Does anyone know Dave’s picking directions on the main riff?
This one :
I’m struggling with mine which is mostly inside picking.
Watching him do it live seems like he has a outside picking version, I’m not sure though, it’s hard to tell.
I think Dave has played the part many different ways over the years, so I don’t think that how he himself does it is more important than how it’s more comfortable for you to play it. How I naturally would play it would be all downstrokes on the part he’s chugging on the f# powerchord, and then starting the chromatic/pentatonic box single note phrase (if I were to use alternate picking during the first four notes of it) I would start with a down stroke on the f# of the d string, using probably swiping to jump between the e note on the d string and the c# on the a string.
The other thing that may be easier for you too if you are having a hard time with the inside picking during the transition between the d and a strings, is to use a pull off between the f and e note on the d string (down, up, pull off, down), which results in changing strings on a down stroke to the a string.
What I honestly feel is most important for that lick though, isn’t how you play those single notes, more than making sure you are hitting those b and g power chords at the end of the phrase on those really percussive up strokes.
Hows this? Using outside picking for the lick instead of inside like before
Do you have any TAB to share so I can see what you’re thinking about? Is Dave USX?
Hello,
For this part, you can just start with an upstroke instead of a downstroke and it becomes entirely outside picking. I distinctly hear the hammer-on on the isolated track, the contrast is pretty stark (Kiko mentioned in the past that Dave has a really aggressive picking technique whereas Kiko is as economical as possible). Personally I just double-escape it: when not played at 90’s Megadeth speeds, it’s still mostly ~100BPM 16th note, which isn’t the kind of speed where I need to be too strategical with the picking choices.
