Ogre Battle Guitar Part

The guitar riff in the very beginning of Ogre Battle (after the backwards intro). Is that done by all down strokes or alternating down and up? It seems too fast for all down, but alternating is awkward becase of the three note pattern the notes are in.

it is stroke down twice, when the third tone of the triplet comes he plays it with the left hand only per hammer-on

indeed a very fast pattern

I've tried it both ways - with downstrokes and the hammer-on on the third note as well as alternating up and down through the entire sequence.

Though it took longer to get the hang of, I personally like the up and down alternating better because you get a better attack on the last note of the triplets.

To me, it sounds like that's the way Brian plays it.

Dave

Yes, I don't think that last note is a hammer-on. What about two downs follwed by an up?

two downs and one up was my first thought, but after trying to play it I found it more complicated than playing it with hammer-on.
just like on the beginning of it's late... ( a lick i love to play)

Forgive the off-topic post, but I have to say it sounds like you guys would be awesome at masturbation.

i don't think you can w**k
two downs, then one up - that's got to hurt, and what aout this "hammer on" stuff...scary

It looks like Brian is using hammer-ons during the Hammersmith gig in 1975.

Isn't that version significantly faster than the studio version?

Ok, I checked those two versions with a metronome and the live version was approximately 110 Beats Per Minute (quarter notes) and the version on Queen II was about 108 BPM. So practically there is no difference between these two.

Bizarrely, pretty much the only combination of strokes yet to be mentioned is what to me is the obvious answer.

Down-Up-Down, Down-Up-Down, Down-Up-Down, Down-Up-Down, Down-Up-Down, Down, Down.

Ther's no way that the G is a hammer-on. That would involve hammering on to the 3rd fret from nowhere, and doing that just doesn't give the necessary attack.

The fastest logical way of playing the two A5s is to use Down-Up. And to get from the second A5 to the G involves moving your picking-hand UP the strings. And to then get from the G to the A5 involves moving your picking-hand DOWN the strings, so if you use an upstroke for the second A5 and a downstroke for the G (and who ever uses an upstroke for a single note on one string anyway?!) your hand's moving in the right direction in preparation for the next stroke/chord.

I swear my way's correct. I remember for years trying to play it all downstrokes, and then one day discovering the above method and it suddenly it was 10 times easier and all made sense.

Try it, you'll like it.

Sorry, artist_nine, I must have been thinking of something else.

Borhardy, you're right - that does make sense, and it should be the most obvious way. I'll give it a try later and see how it feels.

Check out the Hammersmith gig video (1975). I don't know how Brian achieves that kind of an attack in the sound by using hammer-ons, but that's what it looks to me he is doing. But then again, my eyes could be deceiving me... could someone else who has access to the video footage please give a second opinion. Or maybe someone could ask Brian directly? I wonder if he'd give an answer....

I'll check the vid later on tonight, but unless there's a very clear close-up of his right hand, it'll be pretty much impossible to see exactly what he's doing.

Whether he's hammering on the G or not, his left hand will be doing exactly the same thing.

Well, I tried your Down Up Down, Down Up Down, last night. I think it may be the answer. I'll have to work with it a while, though, to see how it works after becoming more familiar with it.

Thanks for the input, everyone.