The Maiden "Gallop"

Invader

Invader

Ancient Mariner
I'm a starting guitarist (3 months under my belt so far) and I've lately been trying to learn the "galloping" guitar of Maiden as seen in songs such as The Trooper.  I read the "Easy Maiden songs" thread and I got lots of use from SMX's advice, but I still am having troubles. 

I've been trying to gallop at slow speeds with the metronome starting from 60 and increasing slowly, but when I reach the region of 80 bpm, I start having trouble.  I can keep up with the rhythm quite easily, but I can never keep it up for long.  I usually mess up because I miss the second of the 16th notes, specifically the upstroke; either my pick accidentally touches the string below, or I pick the string too lightly and the upstroke is slowed down too much, and I miss the next 8th note.

I know the best answer to this is practice and more practice, but I was hoping someone could give me some more specific advice on this. I play the gallop with strict alternate picking, like this: 8th note down, 16th up, 16th down, 8th up, 16th down, 16th up, 8th down, and so on.  Is this where I'm going wrong?  Should I, for example, pick every 8th note down?  Or am I too inexperienced to practice the Maiden gallop at this stage?
 
What ever the answer is, I find the description of the "problem" very accurate, and it's good to be open about it if you want to learn more.

I am afraid I can't help you, I can't play the gallop myself and don't practice enough to learn it. Still, I am also curious for reactions. Perhaps you indeed need some technical advice, e.g. how to hold the plectrum, what kind of plectrum, etc.
 
It's really in the flexibility of the wrist. And that comes from practice. So, try not doing it from elbow. 
 
I find it easier to play the gallop like this: down-pick the first 8th note, and then play the rest of the bar as triplets starting with down picking again.

So, down pick 8th, then down pick 16th up pick 16th down pick 8, rinse and repeat.
 
There's nothing wrong with strict alternate picking, Invader. I think it's harder that way, but it's not incorrect. It may even be smart in the long run. If you can perfect it, it will give you more flexibility with other rhythm parts. But as a beginner, it will take you much longer to learn.

GuineaPig is doing things the way I would advise, but there's a clearer way to explain it...

Let's use 'd' for downstroke and 'u' for upstroke. Start by thinking of a downstroke on every 8th note:
Code: 
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
d   d   d   d   d   d   d   d

Now all you have to do is add the upstrokes.
Code: 
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a 1
d   d u d   d u d   d u d   d u d

As for me, I cheat a bit: I only hit the full chord on the beat. For the 16ths, I just play the root note. 2-string tab:
Code: 
   d   d u d   d u d   d u d   d u d
D--9-------9-------9-------9-------9--
A--7---7-7-7---7-7-7---7-7-7---7-7-7--

But I do use alternate picking when it slows to 8th notes. For instance, end of the Trooper verse riff: D-G-D-E gets played d-u-d-u.
However, I am unusual in that respect: most guitarists keep going with all downstrokes there. My alternate picking of those four chords comes from my own rhythm style which I have developed over many years.
 
That sounds pretty much like the way I play the galloping rhythm as well, SMX. And I believe I belong to the "average" section when it comes to how I play the riff in The Trooper - I play all downstrokes on the DGDE ... I don't find these gallops hard any more, except for when you have to do it for a long time (like the rhythm guitar for the afore mentioned part of Dream of Mirrors - it kills me). I am working on it  :)
 
Thanks to everyone for helping.  I haven't been able to practice yet due to being sick, but your advice should help loads.  :)
 
I am struggeling with the same problem myself, it's about the only part of the trooper i cant keep up with after a while.
it's always down, down up down, down up down.
What i do when i dont feel like doint it is to just use the same picking motion, but pick the entire chord(2-3 strings) and without palm muting. I got used to the picking pattern that way. check it out, might help.
 
To be honest, I've been playing for over four years and I have no idea what you're talking about with the 8th and 16th notes. I never bothered with learning all the technicalities, I just learned by ear and practiced gallops. All you really need to know is a few scales and some basics. I see a lot of beginners trying to learn all the technical terms and and buying how to DVDs and whatnot, but it only gets them confused and demotivated. Enjoy it first, don't worry about that stuff, is what I say.
 
Suicidehummer said:
To be honest, I've been playing for over four years and I have no idea what you're talking about with the 8th and 16th notes. I never bothered with learning all the technicalities, I just learned by ear and practiced gallops. All you really need to know is a few scales and some basics. I see a lot of beginners trying to learn all the technical terms and and buying how to DVDs and whatnot, but it only gets them confused and demotivated. Enjoy it first, don't worry about that stuff, is what I say.
Click to expand...

Haha, same here man! I am self-taught and don't know much about the technicality of playing, but I've managed to become a decent guitarist. After 4-5 years, I'm not a great lead guitarist, but I am a pretty mean rhythm player (in all modesty). I don't want to discourage you from learning, because it is probably a lot more beneficial to learn as much as you can, but it doesn't hurt to just get a feel for the music and teach yourself.
 
You guys are like people who are illiterate and proud of it just because they have mastered spoken language.

You might be amazed at all the stuff you don't know just because you haven't pursued any formal training.

Seriously, a musician who doesn't know what an 8th note or 16th note is ... that's like a carpenter who doesn't know what a hammer is. I can't imagine trying to play with that profound lack of knowledge.

An 8th note is half of a beat.
A 16th note is a quarter of a beat.
Sorry, but not knowing this very basic terminology is nothing to brag about.

I have no problem with self-taught musicians, as long as they actually teach themselves the stuff that the rest of us learned long ago.
 
I'm sure he knows. And that's not even an Adrian Smith Statement.

We're not talking about obscure terms here. No Neapolitan chords, no Rossini rolls, not even half-diminished seventh chords. We're talking about 8th and 16th notes. Terms this simple, common and basic are to music what the alphabet is to language.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
I'm sure he knows. And that's not even an Adrian Smith Statement.

We're not talking about obscure terms here. No Neapolitan chords, no Rossini rolls, not even half-diminished seventh chords. We're talking about 8th and 16th notes. Terms this simple, common and basic are to music what the alphabet is to language.
Click to expand...

I fully agree. I must admit I don't know any advanced music theory (and I'm not really good at reading sheet music, I'm quite slow at it), but bragging about not knowing what A minor means, or what a 16th note is, is like bragging that one does not know the difference between the letters q and p.
 
Damn, I'd love to know more about musical theory but I don't have enough time or money for something serious.
Is there some great book for theory in a guitar context?

BTW, I don't think that reading sheet music is that important: it's mainly for prima vista and stuff like that.
 
I think sheet music is very useful for learning songs on instruments for whichs tabs are impractical. That is, most instruments that are not fretted string instruments ...
 
I wasn't bragging, rather stressing the importance of enjoying playing, and not getting caught up in theory. Many amazing guitarists never learned to read music.
 
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