Patrones de púa

Music Lesson: Understanding Pick Alternation and Syncopation

Okay, I was just talking to you about the alternation of your pick. When you're playing an even flow of notes of even rhythmic value, like fast 8th or 16th notes, you alternate:

• Down, up, down, up, down, up

Always starting on the downstroke.

Syncopation in Music

However, when the music is syncopated, you don't adhere to that strict pattern. Without getting too much into music theory, what remains the same is that you're using a downstroke on the strong part of the beat.

So, for example, with eighth notes:

1. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4

I'll always be hitting a downstroke on the strong part of the beat. Even when something's syncopated, if we're in the strong part of the beat, we're going to be hitting down.

I won't get more into that. I think you'll be able to sort of get the feel for this by just doing it and hearing it.

Syncopated Patterns

There are a couple of syncopated patterns I want to show you, and then we'll apply them to a basic fiddle tune or traditional instrumental.

Pattern 1: Open A String

Here's one pattern, and again, we're departing from the strict down-up alternation. I'll just show you this on the open A string:

• Down, down, up
• Down, down, up
• Down, down, up
• Down, up, down
• Down, down, up
• Down, down, up
• Down, down, down
• Down, down

I can't say it as fast as I can play it, so I'll just play it without saying it.

Pattern Practice

Now, do it slower:

• Down, down, up, down, down, up

For those of you who've heard traditional fiddle music, old-timey fiddle, or bluegrass fiddle, that may sound familiar. A real common pattern from fiddle music is called a shuffle. If I had a fiddle here, I could show you, and it would probably sound more familiar to you.

Key Takeaway

The point is, we're not doing strict alternation of the pick. We're hitting two downstrokes in a row:

• Down, down, up, down, down, up, down, down, up

Now, you can reverse that pattern, and you have this sound. I'll call out the directions:

• Down, up, down, down, up, down, down, up, down, down, up, down

Sped up, it sounds like this...