3 Speed Picking Techniques For A Badass Heavy Metal Rhythm Guitar Style
Playing with amazing speed picking technique isn’t just reserved for lead guitar. Adding speed to your rhythm guitar playing takes it from sounding cool, to sounding intense and badass. There are many ways to easily combine speed picking with rhythm guitar. Learn a few right now and start playing killer riffs!
Use these 3 rhythm guitar speed picking concepts to play badass heavy metal riffs:
Develop A Relentless Rhythmic Chugging Attack Using All Downstrokes
One of the most popular rhythm guitarists in metal is James Hetfield of Metallica. Famous for creating tons of crushing riffs, he is also known for his relentless down picking attack.
In songs like “Master of Puppets”, Hetfield uses continuous down strokes in his picking attack to get a unique and heavy sound. Practicing speed picking in this manner not only gives your heavy metal guitar riffs the same sound, but helps improve your overall picking technique as well.
This short rhythm guitar riff showcases the specific sound you get while using downstrokes only:
Get used to using downstrokes by only playing the first three notes for several repetitions. Then move on to add more notes.
This gives your metal guitar riffs an intense sound that sets them apart from everyone else. Another benefit from this is that it strengthens your overall guitar picking technique. Practicing with this picking approach makes alternate picking and other speed picking styles feel much easier.
Learn more ways to play cool metal riffs by reading this article about about how to play tight rhythm guitar riffs like a pro.
Play Awesome, Fast And Melodic Riffs Using Pedal Points Licks With Thirds
Speed picking power chords sounds awesome, but adding more melodic notes makes your rhythm guitar playing sound super-creative and interesting. This is easy to do and combining just a few notes together with rapid-fire low E string speed picking sounds amazing.
This guitar riff uses the downpicking approach from point one combined with power chords and major thirds to give your playing a cool sound:
Note: Experiment by using alternate picking on the open E string here to give this riff a different feel without changing a single note.
This video demonstrates how easy it is to play cool rhythm guitar riffs by adding thirds to conventional power chord ideas:
Using only power chords while playing rhythm guitar has a more ambiguous sound than using major or minor thirds. Using thirds adds a lot of expression to your playing and gives your guitar riffs a strong sense of direction and musical expression.
Here is an example of the E major scale harmonized with thirds:
Get A Killer Tremolo Technique For Lightning Fast Riffs Using 7 Note Groupings
Ever tried tremolo picking a string, but it just sounded inconsistent and messy? This sucks… but there are many ways to quickly warm up your picking hand and pick more consistently.
One great way to do this is to use accented picking together with 7 note groupings.
You train yourself to follow what you’re picking more closely at fast speeds by focusing on playing 7 note groups. Plus, you train yourself to process notes even faster by accenting specific notes within these groups.
Here’s an easy break down of this concept that quickly improves your tremolo speed picking for consistent technique and better, more intense riffs:
Choose any note and pick that note in groups of 7 beginning with a downstroke. While picking, accent the first note of every group of 7 using more power in your pick attack.
While doing this, notice that you alternate downstrokes and upstrokes every time you begin a new group of 7. By accenting the first note of each grouping, you train your mind to process your picking hand motions more closely.
Result: You quickly warm up your tremolo picking technique and improve it to make it faster over time.
If you struggle to count the number of notes while picking, use 7 syllable words of phrases to help you keep track. For example: “Pur-ple-Hip-po-pot-a-mus”.
Using just the few ideas in this article helps you play intense rhythm guitar riffs with speed. However, there are tons of other ideas to learn in order to get the most out of your speed picking skills.
Learn many more ways to play killer rhythm guitar riffs right now using these rhythm guitar articles and resources.