when using a pick, let's say I have a blues riff that is made up of a quarter note, an eight rest and then 4 quarter notes that then cycles through a progression.
Should my up stroke and downstroke picking pattern be the same across the 12 bar progression? I find I don't pay attention to this and maybe it is making my playing less fluid...I vary the up and down without thinking. should I always pick down on the downbeat?
In general, you should intentionally work toward the smoothest, most natural picking motions possible in order to make it as efficient as possible to get any musical passage played. Having said, a lot of which direction you should pick & on which beat is going to depend a great deal on the musical passage you are playing, the tempo & the desired effect.
Originally Posted by: johns33031Should my up stroke and downstroke picking pattern be the same across the 12 bar progression?[/quote]
It definitely helps to apply consistency to your picking patterns. But to answer this specific question you'd need more info.
What exactly are you playing for that 12 bar progression? What tempo? Is it a heavy blues with lots of low notes? Is it a lighter sounding blues with lots of upper string chords?
Just to give you an idea of the extremes:
If it's slow enough, you are mostly playing on the low strings & you want a heavy insistent beat, then you might want to just use all downstrokes.
If it's a midtempo swinging blues using 7th or 9th chords on just the G-B-E strings, then you might want just upstrokes lightly brushing the upper strings.
If it's a solidly consistent 8th note boogie diad riff on the lower strings or basic open chords, then you should probably use alternate picking of downstroke on downbeats, upstrokes on upbeats.
[quote=johns33031]I find I don't pay attention to this and maybe it is making my playing less fluid...I vary the up and down without thinking. should I always pick down on the downbeat?
It's good you're thinking about it! In general, if you are getting the music to sound the way you want, that's fine. But it's always a good idea to pay attention to your technique, analyze it & make it as consistent & efficient as possible. That doesn't mean you will always necessarily be using one type of strum in every case. It will depend on the music.
Hope that helps!
Originally Posted by: johns33031Thanks for a superb and thorough answer!
You're welcome!
