The timbre resonates the E/B string as dominant on the upstrokes, and the g string on the downstroke- in the Em7 barred formation. the progression starts on the second beat of the measure with the bass playing low E on one. I think if you try it this way you'll hear the differences and it will be a more natural way to play it. I've been playing this song for years this way- my .02 cents. if you've ever watched Lexington Lab band- Dale - (Maple Baby on this forum )he's is the guitarist in the group that plays this part of the song, and he plays the chord in a different position going down-stroke first- bottom line you need that E/B string ringing dominant
That's really interesting. First, I noticed that Dale played it in a different position than I used too.
I know exactly what you mean about the E and B strings needing to ring dominate. So, I don't know if this makes me a hack or what. I figured things out on my own, or by watching the person who did them. I'd never seen this song played live back in the days when I was playing this one. So I literally do it the opposite way ever other time. Meaning if I start with a down stroke and end with a down stroke the first time, I stay down and start and end the second time with an upstroke, which puts me back up and start the third time with a down stroke. I did recognize what strings should be ringing dominant and just manipulated that with left hand finger pressure variances. I held the E and B hard while mildly releasing pressure on the other strings, so that the E and B rang out more clearly, while the other strings didn't.
This may be the "wrong" way to play it, but it worked for me, and not in the "I play it my way" way. LOL I recognized what needed to ring and what didn't. Again, I'm self taught and haven't played it in 20 years. I know some times when guys are playing something "wrong" I hear it immediately. In this case, I strum it differently than you but made it "sound" like the original, and I'm sure you do too, but in a different way. I may actually try it your way just to see if it works better for me.
And, I agree that normally when I do something where it's the high strings that need to ring out the most, and that has a relatively fast strum, I do upstroke to hit them first. But other things like some Rush things where the high strings need to ring out, but are clearly played last, I did it with lightening my pressure on the lower strings once I got to the high ones so that probably carried over to this.