alternate pick triplets.

I just practice doing chromatics all downstrokes.

well than what are you complaining a bout? The chorus is the hard part to ppstmortem...it just takes balls.....



I'd say just sit there and play forever.....god I'm a drunk ass......you see what the army does....

Dammit. man....no more silly questions....just play downstrokes all fucking day...or I will killllll you......

Wasn't complaining, just trying to help this guy out.

Ohh....that guy....oh well. I guess He is fucked....time to drink more beer. HEy fucker, how bout you play guitar dammit...hwatever tyour name is./

Sure, you can down pick the fast slayer songs, but if you try can claim to be able to down pick them as fast as slayer alt picks them(they don't down pick), then BULLSHIT. I'm sorry dude, but if you claim to be able to down pick 16th notes at 200 bpm, you could do 1600 beats per second with alt picking easy. Thats 26 notes a second. Thats either very close to or just over the worlds record for speed picking. Which, by the way, can't really be heard by the human ear, its just a blur of noise.

I thought slayer does downpick those songs....alt. picking is easy for those songs though...

I've watched my Slayer DVD at least 100 times. They only down pick for slow parts. They alt pick alot! Download a couple slayer music vid's off kazaa. see for yourself.

Oh well.....vagina taste better when its wet. How about you play some Cannibal instead? You know....slayer is old....I bet they used to downpick in the day....maybe they just don't get laid enough anymore....oh well. KEEP PRACTICING!!!!!!!

I have the same problem - I can alt pick hallowed point, but I cant downpick postmortem (which i'm pretty sure is less that half the speed). Strange. doesn't really bother me that much though - I just alt pick pretty much everything.

My theory is that it is to do with the fact that I'm left handed, but play right handed (it's cheaper) - so the muscles in my right arm are probably a bit shit.

If Postmortem isn't too much of a challenge anymore, try the intro to Dittohead - Kerry himself said in his Guitar World column that he downpicks it.

Oh, and beelzebobo, do a forum search before you start a thread that has been discussed many times before.

No fucking way. Jesus. I can just about alt pick it sloppily