downpicking
Plucking strings downward
Downpicking is a guitar technique where every stroke moves the pick downward across the strings, rather than alternating up and down.
It produces a heavier, more consistent attack favored in punk and thrash metal: Metallica's "Master of Puppets" requires relentless downpicking.
The technique demands stamina but delivers rhythmic power that alternating strokes can't match.
Beat violently or defeat utterly
- chuggingDrinking rapidly, continuously
- riffingImprovising musical phrases
- slayerOne who kills
- anthraxSpore-forming bacterial disease
distortion · heavy · headbanging · gallop · aggressive · relentless · tight · punishing
Stroke moving downward
- plectrumString-plucking implement
- upstrokeUpward movement of pen
- tremoloRapid tonal wavering
- staccatoShort, separated note style
articulation · fretting · dynamics · attack · phrasing · anchoring · flatpicking · muting
Narrow cut or routine
- beatRhythmic pulse or strike
- pulseArterial blood throb
- syncopationStressed unexpected beats
- time-signatureRhythmic notation fraction
backbeat · tempo · metronome · consistency · lockstep · tightness · subdivision · steady
thrash
Beat violently or defeat utterly
anthrax · distortion · heavy · headbanging · gallop · aggressive · relentless · tight · punishing · endurance
downstroke
Stroke moving downward
staccato · articulation · fretting · dynamics · attack · phrasing · anchoring · flatpicking · muting · precision
groove
Narrow cut or routine
- beatRhythmic pulse or strike
- pulseArterial blood throb
- syncopationStressed unexpected beats
time-signature · backbeat · tempo · metronome · consistency · lockstep · tightness · subdivision · steady · driving