I saw a comment one day saying even James Hetfield's laugh is downpicked; I lost my sh*t to that one

I love this change of content, Carl. It's awesome to see you grow and switch it up. I remember when you first started off when I was like 14 or 15 or something like that and you were very reserved in speaking. And now it's awesome to see you do different things. I'm 24 now and proud of you for your success. You should be proud of yourself!

In short: He downpicks all 8th notes. He alternate picks all 16th notes, unless the song is very slow like "Sad But True". Basically he downpicks all 8th notes up to MOP speed (about 220 bpm) and all 16th notes up to about 110bpm. Songs that are faster than 110bpm and contain 16th notes are always played with alternate picking.

As a 12yr old Lithuanian kid with central nervous system disorder I am greatly offended

I just want to take this moment to acknowledge that Carl Brown is the greatest guitar song teacher on KZfaq. I like the exploration of this new type of content, you could just now be one of my favorite guitar content creators in general. :P

ive been playing for 10 years now and am mostly self taught, but when im stuck on a song and need help carl never fails! thank you sir

His ability to play very consistently and accurately with down strokes is practically unmatched! Then when you combine that technique with his actual written and recorded material, there is hardly an equal and that's what matters most of all.

Thank you for this clarifying video. I love your new content it’s great! Keep it up man!!

Carl you are the best teachers ..I saved the Playlists on your channel to practice my favorite riffs from my favorite groups ..I am learning a lot from you

Carl I’m glad ur still making videos and I’ve been getting a lot of songs for you and thank you for showcasing songs that I always wanted to play.

Good video, Carl! Way to break all that down! Love it!

Awesome Carl. Keep making great content!

Love these type of videos keep doing them

For more content like this, Carl! It's amazing

Thank you very much for this video, Carl!

It's really cool how your content extended to commentary-ish videos. Love your lessons btw, your channel has a huge effect on my guitar journey.

digging this different content approach!

I've always suspected I'd really like Carl on a personal level. Love this!!!!!

You are my teacher.☺️❤️ Thank you for everything you did for us.

Carl I've learned so much from you thank you for all your hard work

You taught me how to play nothing else matters! My 1st ever Metallica song! I'm forever grateful for you Carl!

In the Metallica shows between 86-87 they play the songs faster than the studio recordings and it was very fast. The thing is that in this time it was very fast and James used to play Creeping Death with alternative picking, not the full song but some parts.

Laughed a little too hard at the kid from Lithuania comment. Cheers from Lithuania! Thanks for the lessons. You really help!

Thanks for this!

Great video because I was one of the ones under the all down pick false impression. could explain a lot of my hang ups when trying to learn their songs.

Great content. Would have been great to see you demonstrate some of the examples though. I'm sure I'll come across them as I work through the songs but still would've been nice to have a few visual examples. Love your work Carl.

Hey Carl super helpful video. I was in the camp assuming most were downpicked unless you specifically called it out in a video. Learn something new every day! Thx!

That’s hilarious, downstroke toothbrushing! You made me laugh dude. Thank you for your help for the normal folks out here! :)

I really enjoyed this video 🍻

Love this and your thought process here. Completely agree James clearly doesn’t downstroke everything but it isn’t very clear if you just started !

I like the interesting topic discussion type stuff. You’re a cool dude Carl sir

Hearing that people think he only downpicks dyers eve is actually mind blowing to me😂

Good stuff as usual. Thanks for standing up for my childhood hero James Hetfield.

thanks for speaking the truths carl !!!

Beginner: ohhh so the blackened riff is played with alternate picking? I’ve been killing my arm trying to play it with downstrokes Carl: I have bad news for you

thanks carl. appreciate you clearing up. so much emphasis on playing down picks, people miss out on just learning to play song

Hey Carl, loving your work especially on Metallica songs!

Thank youuuuuuuu 😛

Thank you for this!!!! I thought I would never learn Battery or One because I tried to down pick them and think "How jacked does my arm beed to be to do this?" But this video helped me a lot 🙏

Bro I missed the notification .. Sensai PSA lol... I like this and the short you posted .. smack that algorithm around bud ... hopefully I make it to the live chat this week work schedule changes suck .. JOIN ACADEMY BEST PLACE ON THE NET

Absolutely James Hetfield I feel is the best rhythm guitar player in the world out of any music genre. Song writing was the most creative.

The way I understand it, when it is eighth notes, it's downpicked. When it's sixteenth notes, it's alternate picked. I remember reading interviews with Hetfield back in the 80s where he said downpicking was the key to their sound and I guess some people took that to mean that he downpicked everything. Another interview from around the same time, Kirk said that Master was about their limit for downpicking speed. I've known people that insisted that Kirk even played all his solos entirely downpicked, which is ridiculous. Watching more recent live footage, James even does some upstrokes in the Master of Puppets riff. When they played the song on Howard Stern, it is really obvious.

“Threat of joy - the strokes” appreciate you 😎

Cheers Carl! Long time listener first time caller! I wanted to quickly say that I’ve played guitar for about 7 years now on and off (in my basement 😉) and that you’ve been my primary teacher, especially for Metallica songs. As someone with barely a rudimentary knowledge of tabs and reading music your teaching style is very much appreciated. You break songs down in a way others don’t. Anyway regarding the topic I think the hardest downstroke Metallica riff for me to play, for sustained periods and at speed, would have to be the Creeping Death riff that first appears around 37 seconds in. That one can be an arm cramper, at least for me. Rock on man! 🤘🏻🍻

gosh i forgot about Damage Inc, now i gotta watch carls lesson on it thx carl !

So glad to hear ur opinion on James as the greatest metal songwriter ever. Also a lesson on The Struggle Within would be awesome. The song rocks and u would do an awesome job

Thanks Carl for this informative video on Metallica. It was the song One that made me interested in their music. I recently played through the sections of this song so I could find the most challenging parts - Kirk's main solo (of course) and the double triplet in the outro. Can't see how to play this cleanly at the tempo needed other than using alt picking.

James talks about it on the yousition app. He specifically down picks unless its too fast because he thinks it sounds better, especially in the earlier songs

he alternate picks in master of puppets as well in the bridge section after kirk's solo

You helped me play most Metallica Carl. Thank you

Hey man! Great video! I would love to see you do the songs King Nothing and The God That Failed by Metallica

I think that many folks confuse "All down-strokes" (literally only picking downward) with the actual down-picking technique (using primarily down-strokes except where alternate picking is necessary). Even MoP has a post-solo bridge section run, where alternate picking is necessary to complete the gallops.

3:00 damn that was funny af.

Excellent video. Now you should go through some of the alternate picking songs and show the difference of what it would sound like if you only down picked? Meaning show the reason why these songs are played the way they are.

🤣🤣🤣🤣Dwn strokes too brushing his teeth EPIC 🤘🏻

Hey Carl. Love your videos. I have another video idea along the same lines. Do you think you can make one showing how James holds his pick and why you may or may not think that it’s more effective for Metallica-like riffs?

"When James brushes his teeth, he only uses downstrokes!". That was so funny!

Man Metallica could not be without James Hetfield up picked. Have they heard any of there songs at all, at all. All down strokes in Enter Sandman or One or Damage Inc., I don't think so! Thanks Doctor Carl. 🎵🔥🎵

I saw james live multiple times and I can tell you he pulls out a drill with a bunch of picks on it and downstrokes every single note.

Ah. This would've been useful info earlier. Thanks, my wrist is grateful

I been told so many names for play alternate picking on Metallica songs. 🤣🤣🤣 Glad you make this video

i recommend you teach killing floor by hendrix from the monterey album. Its one of his hardest song! Great video btw

Thankfully I've always put my faith in you, Carl, so I learned early on that Metallica is full of different picking styles for different reasons. I play so much Metallica that I practically just emulate Hetfield's style naturally at this point, but interestingly it was when I checked out your lesson on Lux Aeterna that I realized my downpicking of that intro just sounded off lmao

@6:20 this section of master of puppets. He usually goes to alternate at 16th notes with high BPM

Carl actually had to make a video about that. LOL Gonna watch it later just for the fun.

Alternate picking works for me

You are a god, Without you i wouldn't been able to play the songs i live for. You are 100% the reason i can play guitar like i do. without you i would be nothing. Btw James is also a god for me🤘🤘

Man, it feels so good when the best guitar teacher that you know, approves the power of your idol and stands for it. \m/ p.s: Now that we're talking about James, let me ask you some tutorials of: Mama said, pls - The Outlaw thorn (S&M version pls) - I disappear, pls - Turn the page, pls - Fixxxers, pls - Bleeding me, pls or something from St.Anger album pls 😉🤘

Loved Hetfield since I first heard him in '84

Holy f’ing crap! Thank you!

I first heard about the "Downstroke James" way back in the mid 80's from a friend who was comparing Metallica's superiority to other bands. I wondered why that was a big deal. Then I tried playing Master of Puppets! Good vid, Carl - once again!

I can't imagine how pissed I would be if some teenager told me I was playing Damaged Inc. wrong...but thanks Carl for taking it for us gracefully!

James and Kirk are guitar gods

Carl has been teaching me and my 16 year old brother metallica songs and songs period for a few years and there has never been a time where James and Kirk's playing didn't match with what Carl was teaching he doesn't get it wrong he is a professional. Oakley Reid

Great video Carl, thanks. Why is it that everybody talks about Hetfields amazing playing but nobody talks about Kirk Hammett. He is basically playing the same things as Hetfield most of the time, downpicking as fast also

Do whatever you feel, I can't only play downpicking

Letting people know that James doesn't downpick 100% is going to save those wanting to learn a Metallica song but don't have the strength and/or stamina to only downpick. Let your pick style fly free and get up for the downstroke

Carl I'm like entirely self taught and I'm about to win my schools battle of the bands competition by playing Crazy Train thanks to your recent video. I can't thank you enough. That being said... do you think you could do more Gojira cause they make a lot of weird sounds I'd love to learn how to make.

I didn't even know alternate picking was a thing until I was like 4 years into playing guitar

Yea trapped under ice and one are absolutely hilarious to think its all downpicked

Ok Carl I'm still pretty salty I got taken for the guitar giveaway scam that I thought pointing out would have averted any chance of that but aside from all that the downstrokes on his brushing of his teeth and the central nervous system comment was super funny. Lol hilarious

Sure would like to hear you do Metallica (Mercyful fate) cover!!

Saw a clip of Hetfield playing MOP live (probably from their '93 tour). During the intro he does 3 large upstrokes for the "DUN DUN DUNNN" part of the MOP intro. I saw people in the comments going "is that an upstroke" "since when does he upstroke". Like yeah he upstrokes sometimes on the intro, doesn't change the sound much. Also I don't know how someone can listen to something like The Four Horsemen and hear the main riff used during verses when James is singing and go like "yeah that sounds like downstrokes". I don't have a very good ear but I can definitely hear when something is alternate/tremolo picked like that.

Been awhile since we got some SRV

I always suspected this downpicking was a nonsense.

Hmm, not sure Lux could be down picked it’s 130 16ths 260 8th notes.

Can you do guitar lessons on all the songs from Bon Jovi’s debut album and his 7800 Fahrenheit album pls

Any specific exercises you recommend to improve your downpicking ability? I’m trying Blackened but am bluntly just not good enough at it yet 😂

Dude u just layed it down.😂😂😂Face!

People are confusing "he downstrokes everything" with "he's very good at playing with downstrokes".

I love how James Herfield shows how you don’t have to play fast to be good like Kirk Hammet. I’ve been trying a solo riff for 6 months and have barely improved so I just don’t like I’m able to solo but at least I can play rhythm parts.

lmao you rock man

Fun fact: James DOES indeed only brush his teeth using downstrokes.

😂😂James hetfield is a great player definitely alternates his picking !! Cheers Carl take care Brian Ireland 🇮🇪

Carl pls do blitzkrieg lesson

Lmao I should try brushing my teeth with downstrokes

During the solo in seek and destroy he's playing E a littler bit faster but not downpicking.

1:25 😂😂😂

For those who think he only down picks, listen to the epic heavy blast beat drum part of one and try to play that using only down strokes... Wouldnt make sense

In the early 2000s, I gave up trying to learn some Metallica songs due to the idea I needed to use only downstrokes.