Master of Puppets

Markedman

Well-known member
Down picking question.

What % is wrist v. elbow? I'm thinking 75% wrist, 25% elbow is what I did as a kid, but as I get older, now 55, the elbow is doing more like 40% on this song. I learned this song the day it came out because I was studying at G.I.T. and we always learned the new songs first back then. I still love to play it. :rock: I wish there were more popular songs coming out like this where the song is so defined you know if you're playing the riff right. Those were the days, I'm happy I got to live in that world!
 
Its incredibly impressive how they could come up with this stuff back in 1986. I can’t imagine how it must have been to hear that riff from Battery for the first time back then or from the title track afterwards.

My favorite song? a tie between Orion, Battery and Disposable Heroes.

Also The Thing that Should Not Be is very underrated, but I think the live performances of this song are much better than the album version
 
Don't know about everyone else, but I'll never forget the first time I heard MoP a few weeks after it came out. Just stood there with my mouth hanging open. About all I can remember thinking is... "WOW"... For the entire album. After it was over, I felt like I could take on the world. Of course, I immediately put it on again... it's still in regular rotation in my playlists.

Favorite is Orion, but not very far behind at all are MoP and Welcome Home. The Thing That Should Not Be was the first song I learned off the album.

Only two other albums ever made me feel like that: Piece of Mind and Powerslave.

You're right, those were the days, and I'm thankful every day that I got to experience that, and lived to tell about it.
 
Interesting question. I've never really thought about which I use more when trying to play it. I'd say mostly it comes from wrist when they play it.

I'm no longer a Metallica fan. I think MOP was their last good album. As a matter of fact, it is my favorite album of all time. Not one bad track on it in my opinion.

Ed
 
The MOP concert was bad ass! Metal Church was the opener, this was in Saskatoon, Sask. Caught Kirk Hammett's lime green Dunlop pick. I'll never forget that one as they weren't a huge band yet. Might have been 3-5000 people there. I was right up at the gate in front of the stage. Only shitty part was I didn't get to see Cliff, they were in Europe right before coming to Canada.
 
When I play the MOP, I like to do 2 down strokes and 1 upstroke for the main riff.

RTL is my favorite album. I remember getting it in middle school. Creeping Death is my favorite song on the album.
 
psychodave":2olxln3k said:
When I play the MOP, I like to do 2 down strokes and 1 upstroke for the main riff.

RTL is my favorite album. I remember getting it in middle school. Creeping Death is my favorite song on the album.

Exactly, how I play it as well.. By far the easiest way to play the main riff.

But, I feel like I'm too "old" for that kind of music! lol.
I like to listen to Thrash, I just don't have the stamina anymore (or I don't care enough to develop it again)

Funny enough, I did play in a Megadeth cover band, a few years ago.

Going through Holy Wars, followed by Rust in Peace required a break, after that.. lol.
Today, I would struggle to even play one.
 
Continuous strokes in a single direction is definitely most efficient with a flicking wrist motion. I'm not sure of how to explain it exactly, but if the elbow becomes involved it's due to a lack of strength/dexterity in the wrist that forces less useful places to compensate. ie. if you do that kind of motion from the elbow, you move a lot of extra mass (forearm is extra weight) with a really horrible efficiency - the forearm spaces the pick quite far away from the elbow and introduces the wrist joint between the elbow and pick which then requires more stabilization, leading to more exertion and fatigue. The muscles that move the arm at the elbow are also less suited to the picking motion for various reasons...

It's also good to have the guitar strapped lower or in classical position, it makes it easier to isolate the wrist movement from the elbow
 
Back
Top