I am trying to learn that classic metal "gallop," as played so well by Maiden, Iced Earth, and just about everyone else.

for the past 2 weeks, i have been dilligently practicing with the metronome and doing the patterns alternately DUD UDU DUD UDU.

My friend told me that I should start practicing only DUD, DUD, DUD, DUD.

What do you all think? which way do you play it? Is one way more beneficial than the other?

play however you think is the easiest and most comfortable way.

also,
dud udu dud udu, is alternate picking
dud dud dud dud, is economie picking

in case you didnt know.

also, do you mean triplets by saying gallop? if so play them dud dud dud.
make each dud movement a small explosive movement.

__________________

There are hundreds of threads on forums all over the place about this, but this must be one of the first where the original poster actually used the correct term.

He means gallops, and gallops are what they are. Three 16th notes followed by a 16th rest = gallops, not triplets. But yes, they are played with a 'small explosive movement', thats a pretty good way of describing the wrist action.


---------------------------------------------

Triplets

8th notes all played together with a 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3 feel.

--------------------------
GALLOP RHYTHM:

DUDrDUDrDUDrDUDr

^ 16th notes and r = a 16th rest.
---------------------------

Triplet Vs Gallop - a PowerTab screenshot showing the difference.

__________________

ooh ok

i play triplets dud dud dud though

__________________

Don't you find that to be pretty uneconomical?

__________________

i play them DUD,DUD,DUD... otherwise it just doesn't "gallop" right. i never consciously chose to play that way or practiced it with a metronome.. i think the first one i ever really tried (other than improvising) was the galloping rhythm from after the intro of "raining blood" and playing it that way just seemed natural, not to mention, rhythmically accurate.

I think you mean the other way around.

I've never tried to econ. pick triplets but as I'm trying it now, it seems harder to get that same "galloping" sound (although with practice I'm sure its possible).

__________________

Economy picking would mean going UDU after your pick is done with the DUD movement [the easiest way to go from here is to start the next gallop with the upstroke] so Darko is right. Personally I am strictly DUD DUD when it comes to gallops but that's just from me being crazy about downpicking as much rhythm stuff as I'm able to.

From what I remember from most [older] metal records though almost all the gallops are done in DUD UDU DUD UDU fashion.

__________________

i think of "economy picking" as just a name for efficient deviations from strict alternate picking. i'm fairly strict with alternate picking, but i find myself straying here and there for the sake of the rhythm, particularly when moving to different strings. but in the case of gallops, you essentially have to be un-economical to get that correct choppy sound.

I play gallops in strict DUD DUD. You'll find that when you bring the pick back over the string after the first gallop that this action gives more accurate timing of the rest than halting after the first gallop and beginning the second with an upstroke.

Think of economy picking and strict alternate picking as mathematical sets: strict alternate picking is contained within economy picking but this is non-commutable, i.e. economy picking is not contained within alternate picking. It's kind of like the set of even numbers being contained within the set of counting numbers, but the set of counting numbers (which includes the set of odd numbers) is not contained within the set of even numbers.

So for the most variety and versatility choose the set of counting numbers, which in this case is analogous to economy picking. What this all means, in a roundabout way, is that economy picking will always give you the most efficient way of playing a given piece.

__________________

Sure you're playing triplets then?

i didnt talk about triplets though

alternate picking (dudududududududududud no matter what)
-------------------------123--
--------------------123------
---------------123----------
----------123--------------
-----123-----------------
123---------------------
dud udu dud udu dud udu



economie picking

-------------------------123--
--------------------123-------
---------------123------------
----------123-----------------
-----123----------------------
123---------------------------
dud dud dud dud dud dud

so either my guitarteacher tought me wrong (wich i doubt), or we're all confused

i dont care for my picking to much realy, i play however i think is best and most comfortable, wich usualy is alternate picking.

come to think of it, maybe i do ment gallops , i dno all these english terms to well

__________________

Feel the metal and fuck the obvious theory... Just keep jamming and you'll get it. You know what your target sounds like, so just chip away at it.

By the way.... Seeing as it's a mechanic of your picking hand, try practicing it whilst fretting say 'fret 3' for example - you'll have greater tone and noise control over the strings than if you were using an open string (which you'd mute with your palm). This will let you focus on the mechanics of the actual picking, then work from there

The Morbid Angel Song "I" from Gateways has a whackload of galloping across the top two strings. I alternate between guitar parts for extra dynamics.

__________________

Play it however the fuck you want. Whatever's comfortable will work best. For instance, Master of Puppets is supposed to be all down picks, but can very easily be played alternating. Whatever the fuck you think feels right. Remember that.

Yeah, like he said.

I meant that to be said for "Deifiler"'s quote, but oh fucking shit well.

Do I get royalties if you quote me?

__________________

I play my gallops dud dud dud dud
playing them dud udu dud udu seems kind of redundantly difficult.

it'll sound better (imho) if you play it DUD..DUD..DUD. it will have a stronger galloping feel with more emphasis on the first note of each set, which is generally what happens when you begin with a downstroke versus beginning with an upstroke. that's for most people, anyway. i don't know anybody who's upstroke sounds just like their downstroke. otherwise, there'd be no purpose in playing quick all-down riffs. DUD DUD DUD also seems to make it a lot easier to get the whole gallop rhythm down. the little time it takes for you to cross back up over the string to do another downstroke for the next gallop set (the dots in the "DUD..DUD" part) automatically helps you create that rest note (as a gallop is 3 16ths followed by a 16th rest note) which is necessay for gallops. if you play DUD UDU DUD UDU, you have to just sit your hand there waiting, which would probably be pretty problematic when doing it at any decent speed. i could be wrong, as i've never done it, but it seems like it would come less naturally.

__________________

dud dud dud dud

they are more brutal that way

__________________

If any money gets generated, I can't see why not.

okay for me it is down up down or i will be playing and a riff could sound better another way so it depends

Well, at the risk of sounding harsh, there's an explanation in your post for why you're not very good.

__________________

Yeah, that's more a chug than anything.