Upstroke and phrasing

Tommasino

I have a question that is more musical than strictly technical. (This applies only to the rest-stroke picking described by Michael with the associated rule about string-change).

Does the upstroke have a musical role the same way it does with a violin-bow - i.e. that of producing a slightly weaker note than the downstroke?

Upon seeing the picking patterns associated with the rest-stroke technique the answer seems to be "no" or at least "only sometimes." In this case, should one strive to create the weaker notes (such as the second and fourth eighths in a regular 4/4) by some other means than the direction of the picking? Or is it better to strive for perfect evenness?

I'd like to hear more about this.

mmaslan

This comes up in the discussion of the 1937 Minor Swing solo here:

http://www.djangobooks.com/forum/index.php

You might also want to check out the excerpt from the Mandino Reinhardt video mentioned in that thread. I think the short answer to your question is "sometimes."

MichaelHorowitz

I'd agree with Mark...."sometimes" is probably the best answer. I'd say in general it's nice to have your accented notes played with a downstroke. However, sometimes technical limitations force you to play an accented note with an upstroke. It's still possible to create an accent with an upstroke...just follow through the stroke and you'll get a strong accent.

It's also interesting that the rest stroke technique lends itself to certain accent patterns which immediately sound uniquely "Gypsy." Like Gypsy Picking examples 6.1 9.1, 10.1, and many more. It's hard to get the same accents on those patterns if you're playing with a different technique. So this may be a case where the technique dictates the music....

Good luck!

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