No up stroking?

[Kinda Old]

I've written a couple of songs lately using a thump pick exclusively and only down stroking, hitting the root note, and then playing the chord in a rhythmic, choppy kind of way. I'm not using my other fingers at all but I can get something going that sounds pretty full. This simplified way of playing makes it easier to sing and I feel like I have more control over stitching my singing and playing together.

I'm wondering if there are any known guitar players either, acoustic or electric who only downstroke? I realize this might sound silly.

[JonPR]

This is a common - even standard - technique in rock guitar: playing with downstrokes on all the 8ths (using a pick of course). It's what you hear in punk, and a lot of heavy rock. Provided the tempo is slow enough to play downstrokes on every 8th (even if it means much shorter strokes), then it has more rhythmic impact and is also more solid in terms of time-keeping.
And of course it does permit the occasional upstroke on 16ths between...

IOW, it's not something that specific guitarists would only do (i.e., on everything). But it's something that a lot of guitarists would mostly do, in particular songs or styles of music.

[nightchef]

As JonPR notes, the all-downstroke technique is common in genres with a more aggressive flavor, like punk, because it tends to sound insistent and monolithic. The slight change in timbre that results from the differences in pick angle and muscle action between up and down strokes produces more of a back-and-forth, give-and-take feeling that’s better suited to more relaxed or romantic styles.

A great player to study for creative use of all downstrokes vs. alternating style is Paul McCartney. For instance, in “Yesterday” he sticks to downstrokes, giving a sense of firmness and stoicism that keeps the song from feeling overly weepy. OTOH, the alternating strokes in “I Will” support the song’s bouncy, aw-shucks romanticism. And in “Two of Us” the basic feel is alternating, but he switches to downstrokes whenever he wants to underline a phrase, for instance the Am hits that follow the final words of each verse line (e.g. “on my wall”). You can see it here:

https://vimeo.com/281265758

Note that when he goes to downstrokes it not only adds emphasis but also a vague sense of acceleration — this is because, since in an alternating feel downstrokes are strong beats and upstrokes offbeats, putting a downstroke on every eighth note is almost like doubling the time. Suddenly the offbeats are sixteenths rather than eighths (even if they’re not articulated). And it’s easy to see this effect by watching his picking hand.

[posternutbag]

James Hatfield, the rhythm guitarist and lead singer of Metallica, is known for only playing downstrokes.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by posternutbag

James Hatfield, the rhythm guitarist and lead singer of Metallica, is known for only playing downstrokes.

You beat me to it. James is one of the best at downstroking - fast, complicated riffs while keeping in time. I wish I could play like that but I do need to throw in some upstrokes to keep up with him and that does change the tone a little. It took lots of practice to minimize the difference in tone.

[Robin, Wales]

And you have the standard bluegrass boom/chick rhythm guitar. All down strokes with a flat pick. I use that a lot for singing over. Adding upstrokes can make the rhythm too messy so it often sounds better clean. It is actually harder to do than regular strumming with upstrokes.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by JonPR

This is a common - even standard - technique in rock guitar: playing with downstrokes on all the 8ths (using a pick of course). It's what you hear in punk, and a lot of heavy rock. Provided the tempo is slow enough to play downstrokes on every 8th (even if it means much shorter strokes), then it has more rhythmic impact and is also more solid in terms of time-keeping.
And of course it does permit the occasional upstroke on 16ths between...

IOW, it's not something that specific guitarists would only do (i.e., on everything). But it's something that a lot of guitarists would mostly do, in particular songs or styles of music.

I dont know what era of punk you are listening to, but at least by the early 90's I dont think playing only downstrokes was terribly common. Infact there are a number of prominent punk bassists that are known for playing mostly upstrokes. Maybe this was more of an 80's thing?

Either way, I've heard of enough guys who play this way that if you think it sounds good then I wouldnt worry too much about it. Been awhile since I played with a thumb pick but I dont think I used much for upstrokes, though I wont claim I sounded terribly good.

[posternutbag]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

I dont know what era of punk you are listening to, but at least by the early 90's I dont think playing only downstrokes was terribly common. Infact there are a number of prominent punk bassists that are known for playing mostly upstrokes. Maybe this was more of an 80's thing?

Either way, I've heard of enough guys who play this way that if you think it sounds good then I wouldnt worry too much about it. Been awhile since I played with a thumb pick but I dont think I used much for upstrokes, though I wont claim I sounded terribly good.

I am going to argue that Jon has it almost backwards. Hetfield’s downstrokes are something thrash metal borrowed from late 70s and early 80s punk, just with more speed and more technical mastery.

By the time you get to the 1990s, grunge and groove metal guitarists had rediscovered upstrokes yet were playing slower than the iconic thrash bands. Watch literally any video of Pantera after 1990. Dimebag plays with both. Now Rex, he was playing all downstrokes on a lot of songs, but bass guitar is a different animal. And “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, the most overplayed song of the decade, has more going on in the iconic power chord riff than a lot of people give Cobain credit for. There are upstrokes, muted percussive strokes; it has a groove.

And I think groove is what we are talking about here. Punk and thrash guitar often has this, on top or even ahead of the beat groove, and all downstrokes work well there. Groove metal and grunge were usually slower than first wave punk and thrash, but used more upstrokes. I don’t think it has much to do with speed, it’s about the groove.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by posternutbag

I am going to argue that Jon has it almost backwards. Hetfield’s downstrokes are something thrash metal borrowed from late 70s and early 80s punk, just with more speed and more technical mastery.

By the time you get to the 1990s, grunge and groove metal guitarists had rediscovered upstrokes yet were playing slower than the iconic thrash bands. Watch literally any video of Pantera after 1990. Dimebag plays with both. Now Rex, he was playing all downstrokes on a lot of songs, but bass guitar is a different animal. And “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, the most overplayed song of the decade, has more going on in the iconic power chord riff than a lot of people give Cobain credit for. There are upstrokes, muted percussive strokes; it has a groove.

And I think groove is what we are talking about here. Punk and thrash guitar often has this, on top or even ahead of the beat groove, and all downstrokes work well there. Groove metal and grunge were usually slower than first wave punk and thrash, but used more upstrokes. I don’t think it has much to do with speed, it’s about the groove.

Now that I think about it, when it came to palm muting there were guys who could play downstrokes incredibly fast, and hold it for long enough to make my forearm start burning just watching them... Luke Pabich from Good Riddance comes to mind. Once that double-time 100 bpm skate-punk beat kicked in though, I dont care who you are, using only downstrokes just wasnt humanly possible.

Ok, done with the derail, I swear.

[parasko]

The Ramones! Definitely all downstrokes!! 😁