“If you think about the approach to guitar I’m known for, it seems to have little in common with Hetfield’s. But I would argue that it has much to do with it”: What funk maestro Cory Wong learned from James Hetfield

Cory Wong wears a green tracksuit and plays his blue Highway Strat. James Hetfield plays his white Flying V copy on a stage lit up in green.

Today I’d like to talk about downpicking – picking or strumming consecutive downstrokes – and why it can be so musically effective.

This is something I learned from studying the riff-writing style of Metallica’s James Hetfield. If you think about the approach to guitar that I’m mostly known for, it seems to have little in common with Hetfield’s.