Interesting how these random riffs sound and feel so different depending on who plays them. Thanks for watching. Check out all my videos at: www.the-art-of-guitar.com Patreon: / theartofguitar
That makes sense since he was originally a lead guitarist in other bands who had to play rhythm guitar out of necessity when he founded Megadeth since he wrote the songs.
Kind of like Pete Townshend of the Who, because he played rhythm guitar in the Who which gave them their very distinct sound and that is what made Pete such a great guitar player.
I’ve been playing for 28 years and I’ve learned most of Metallica’s songs. However, I can’t consistently down pick the main riff in Master Of Puppets, Creeping Death or Blackened. I used to be able to do it a lot better (but not perfectly) years ago, but I hadn’t played those songs in decades. Now, my right forearm freezes up relatively early into the main riff in puppets. I have to build back some of that right hand/arm endurance...which should take at least a month of practicing every day. I caught myself alternate picking during Creeping Death and Master Of Puppets and it doesn’t sound tight at all.
@@continentalaquatics2725 I promise you if you practice alternate speed picking (open strings and single notes only) no one will know if you're using down strokes or up strokes. Down pick every chord it's very easy to tell using chords.
PrometheusTV True! I remember him doing that when Metallica stepped in for them at a particular concert when Billie Joe went to rehab in 2013. James only played the main riff along with Lars and after a few bars, James says “that’s all we had time to learn”. It was pretty cool of Metallica to fill in for Green Day during their time of need!
James is a very percussive rhythm player as to where Dave is one of the most unorthodox lead players in metal. Grew up playin n listenin to both bands and one thing is for sure. Megadeth songs are much more complicated to learn and play than Metalica songs. How Dave sings and plays half the shit he writes at the same time is inhuman.
God, what I wouldn't give for an album of Metallica and Megadeth covering each other's songs. To hear not just these picking differences, but ALL the differences, between the two bands' styles would be amazing. Imagine James singing Holy Wars, or Dave singing, well...anything by Metallica.
@@aiden_macleod i like both kirk and dave styles, but I can call tons of epic kirks solos while dave - none to be honest. I mean I could but the point is that dave solos sound all the same with pentatonic scale, the same pattern and very often going just up the fret like in holy wars or sudden death. I wont go through whole megadeth career to prove my point but most of dave solos are very similar and if you play me their songs I can tell which solos he played and which played other guitarist, marty or chris or kiko. from the other side chris broderick is godlike guitarist but I dont see him doin good in megadeth, i like sudden deaths solo (its epic) but cant recognize any other his good solo. But on YT hes shredding like beast. Kiko and marty were best lead players in mega, solos hard as fck yet with soul, those bends jeez. Dystopia is beyond. I love megadeth older records but his actual voice on dystopia is rough hard and heavy while on rust in peace he sounds silly, same as in countdown to extinction etc. and i believe kirk nor james nor dave can land marty / kiko solos. Dave and kikr maybe could if they spent weeks just learning one solo but I doubt james could nail any of these solos.
And that delicious riffs eventually transforming itself into Hook In Mouth. I gotta say, what a ride. Listening that song feels like lightning is hooked in your mouth
Alternative picking and strictly down strumming both have their place and you did a really great job showcasing and explaining how the different styles create tension and/or power in their own distinctive ways. Excellent video.
I am by NO MEANS an expert but I agree with everything apart from Painkiller. I really like the “squeak” sound that came with the down strokes (forgive my terminology I just don’t know how else to describe it). Wish I had RU-vid and The-Art-of-Guitar years ago. This dude is a really good tutor!
What a fun video! I gotta agree with all of your assessments. the down strumming just has a tightness and the alternate picking just has a flow! Stay sane brother and keep up the fun videos during this time!
Love seeing these two picking styles compared. As a beginner guitarist (been learning for about a year now), I have almost exclusively been told by other more experienced guitarists to invest in my alternate picking, as it enables one to play fast at higher levels(as opposed to economy picking for example). It sure is cool to see what kind of different sounds you can get out of just down picking, though! Love these guitarists, their bands, and this channel!
I honestly liked them all better with Dave's style also you need to do more comparison vids Mike, these are where you really shine. love you to death man 🤘
Cygnus X-1 so Your Telling me that master of puppets sounds better with ”daves style”.... i understand that you might be a superfan but you can’t deny James style and power that he uses in his music!
@@sebastianlootus6950 If I have to be completely honest, I expected MoP to shine in James' style cause you know, it's the default down picking song. However there I simply noticed the smallest difference out of all the songs presented, at least in the part that was played. I recon the intro would sound better on down picking, even though I haven't heard it alt picked. However I have never learned the riff cause of the purist attitude of "Metallica songs have to be downpicked no matter what". I have tried to learn to downpick but it is just way too much effort if you want to simply play a few songs. And I think this is the worst thing because I have met other people who also haven't learned metallica songs, or many thrash metal songs in general, b/c they can't downpick well. This is like the never ending argument about Mark Knopfler material and using a pick vs fingers, usingthis or that guitar etc. You can look it up, there's an absolutely wonderful cover of Sultans of Swing USING A PICK. I bet if you had your eyes clsoed or didn't know the technique used beforehand, you either wouldn't notice the difference in sound or wouldn't think it sounds any worse. I have learned one of his songs with fingerstyle just ebcause I enjoyed it, not b/c it MST be played with fingers. Bottom line is this: it's much better to just encourage everyone to simply PLAY, no matter how "pure" their approach is. An alt picked version of MoP is better than no MoP at all, regardless of whether or not you notice the difference in sound. I also recon learning to downpick it will be easier once you got it down with alt picking, as you will be more motivated.
Love your videos. Hope to become a patron once I can afford it. (Wife has MAJOR medical bills and need a ton of care). I play guitar every chance I get and learn a great deal from you. I have a bottom of barrel Jackson but the neck feels fantastic. It's helping with my speed. Looking forward everyday to your next void. Keep rockin.
Thank you for posting this video. It is appreciated. A point of interest on "Paranoid" is that Iommi uses down-picking based upon the transcription, if memory serves.
I really enjoyed this idea ..great video, great playing..and, as said, I agree with most of your votes.. I love them both..but Dave has that little misterous thing I love!
I definitely don't typically commit to just one picking style, I alternate between the two just based on feel, if I want more aggression I'm gonna down pick and if I want more flow or more speed for tremolo I'm gonna alternate. I often find myself changing in the same riff as well, down pick the bass notes and alternate others. I have a weird habit of actually UP picking instead of down picking sometimes too, my guitar teacher tried to discourage that but I had already been playing for several years before my first lessons so it was a habit that was very hard to break
Before I only did down picking cause I was afraid of breaking the guitar strings I did alternate picking, but then I got to learn alternate good, my favorite is tremelo picking.
My votes Painkiller: James Midnight: James American: James Steal: James Paranoid: James Master: James (duh) Tornado: Dave (duh) I like the aggression and punch that downpicking gives riffs
I totally get how it might be interesting to see how songs if originally played by the other could have sounded, but they are covers and it is my opinion that they all sound perfect when played the way they were intended to be
Megadeth song is like more groovy. That’s why they always use alternate picking. Metallica is more to heavier stuff. James rhythm playing is magnificent. His downpicking and gallop picking is great
Shockheadd45 Neither of those are “more advanced versions.” Economy picking is a separate style of picking that incorporates string sweeps, and tremolo picking is the exact same thing as alternative picking.
@@collinmackin5911 Actually, you're wrong on both points. Economy picking isn't very difficult from an objective standpoint, however you might notice that nobody starts playing guitar with it, and learning economy picking is a pain in the ass. And tremolo picking is not the same as alt picking. There's little to no wrist movement, it's all in the elbow there. Although I definitely agree that it's not an advanced technique.
Great videos, buddy. I wondered if you could make a video on grace notes while soloing. I've started to use them and it's really starting to open up my technique and lead ideas. Any tips?
I learned to switch between downpicking and alternate in my riffs exactly where I think both serves a better purpose, where I want it to flow it alternates, downstrokes where I want rythmic percussive chuggs or strong aggressive bends, sometimes even only up-strokes if I want that biting change of sounding tailto a riff. The picking technique add a lot of nuance just to one chord alone, sometimes I change angle on the pick to change the attack sound, even help give some sections of the riff a pitch-harmonic, which can improve a riff by 10% which is worth it, cuz you make it more aggressive. Practice scales for half an hour everyday, practice picking for half an hour a day, that hour would be a lot more meaningful then if you just worked with scales.
I think the most interesting part of down-picking vs alternate-picking is the development of understanding most guitarists go through. Most metal guitarists start with downpicking, then get to know alternate picking, learn it, while recognizing that many things are way easier to play like that and assume it to be superior. They start to alternate pick everything until they realize, that even very good guitarists that mostly use alternate picking are swapping to downpicking some songs because of the sound they want to achieve with. Then they start downpicking again just to realise how much harder it actually can be. In the end I think that some techniques like altrnatepicking or even economy picking are kind of superior or more efficient, but have a different sound. So I guess it is all up to onrs taste in the end.
It also depends what your physically able to do. If you can't downpick comfortably then don't do it. It doesn't matter if it's not the "proper way to play the song" if you can't do it then don't.
Mustaine alternate picks because he wants the higher notes not to be muffled from the lower notes. You’ll see him do a lot of up picks on slow parts where the power cord is progressing up and down the neck for example
Mustaine said he sometimes prefer to upstroke a chord because you can hear the “second” note first and it gives you a different sound. When you only downstroke a distorted chord the root note comes in too strong and kinda blurries the other note. He uses it in specific contexts * and Dave downpicks the paranoid riff
You should've picked the pre-chorus riff from master of puppets. It's one that can be played using Dave's spider chord technique and it actually makes it way easier to play it like dave would
Good video. I do have to say I found it interesting that you chose an SG when I have never seen Hetfield or Mustaine use one. No hate against the SG; it was my first guitar and I think they’re great.
Can I ask for the details of your equipment - guitars (yes this foot switch overdrive pedal also :D). Any link to the previous video about equpiment and gear used? Maybe somewhere outside youtube? Thanks!
Two of the most influential guitarists in metal. I give the edge to Mustaine - I just hear more fire in his playing. James definitely held the fort down more, in life as well, but I kind of like the controlled chaos of Mustaine.
Dave’s playing encapsulates the emotion and power of metal without having to try to impose “heavy” in his tone and playing for the sake of being “heavy”. “Wake Up Dead” and “The Conjuring” are both really great examples of that. Same thing goes for “Last Rites/Loved to Death” and “Five Magics”.
There are some major benefits to not only learning riffs with straight downstrokes, but UPSTROKES as well. If you can't play 16th upstrokes at 80bpm, there's definitely a problem IMO. It'll make you a MUCH better player if your upstrokes match your downstroke abilities, I'm playing Yngwie licks and a bunch of sweep stuff I could only dream of playing ever since I started really working on upstrokes.
It depends on the fell you are going for. RnB, Motown, and funk are a heavy influence for me, so in typically play with alternate picking and a lot of accents on upstrokes. BUT, downstroke have a much more aggressive feel. It all depends on what you want to deliver, and being able to do so is massively important.
I was surprised at how noticeable the difference in sound between the two styles was. I'm trying to improve my downpicking but a) it's tough and b) I keep wondering if it's worth persisting when I couldn't hear much difference in my playing, but there is a distinction so I guess I've gotta carry on.... *sigh* my metronome haunts me
It's definitely good to be proficient at both. Certain riffs are just suited to different styles of picking. Imagine the Ramones alternate picked, it just wouldn't have the same feel. But the American Idiot riff in this was a good example of why that song sounds right when strummed with alternate picking.
