Glad to hear that Kirk is taking care of the notes in between. He's come a long way.

James is almost 60 years old, makes me sad knowing they won't be around forever.

He's been doing this for YEARS. At least since the late 90s. I think it mostly simplifies his playing whilst singing.

Getting rid off the "notes in between" should be called a Hammet hack, actually ^^

James has been "cheating" a lot in 2022 footage. He's still faster and mightier than everyone else, but it humanizes him in a way to see that he's finally slowing down a bit. Just a tiny bit.

According to Mr.Beato, they actually recorded MoP detuned, and slower. It was then sped up to concert pitch and the vocals layered on top. This gives the song a more "precise feel" and also, meant James could downstroke all the parts and not missing out notes.

He skips a lot of notes in Creeping Death too. He actually plays it live the way my ears heard it on the album when I was a guitar noob before I looked at the tabs. So he’s basically skipping the notes that only the guitar nerds can hear anyway.

I feel like this is also similar what Johnny Ramone did when trying to get breaks in when doing all of his downstroke rhythms. I think James is doing this to help him focus more on singing in his later years which is very understandable.

I don't always play the last two notes of the main riff to make it easier for me. Finding out that James does it like that makes me feel better lol

Thank you for your deep analysis on Hetpicking, this and your previous videos on downpicking have really helped me improve!!

There seems to be another hack, pointed out by Ben Eller and visible on this Metallica show: that James plays the downstrokes not so much "down" as "out", moving his hand, like, away from guitar, to save time and effort not having to return the pick above the string to initial position

He's played the verse this way for a while - all the way back to the original S&M shows at least (and presumably before). My first time hearing the song was from that album so the "live way" has always sounded and felt better to me.

I always figured he did these sorts of things in his songs to help him focus on his singing rather than just making it easier to play.

James also uses the "three finger picking" technique, he said it helps him a lot in downstroking

I think he does these things for maintenance, not just because he is singing at the same time but also because he is the frontman and main communicator to crowd, so he holds a show, parallel with singing vocals and his classic downpinking. Sounds as you said normal . Saw phantom lord November 2022 was amazing my opinion

James is a rhythmic GOD!! Those micro-pauses, augmenting notes & note length....so good. You can definitely tell the difference between live and album when you hear it, but it's understandable that he had to change the rhythm up a bit 😅

My MOP hack is in the (edit: pre verse) riff - Whenever it is the end of a bar with the two 8th note B notes (A string 2nd fret), upstroking that last B note helps heaps. As an added bonus, the notes on this string are not played muted anyway during this riff, therefore a sneaky upstroke here and there makes little to no compromise on how the riff should sound.

I am sooooo happy you put this video out. I noticed precisely the same thing recently in some video they posted and thought "Damn!!! Is it just me or is James playing it it differently?" Glad to see it wasn't me. I'll let you know how it goes. Been playing full version building up speed and am so far at 85-90/100

I've been playing this song for almost 3 years now, and I still have to warm up to get every note in time! One hell of a song, and super challenging.

For him to play not only MOP, but probably half of their catalog after 30+ years, he's definitely earned a break here and there! It still amazes me how anybody from the metal community who tour so much can still do their older stuff justice after a 25+ year career! Being almost 50 myself and literally growing up with Metallica since '87, it will definitely feel weird knowing they're not touring and making music anymore when they call it quits😲

He's done this quite a bit for a few years now, starting alternate picking some parts as well. Age catching up!

Been doing this for a year after watching James live (Especially on Creeping Death) and its a lot of fun to do.

Great video as always! I’ve been playing this song for 35 years and have never been able to play the intro full speed all down picking perfectly. Someday I hope, but time is not on my side.

This is a fantastic video! I used to play in a Ramones tribute band, and found similar little "hacks" to help me get through songs. I'd typically skip the second downpick on each chord change. It not only kept my arm from falling off, but it helped accentuate the chord changes a bit more.

Great job breaking this down. I believe Het has been incorporating up strokes and employing some of these hacks for quite a while. As a guitarist and fan since the beginning, it does hit my ear wrong at times, but I accept that most of the audience doesn't care, and I'd rather have him playing the songs in this manner than not at all. This stuff is really un-chartered waters, as there's no one on the planet whose played hi tempo trash rhythm guitar in concert as much as him, and as I'm 53, I know you have to make some of these moves for the sake of self-preservation, and he hung in there for quite a while. LOL, you could also do a 3 hour video on "drum parts and fills Lars no longer plays" as he started making his live playing easier to manage a long time ago, but then again, some say he was always the "smart" one in the band.

Thank you so much for these kinds of videos, they are very interesting and informative. This is actually really cool to see that James is just human like the rest of us.

I first noticed this "hack" if you will while watching them play MOP on the first S&M concert, and I was really struggling to get all the way through that song playing it like on the album, so once I figured that out it definitely made it a little easier. It's amazing how just those small little breaks make such a big difference lol

You could do the same thing with songs like Holy Wars Instead of doing two bars of 16th notes straight, you could do one bar of full, and subtract an upstroke from the second bar as a means to help you not make your hand fall off. After enough practice, you should get the full thing.

My band is covering this soon! Thanks for the super awesomely timed video haha

He is also singing through most of those parts, so it makes sense to coordinate all his muscle movements differently live

I always had to figure out this type of hacks when trying to play many Iced Earth riffs up to speed and full songs.... Never made me feel any lesser but more appreciative of Schaffer's bionic wrist, so I think the same principle can be applied here hahaha

I have been playing this song for almost 25 years and when i was learning (self-taught) I didn't realize how important it was do all the down strokes. I played this with down-up-down-up forever and I'm trying to relearn it now and it is EXHAUSTING

This is why you need to do a full lesson on this song. I already saw 2 things that are differient than how I learned it from other videos (and sound better and more album correct). It's maddening, every time I think I finally have it I see something differient somewhere. PS- ...And thanks for this! Awesome getting us (me) these tips to Master the MOP.

I get so hung up on doing it right that I forget that it just has to feel right. Thank you for the reminder!

Love how detailed this is, makes sense to play it this way

Hey thanks so much for sharing all these tips for MOP. My 11 yr old son is just beginning to learn the first few riffs with his guitar teacher and we all have taken on board your observations and tips. Cheers! 🤘🤘❤

Man your guitar tone is so sweet, the mutes sound so sharp and perfect

This is brilliant. I came to this after trying to play along with Behind the Crooked Cross. Relentless downstrokes.

Got a talent show on this song in 2 days,downstroking endurance is my only flaw with this song. This is definitely gonna help me out

Mike, your attention to the smallest details like these are reasons your channel is my favorite guitar channel on KZfaq. Thanks man!!

Thank you for the video, I can only go through the full intro and verse before my forearm gives out lol

I've seen some recent TikToks where James has modified the spider riff a bit too - he's pulling off from the 4 to the open A string, which saves him an 8th note to downpick and is not noticeable unless you are really listening or watching his hands.

I honestly think he does it as a musical change not a break from down picking. He’s been doing it for years.

I can get through the whole thing exactly how it sounds on the album, no issues. once you've been downpicking so long you can eventually micro-downpick and that's how I manage so my wrist doesn't even hurt at all for the most part. I've actually noticed a lot of what you brought out in even earlier live performances so I've already been trying to implement mostly the upstroked power chords cause i just thought it looked cool.

Good tips for sure! Definitely helps to have little breaks especially if you're playing live or getting tired during the song!

He also does it for the one machine gun double time riff (first hit is a quarter note instead of a triplet). You could do a video on another Hetfield trick that he used on the unforgiven, to live is to die and a few other songs where he hides the pick inside his hand to go from picking to fingerstyle. Steve vai and John Mayer also do it quite a bit

I just watched this video. Yesterday was the first day I'd ever been able to play through Master of Puppets full speed all the way through without stopping and with minimal mistakes. After all the practice to get this up to full speed I don't know if I'll use the full hack but upstroking some of the power cords is something I'll definitely try.

Cool video! I feel like these changes are things that have naturally happened in a live setting over the years, tightening up and emphasizing parts with Lars

I’ve known about the skipped down strokes for the extra chonk sound for a long time. My ear picked up on a Iive version of Am I Evil when they’ll released Garage Inc. You can here more open notes in the galloped middle section. I always took as his way of freshening the song after playing it for so many years.

The "economy of movements" he did in the past, now this "hack" is the "live version" of the songs...a more "loose" and "groovy" approach to the riffs almost pairing the vocals. Very well explained here. Congrats!

They have been known to simplify some riffs during live shows. I had not noticed the little picking tricks though. Great video.

I've always used the trick of sneaking an upstroke here and there or doing some alternate picking where it doesn't matter too much. It really helps on giving your picking hand a bit of relief.

Awesome! I love the details!

Learning that the album version was sped up in the studio was a breakthrough moment for me. I stopped trying to play perfectly and started playing "good enough."

such a good video! you’re so right, on-stage players end up with all these little shortcuts

Great video! As a metal singer / guitarist, this also makes sense in a live situation to be able to pull off a song via the studio.

What a valuable insight, thankyou for sharing

another thing i've noticed about how he plays master of puppets, and you can see it in this clip, is that he plays the verse riff with single notes instead of sliding power chords. It's way easier to play.

Interesting! I had always thought these little riff changes were to keep the songs fresh for the band after playing 'em every night for 40 years. Now that I think about it, this definitely makes sense for energy-saving. I can barely make it through these 8 minute songs, let alone for 3 hours lol Really cool video

Wow, I basically implemented a couple of these many years ago when "learning" the song... the tabs I had were barely guidelines so I improvised where I had to in order to get through it. I've never realized the upstroke on the power chords though, genius.

I started using his technique of two fingers and the thumb on the pick (like a Lego man claw) to down pick Master of Puppets and it works. Then I just upped the tempo to get myself used to the actual tempo of the song later.

0:02 James singing like Scooby-Doo! 😆

Loved the ‘subtle shade’ thrown over Lars - lol!

I've always had a tendency to play power chords with upstrokes when my arm starts to hurt so its cool to see James doing it too lol

I've been playing guitar for roughly 3.3 years, and I never did anything fancy but played along to the studio recording and made lots of mistakes but overtime of just doing it over and over I got there and i'm really good at playing the entire song all down picking :)

Geat point Mike...and it´s due,, to keep up rocking...

I've been playing to this album since high school. It just takes a lot of endurance training. But it totally can be done, and becomes second nature to fit all the downstrokes in.

He also did this in the recent live versions of Atlas Rise! With some notes left behind, others with alternate picking.

i needed this! im playing my first live show tomorrow, and our final song is a 210bpm downstroke fest

I kind of settled to a similar style after playing along with the track for years. Playing guitar is just a hobby for me and I do understand that in a studio environment you need to do a lot more. When it comes to Metallica, I love both the live and the studio versions of their songs and I think they have incredible depth still after all those years.

Thanks for the very detailed upload

I noticed little change ups like that in some songs, but I always figured that just came from playing the songs a little looser live, or that it adds a little hang time in certain spots, which is a fun little thing to do in a song

I don't play so much metallica anymore, but the downstroke rhythm is an exercise you need to do everyday in order to keep your chops up to speed! I also notice that wearing the guitar strap low is helpful for rhythm....but wearing it higher up is much better for soloing!

And just think. He's played master of puppets almost 1500 times. Freaking INSANE

He's older so he's saving energy. It's amazing he's still playing this good (while singing) at almost 60. Also, I don't know if Lars plays it too fast or not but drummers shouldn't torture guitarists by playing faster live... Personally, I was never drawn to play the song with downstrokes only (even when people would tell me I'm playing it ''wrong''). My hands just weren't built for these rhythms. Doesn't mean I can't absolutely crush 16th notes riffs (upstroke downstroke etc...) at high speeds.

These Hetfield hacks really help. I can finally get through the whole song

Well analyzed! Those brief 'breaks' definitely make all the difference to the pain/endurance factor. I'm a hack home-player in his 50's but even I was able to get Creeping Death up to speed without cheating during covid work-from-home days when I'd take 10-15min guitar breaks once or twice a day. The problem is you lose it soooo fast if you don't do it most every day, especially when you are old. It was cool to see that I COULD do it though.

What are you playing through for an amp/pedals, etc? Sounds awesome!!

I noticed this during several live performances but thought I was going crazy

Very interesting, thanks !

I noticed that Mustaine and other Megadeth guitarists do that upstroke on chords in Tornado of Souls as well. The chugs are picked with downstrokes but the chords accents are played with upstrokes. Well, when they play it in proper tempo and not 25% faster where they just go all the way alternate like it’s a campfire song :) Thanks a lot for your vids on Master of Puppets. They really helped me grasp that fast downstroke mechanic. The one in particular where you use the “basketball bounce” analogy, it helped me realize that the nature of the picking motion is entirely different. I would also describe it ton myself as “pecking” because at speed it feels more like a directional movement instead of a pick swing.

What amp or effects are you using to get that thick sound?

I remember watching a vid years ago of Creeping Death where the camera was behind Lars, and the guitars were clearly seperated by the stereo - and I remember noticing then that James was missing notes here and there to make life easier, but you couldn't tell because whatever he missed Kirk played. I always wondered if they did that with other songs, and this vid has just answered that question!

Sick tone you've got though! May I ask what were you using?

I have some tendon problems in my hands and to save my hands and make them last a whole set I did a lot of Hetfield Hacks to my riffs and only played them as I wrote them during the other guitarists solo sections or in intros when I was leading. It really saved me but now I'm doing physio and working my way back to full strength by playing a bunch of Metallica like how I originally learned guitar as a teenager.

This is encouraging to see even james mix it up a little bit

Regardless of James’ then and now technique, can we just be amazed that it was once done with all downstrokes? I’m guessing that many fans of this channel have seen the interview where James is asked about his downstroke preference, especially when so many others were employing alternate picking for speed. James demonstrates right then and there the differences by playing a riff both ways. All downstrokes seemingly have more “fang” to them, but like one tone over the other is not the point. This style sets James apart from them all. Legendary \m/_ o.O _\m/

Curious.... did you compare this to 80s, 90s and early 2000s live footage or ONLY the album?

Don't forget James' picking technique. If you watch, you can see that he picks down AND away from the strings. It really does make songs like Master and Creeping Death easier to play at speed.

Master of Puppets has always been a song that everyone loves but isn't easy to play perfectly, so I'm not surprised they'd need some breaks here or there. Their 2022 performance(s) are proof enough, where James sacrifices his playing for audience interaction, which is definitely a worthwhile tradeoff.

Once I learned how to bounce the pick off of the string and sit with my guitar in the classical position my forearm doesn't burn anymore. I sit classical because it creates a nicer angle to pluck the strings with your pick. I also switched to using a jazz iii for I find it gliding faster over the strings compared to larger picks. Something you may want to experiment with.

I think “the hack” is due to his age. He kind of said it himself. He had his doubts about playing live because of his speed. So more likely, they, as a band, figure out that this little breaks, could also be used to emphasize different parts and give extra power to the song. Geniuses!!!

I'm lucky in that I was a drummer before I played guitar, hence my picking hand is the same as my ride/hi-hat hand, gave me a bit of an advantage for downstroke picking. Even from day one it felt like a natural action, I didn't really know it was a "thing" until after I'd been playing a couple of years 🤣

Well, I was wrong. I thought the Hetfield Hack involved holding your guitar pic with three fingers instead of two. Thanks, Mike!

Funnily enough, I listened to the S&M version of Master so much as a kid, I internalized a lot of this into how I played the song - because even in the 90s, he was doing this!

You’re rather brilliant for elucidating this nuance and disparity in versions and technique. I’ll never be able to listen to the live version the same way again! 😂 But in all seriousness, excellent job.

Ever since I was a kid, I've used Master of Puppets and Blackened specifically to maintain right hand speed. Both songs have that relentless high-speed down picking where you don't get a break for quite a long time. For me at least, right hand speed + precision seems to be the thing that degenerates the fastest when taking any sort of break from that type of playing. If I can get through those songs at speed without a herculean effort to keep up, I feel like I'm in good shape. In a live situation though, I definitely use some of those Hetfield hacks. I might use some of the tactics you've identified here, or utilize up strokes in a transition part that isn't as pronounced, etc. On occasion, Het will come off the guitar entirely to get the crowd going with a hand gesture/movement, etc. and I'll do that every so often as well. Every little bit helps Lol.

It reminds me of running track in high school. There were sprinters (like me) and there were the long-distance guys. MOP is like trying to run a marathon by sprinting the entire distance.

It's very coincidental you released a Hetfield video :D. I had a dream yesterday, and I was missing an airplane, and when I rebooked, James Hetfield was the pilot of the airplane :D.

I remember when teenage me used to be able to play it at album speed, teenage me also was the Mario Party button mash champ between my friends