This Lesson Is not for Begginers who want to learn how to sweep pick, this is for people who already know how to sweep pick and can put it into use.
The Ionian Arpeggio is the first of seven modes based around the white keys of the piano, called the church modes. This arpeggio Has it's root in C, followed by D, E, F, G, A and B.
The Ionian Arpeggio
--------------13-7--------------
-----------10------10-----------
---------9------------9---------
------12----------------12------
---10----------------------10---
-8----------------------------8-
The Dorian Arpeggio is the second of the church modes. The root is in D, with all the tones being D, E, F G, A, B, and C.
The Dorian Arpeggio
----------------15-8----------------
-------------12------12-------------
----------10------------10----------
-------14------------------14-------
----12------------------------12----
-10------------------------------10-
The Phrygian Arpeggio is the third Arpeggio in our white-keys-on-the-piano church modes. The root is in E, with all the tones being E, F, G, A, B, C and D.
The Phrygian Arpeggio
----------------15-10----------------
-------------13-------13-------------
----------12-------------12----------
-------15-------------------15-------
----14-------------------------14----
-12-------------------------------12-
The Lydian Arpeggio is the fourth of the Church Modes, with the root in F, followed by G, A, B, C, D and E
The Lydian Arpeggio
----------------17-12----------------
-------------15-------15-------------
----------14-------------14----------
-------17-------------------17-------
----14-------------------------14----
-13-------------------------------13-
The Mixolydian Arpeggio is the fifth mode of the seven church modes with the root in G, followed by A, B, C, D, E and F.
----------------19-13----------------
-------------17-------17-------------
----------16-------------16----------
-------19-------------------19-------
----17-------------------------17----
-15-------------------------------15-
The Aeolian Arpeggio is the sixth mode and the root is in A, following with B, C, D, E, F, and G.
The Aeolian Arpeggio
----------------8-3----------------
-------------6-------6-------------
----------5-------------5----------
-------9-------------------9-------
----7-------------------------7----
-5-------------------------------5-
The Locrian Arpeggio is the last of the seven modes based around the piano´s white keys. The Root is in B, With C, D, E, F, G and A Following.
The Locrian Arpeggio
----------------10-5-------------
-------------8--------8----------
----------7-------------7--------
-------10-----------------10-----
----8------------------------8---
-7-----------------------------7-
And those are the Church Arpeggio's Based around the Church Scales.
Minggu, 14 Juni 2009
The Church Arpeggios
Legato Techniques
Hello, and welcome to this lesson - I have tried to make it as beneficial and informative as I could.
This lesson contains various licks and exercises designed to develop one's legato technique.
Legato is simply described as: “smooth, and connected”. Each note is prolonged, so to allow the note to be held to it's full value until the next note is played. This can be obtained by long “slurred” runs, for example. Staccato (meaning each note is short and detached), is virtually the exact opposite of legato.
On the guitar, a legato run, for example, can be achieved by executing consecutive hammer-ons, and/or pull-offs, with only the first note of each string being picked in most cases (however, this can change). With any of the following exercises, start slowly, and gradually increase the temp. I recommend using a metronome.
First lick:
To gain independence and speed between fingers, try this lick.
e|-1h2-----------------------------------------------------------|
B|-1h2-----------------------------------------------------------|
G|-1h2-----------------------------------------------------------|
D|-1h2-----------------------------------------------------------|
A|-1h2-----------------------------------------------------------|
E|-1h2-----------------------------------------------------------|
Play this with your first finger on fret “1”, and your second finger on fret “2”.
Play this again, however use your second finger on fret “1”, and your third finger (ring finger) on fret “2”.
Play this yet again, however now use your third finger (ring finger) for fret “1”, and your pinky for fret “2”.
This may be extremely awkward at first, however with practice will feel more natural.
Now descend that lick with each of those finger variations, using pull offs.
e|-1h3-----------------------------------------------------------|
B|-1h3-----------------------------------------------------------|
G|-1h3-----------------------------------------------------------|
D|-1h3-----------------------------------------------------------|
A|-1h3-----------------------------------------------------------|
E|-1h3-----------------------------------------------------------|
Play this with your first finger on fret “1”, and your third finger (ring finger) on fret “3”.
Play this again with your second finger on fret “1”, and your pinky on fret “3”.
Now descend that lick with each of those finger variations, using pull offs.
e|-1h4-----------------------------------------------------------|
B|-1h4-----------------------------------------------------------|
G|-1h4-----------------------------------------------------------|
D|-1h4-----------------------------------------------------------|
A|-1h4-----------------------------------------------------------|
E|-1h4-----------------------------------------------------------|
Use your first finger on fret “1”, and your pinky on fret “4”. Now descend the lick.
Now, onto 3 notes-per-scale.
Play this, (it’s a G Major scale):
e|--------------------------5h7h8p75-----------------------------|
B|---------------------5h7h8--------8p7p5------------------------|
G|----------------4h5h7------------------7p5p4-------------------|
D|-----------4h5h7----------------------------7p5p4--------------|
A|------3h5h7--------------------------------------7p5p3---------|
E|-3h5h7------------------------------------------------7p5p3----|
Pick only the first note on each string, and hammer-on/pull-off all other notes.
Now, let’s play a variation of this:
e|------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------------------------5h7h8p7p5h7h8|
G|----------------------------------------4h5h7p5p4h5h7-------------|
D|---------------------------4h5h7p5p4h5h7--------------------------|
A|--------------3h5h7p5p3h5h7---------------------------------------|
E|-3h5h7p5p3h5h7----------------------------------------------------|
e|5h7h8p7p5h7h8--------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------|
This is a great finger exercise, taught regularly by Guthrie Govan.
In many legato runs, players like Steve Vai use trills. This means they alternate between two notes rapidly. Practicing trils are also a great way to build speed and independence between fingers. Have a go at these licks:
e|-5h6p5h6p5h6p-repeat--------------------------------------------------|
Play this with your first finger on fret “5”, and your second finger on fret “6”.
Play this again with your second finger on fret “5”, and your third finger (ring finger) on fret “6”.
Play this yet again with your ring finger on fret “5”, and your pinky on fret “6”.
e|-5h7p5h7p5h7p-repeat--------------------------------------------------|
Now, play this with your first finger assigned to fret “5”, and your third finger (ring finger) assigned to fret “7”.
Play this again with your second finger on fret “5”, and your pinky on fret “7”.
e|-5h8p5h8p5h8p-repeat--------------------------------------------------|
Now, play this with your first finger on fret "5", and your pinky on fret "8".
How To Program The Subconscious Mind For Effortless Guitar Playing
In order to begin programming the subconscious mind for effortlessly accurate guitar playing, we first need to understand the difference between natural and unnatural body positions, and how the conscious and subconscious minds interact to allow the body to perform tasks.
Conscious And Subconscious Actions
When performing simple everyday tasks such as using a telephone, the conscious and subconscious minds work together to carry out these operations with the minimum of effort. When dialing a number with which we're very familiar, we don't need to give it too much thought. That is, we don't use our conscious minds as much as we would if the number were unfamiliar. Using our conscious mind, we think of the person and our subconscious associates the fact that we have a phone in our hand and a person in our mind and it tells our muscles to perform the same function it has performed on countless other occasions. If we're dialing an unfamiliar number, we need to use our conscious minds much more. We have to pay close attention to each individual digit. If we make a mistake we have to go back and correct it. We tend to be more careful the next time to avoid wasting time and money connecting with the wrong person. After many repetitions, the number becomes familiar, the subconscious takes over and we can dial rapidly without making any mistakes.
So why does this process work less effectively when we replace the dialing of a phone number with the playing of a musical scale? Why is there so much more stress, fatigue and frustration involved in the learning process? It might simply be that we have abandoned the natural method of learning because we are in too much of a hurry to play in time and up to speed. These timing and tempo issues don't exist for other relatively complicated tasks which we perform effortlessly.
Moreover, tasks such as typing a letter or washing some dishes have a tangible end product. If the letter contains mistakes we immediately go back and correct them. If we break a dish we stop what we are doing and sweep it up. We try to be more careful in future to avoid wasting time, money and effort by making the same mistakes over and over again. This is the natural learning process. If, on the other hand we play a scale on a guitar, after we're finished it exists only in the memory, so mistakes often go uncorrected. If the notes of the scale were dishes, would we be up to our ankles in broken crockery?
When we are practicing guitar, we need to remember that the subconscious absorbs everything we do whether it's accurate or not. If we play a G major scale seven times, six of which contain mistakes and only one is accurate, we can't expect the subconscious to only store the good information. So next time we place our finger on the 3rd fret of the sixth string and think of a G major scale, our subconscious has seven different experiences from which to choose, and a high percentage of these were flawed. As a result, we repeat a lot of the same mistakes and our progress is slow and tortuous.
If we want our subconscious to make solid decisions rather than rough estimates, we need to give it clear associations on which to draw. Estimations lead to more mistakes and we find ourselves trapped in a vicious circle.
Obviously we can't remove mistakes from the learning process but we can make sure that the ratio of good information to bad is beneficial and not detrimental to our progress. We do this by not letting mistakes go unaddressed. If we make a mistake midway through a scale, arpeggio, chord progression etc, we don't continue to the end and hope that next time we'll do better. We stop and address it immediately by compensating for the fact that some bad information has been sent to our subconscious. We do this by overwriting it with several careful repetitions of good, accurate information.
For example, if we're six notes into a G major scale and we play an Eb instead of an E, or we don't sound the note clearly, or just play the note with a tone color with which we're unhappy. We stop, relax, reset ourselves a couple of notes before the E and play through the scale, stopping two or three notes after the E. We play this isolated part of the scale several times carefully to overwrite the mistake. After each repetition, stop, relax and reset yourself. Do not play the section as a continuous loop. The first note of the isolated section shouldn't be played immediately after the last because that's not what happens when you play the whole scale. So don't practice it that way. Also, the second or so of rest between each repetition gives the mind a chance to absorb and assess the information, and prevents the subconscious from entering the short term automation mode.
Short And Long Term Automation
If we play a phrase over and over again the movement can become automated as long as we remain in the same position. However, if we change position and then return to the phrase, we can make mistakes again as if we hadn’t practiced it at all. This is because the maneuver was only automated temporarily. In order to make this a long term automation, we need to remove the hand from the position, relax, reset ourselves and replay. Continue in this manner until the phrase can be played cleanly and instantly.
At this stage, tempo and timing aren't as important as careful placement of the fingers. A well programmed subconscious will reward the user with swift effortless movement. This approach applies to all areas of guitar practice, whether it be scale, arpeggio, chord or left and right hand issues. Always follow a mistake with several slow, careful, accurate
repetitions. If a problem persists then a alternative way to approach it is to slow down for the specific section with which you are having trouble. Play the part at a speed with which you're comfortable. As you approach the problem area, slow down and play the troublesome section carefully, giving priority to correct finger placement. After you are past the section then speed up again to complete the part. This approach is much more effective than blundering through the problem area at speed and making lots of mistakes.
As was mentioned earlier, the subconscious mind works by association. It directs movement based on information received through the senses in conjunction with instruction from the conscious mind. This means that the conscious mind has to be free of any non-essential thoughts. All unnecessary mental chatter should be eliminated while practicing guitar. Try to stop your inner voice from commenting on your playing. Thoughts such as, "I played this much better yesterday", or "that bit sounded really great", should be silenced as they have no constructive purpose and simply serve to confuse the subconscious.
We tend to make more mistakes while our minds are wandering. Holding a phone and thinking, "I must get the car washed" isn't an association that your subconscious is familiar with. And so it dials a wrong number.
If, for example, we want to successfully program our subconscious to play bar chords, (or any other chord for that matter), cleanly and crisply, we need to give it a clear signal from the conscious mind and an accurate execution of the desired chord. That is, we need to clearly visualize the chord in our mind's eye while carefully fingering the chord. Don't play the chord until your certain your fingers a well placed. Then play the chord with a clean chop. This is done by depressing all the fingers simultaneously while making a swift stroke with the right hand. The fingers should all be release at the same time. There’s no need to pull the fingers away from the strings. Simply leave the fingers in place and relax the hand, allowing the tension to instantly dissolve. This should cause the chord to end abruptly and cleanly, provided the left hand was playing all six strings. If there were open strings then you will need to use the side of the palm of the right hand to silence the ringing strings. This should be done in sync with the relaxing of the left hand. The product should be a nice crisply chopped chord.
Don’t leave the fingers in place and play the chord again as this serves little purpose, other than to exercise the muscles. It's better to let the hand fall loosely by your side for a second, allowing any tension to drain out of the arm, before reshaping the chord anew and performing another brisk chop. Continue in this way until you can make the chord cleanly and instantly. A slightly easier way to approach it, is to switch between two different chords, though this method won’t serve you as well when you need to quickly grab chords, e.g., when inserting chords into melodic passages. Make sure that the only thing that enters your mind is a visualization of the chord and the only thing your fingers do is a clean execution of the chord.
Never practice guitar in an absent-minded way with one eye on the TV and your thoughts elsewhere. Absently typing random nonsense on a keyboard while holding a conversation with friends wouldn’t improve your typing ability, so don't approach your guitar playing in this haphazard manner. Practice in a calm and quietly focused way to allow your subconscious to make clear associations and to store good quality, uncluttered information.
Never waste time and energy beating yourself up about mistakes or poor performance. Just deal with the elements you wish to improve one at a time in a cool and collected way. If something involves several different disciplines, e.g., alternate picking, string skipping and chord arpeggios, and you're struggling to master it, separate the elements and work on them individually. Allow your mind to focus on one thing at a time. People who can juggle while riding a unicycle learned the two things separately before they tried to combine them.
Natural And Unnatural Body Positions
In addition to a clear conscious mind, we also need to play in as relaxed a way as possible. This means avoiding unnatural positions. These are also known as stress positions. These unnatural stress positions quickly lead to physical and mental fatigue. The mind gives high priority to feelings of pain, discomfort and exhaustion, leaving little room for other thoughts. Therefore unnatural positions should be kept to a bare minimum.
Unnatural positions are inherently weak, whereas natural positions are inherently strong.
To avoid inadvertently adopting stress positions we need to learn to recognize them. For a very simple demonstration of the difference between natural and unnatural positions, do the following:
Stand up straight with your legs slightly apart. Let your arms hang loosely by your sides. Keep your back straight and your head centered. Feel how easy it is to maintain this position. You are using lots of muscles to hold this stance but because it's a natural position, you’ll have no trouble maintaining it for long periods without fatigue. Notice that your mind isn't being overwhelmed with thoughts of discomfort. You can keep a clear head in this position. You could work on a problem without being constantly interrupted by complaints from your body.
To turn this into an unnatural position, simply bend your knees till you feel a strain on your thighs. Hunch your shoulders up to your ears and clench your fists. You can imagine that it would be much more difficult to maintain this unnatural position for long periods of time. It would be hard to concentrate your mind on a complex problem while holding this stress position.
Before we talk about natural hand positions let's think about how playing guitar may affect the rest of the body. Next time you pick up your guitar and begin to play, devote a portion of your attention to your body. Try to identify areas of unnecessary tension. Are you slouching over your guitar? It requires more effort to slouch than it does to sit or stand up straight. This extra effort will take it's toll and you will tire more quickly. Are you unnecessarily tensing your arms or shoulders? If you're sitting down, are you holding one or both of your legs in a position that requires unnecessary effort. All of these things will make your practice sessions much more taxing. Try to position your body in a way that requires the least effort to maintain. Relax any muscles that aren't directly involved in the holding down of strings or the motion of the right hand.
Naturally Strong Hand PositionIf we think of all the ordinary activities we perform daily that involve the use of our hands, we notice a common factor; a straight wrist.
Pick up something with a handle such as your guitar case or amplifier. Explore the difference between holding the object by your side with a straight wrist, and at arm's length with the wrist bent. Not only are your arm muscles having to work much harder to hold the object in this unnatural way but your grip is seriously weakened by the bending of the wrist joint. Now raise your left forearm with the inner wrist facing upwards as if you were about to play the guitar. Tightly clench your fist. Now bend the wrist as far as it can go and feel the tightening of the tendons as they are forced around the corner made by the bent wrist joint. It's this strain on the tendons that causes the weakening of the fingers. Now return the wrist to the straight position and relax the hand, allowing the fist to naturally unclench. Notice that the fingers don't straighten out but remain curled. This natural grip position is the default setting for the hand. It has inherent strength and requires no effort to maintain. Staying in this default position, wiggle the fingers. Notice how easily they move. Now bend the wrist again and notice how the pinching of the tendons restricts the movement of the fingers, causing them to stiffen.
Play Relaxed
If we wish to play guitar then we are going to have to deviate from the natural default position. However, in order to remain as relaxed as possible while we play, we will need to keep the amount of deviation to a minimum.
Set your hand in the default position and place the hand beneath the neck of your guitar. The first thing you will need to do is swivel the thumb around to the back of the neck. Do this without moving the wrist and fingers. Now bring the fingers up to rest on the 1st string with the first finger positioned above the 5th fret. Now space the other three fingers so that they line up with the 6th, 7th and 8th frets. Try to retain as much of the natural curl as possible. Notice that there is a bend at the tip joint (the one closest to the fingernail). It's important to keep this joint as close to the natural bend as possible to maintain maximum strength with minimum effort.
It shouldn't have required too much effort to place our hand in this 'home' position. So let's see how much more effort is needed to play a note. Raise your second, third and fourth fingers slightly so that only the 1st finger is resting lightly on the 1st string above the 5th fret. Strike the 1st string with a pick or finger to get a muted sound. Let's call this minimum tension. Now, making sure the first finger is the only thing that moves, press the string as hard as you can and hold it. Play the note. Let's call this maximum tension. To switch back to minimum tension again, simply relax the finger and allow the tension to instantly dissolve. Now gently apply pressure with the first finger until you can play the note with the minimum amount of necessary tension. Let's call this the 'on' position. Now let the tension instantly dissolve again, to switch immediately to the minimum tension 'off' position. Using this 'on-off' method, play the notes at the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th frets with the first, second, third and fourth fingers respectively. Be sure to switch the previous finger to the off position before switching on the next finger. It's this on-off technique that will allow you to play through a scale in an almost effortless manner as the fingers will be spending a lot of time in the off position.
The importance of the off position shouldn’t be underestimated. It is essential for clear definition and relaxed, fluent movement. Switching off and pulling off are very different things. Switching the finger on to play a note requires action. Pulling the finger off or away from the string after the note has been played requires further action. Whereas switching the finger off after the note has been played requires no action. It is merely a cessation of the first action of switching on. Pulling off instead of switching off is the cause of a lot of unwanted string noise as the finger is removed before the string has stopped vibrating. After switching off, the finger remains in place, resting effortlessly on the string as it returns to it's normal state. This dampens the vibration immediately.
Stop And Relax
Even while using the on-off method, you will probably still experience a build-up of tension in the hand and arm when practicing. This tension can accumulate very rapidly, and can seriously restrict movement if we don’t learn how to relieve it.
As soon as you experience a build-up of tension, which manifests itself in the form of stiffness and dull aches, you should immediately stop what you are doing and let your arm hang loosely by your side until you feel the tension drain away. Try to retain as much of this relaxed feeling as possible when you resume practicing. You should keep doing this until you learn how to relax while playing; even if this means stopping every 30 seconds or so. This is especially important when warming up. Eventually you will learn to thoroughly relax while playing guitar. This is how professional musicians manage to play for hours without tiring. It’s also the reason why they make it look so easy!
Subconsciously Tensing-up
Another type of tension occurs when we subconsciously tense the muscles just before we tackle a tricky section of music, e.g., a large position shift or an arpeggio with which we’re particularly uncomfortable. This is the musical equivalent of flinching just before something painful is about to happen. We feel that if we approach these awkward parts in a nonchalant way then we’re sure to mess up because we know how difficult they can be and so we subconsciously bunch up our muscles in readiness for the challenge. The irony is that the complete opposite is true; if we remained relaxed for these difficulties, we’d stand a much greater chance of nailing them.
Imagine someone drew two chalk lines five feet apart and asked you to jump over the distance. No problem right? Now imagine this same five foot gap was between two skyscrapers. Would you approach it in the same way, and which do you think you would most likely mess up?
“…play it as if it means nothing when it means everything… …allow yourself to fail…”
Hit The Nail On The Head; Finding The Point Of Balance
When playing both chords and melodic phrases, it’s essential that you plant your fingers squarely and centrally on the string(s).
Take a look at this simple pentatonic E minor scale.
E|--------------------0-3-0---------------------|
B|----------------0-3-------3-0-----------------|
G|------------0-2---------------2-0-------------|
D|--------0-2-----------------------2-0---------|
A|----0-2-------------------------------2-0-----|
E|0-3---------------------------------------3-0-|
After warming up a bit, start by playing the first two notes. Pay close attention to the 3rd finger as it plays the G at the 3rd fret. Is there sufficient bend in the tip joint for the finger to hit the string squarely. Imagine the tip segment of your finger is a hammer head and the string is the nail. If you strike the nail at an angle it will be pushed to one side. You need to meet the string as squarely as possible to get the best tone and intonation. The next thing to observe is whether or not you’re making central, well-balanced contact with the string from the moment you begin to depress it, and not making subtle adjustments after placing the finger. Play the two notes repeatedly. Does your finger hit the string sweetly every time or does it sometimes veer off to one side or the other and make a poor contact causing buzzing or a thinning of the tone quality? If the string were a tightrope would your finger be balanced in the centre as you play or would it fall to one side? Now you know how it feels to play the note cleanly, play through the whole scale observing whether or not your hitting notes square and centered or at an angle and inaccurately. Whenever you encounter a poor contact, stop, relax reset yourself and go over this portion several times carefully. You can take the scale two notes at a time, concentrating on neatness. Then extend it to four notes, and then six and so until the whole scale is neat.
You can try the “slowing down for the problem area” approach to get rid of any persistent trouble spots. The important thing is never to let the slightest inaccuracy go uncorrected. You can now apply this approach to all scales, arpeggios, chords etc.
Pay particular attention to the tip joint. Do not allow it to collapse (lose it's bend). The little finger is especially prone to collapse. Not only do we need a nice bend in order to hit the string squarely but it also has much greater strength, which is most important when holding down chords. You can demonstrate this by holding down a string with your little finger while maintaining a natural bend in the tip joint. Observe the amount of effort required, and the amount of stress placed on the finger and hand by the reactive force. Now, keeping the pressure even, allow the joint to collapse. Notice how much greater is the stress placed on the finger and hand. The reactive force seems to travel much further up the hand and even as far as the forearm.
Chromatic Exercise
Try playing through the following exercise, concentrating on correct, well-balanced finger placement using the on-off technique. An open string has been placed between each note of the chromatic scale. This ensures that you plant each finger independently rather than laying them all down in a rippling legato manner. Good legato is something to which all guitarists should aspire but first we need to master the on-off independent fingering technique if we’re to avoid our phrases sounding too mushy. Remember to avoid pulling off the finger after the fretted notes are played. Switch off before removing the finger to allow the open string to be played. This requires close attention to get right but is a vital skill.
E|----------------------------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------------------------------|
G|------------------------------------------------0-1-0-2-0-3-0-4-|
D|--------------------------------0-1-0-2-0-3-0-4-----------------|
A|----------------0-1-0-2-0-3-0-4---------------------------------|
E|0-1-0-2-0-3-0-4-------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------0-1-0-2-0-3-0-4-|
B|0-1-0-2-0-3-0-4-----------------|
G|--------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------|
Once you have got used to the on-off independent fingering technique you can remove the open string notes from whichever scale you happen to be playing and switch to playing the scale in the normal way using staccato to prevent any mushiness from creeping back in. Eventually you will need to use a smoother, more musical way of playing scales but only when you're really well balanced and relaxed, and you have fully mastered the on-off technique.
Fingerpicking
The default hand position as described above is also essential when finger picking. It is important to maintain the straight wrist and natural curling of the fingers in order to avoid fatigue, inaccuracy and thinning of the tone when striking the string. As with the left hand, it is vital not to allow the tip joint to collapse. The tip and middle joints must remain in the naturally curled position. The pivot must come from the knuckle joint and not the middle joint. We tend to do this naturally when picking at a sticky label on a CD cover, or when scratching an itch. But for some reason a lot of us abandon this natural method as soon as we pick up a guitar and pick at a string. Try this out by picking at a label on a bottle of beer or noticing what happens when you scratch at an itch. You should find that the finger(s) form a hook shape with a bend in all three joints. The tip and middle joint remain firmly fixed while the finger pivots at the knuckle joint. Apply this exact technique when finger picking a guitar. If in the past you have had trouble using the elbow as an anchor point while floating the right hand over the strings then you should find the natural position helpful.
Right Hand Tension
Anyone who has tried to play rapidly with a pick will know that with an increase in speed comes an unhelpful increase in tension in the right forearm. It seems impossible to play at speed while remaining relaxed. Fortunately it is possible; not only that but it’s absolutely essential.
Simply apply the Stop and Relax technique as described above. As soon as the tension begins to build, stop picking, relax your arm, reset yourself and resume. Do this every time the tension starts to mount. This will heighten your awareness of tension from the moment it first begins to happen, and eventually you’ll be able to relax without stopping. Finally you’ll reach a stage where the tension doesn’t happen at all as it’s completely unnecessary.
Grooves
A great way to make right hand picking practice more interesting is to create different grooves rather than just sticking to the - ONE two three four ONE two three four etc. I call this the Indian drum beat groove… Hi ya ya ya Hi ya ya ya. This has a four pulse repetition with a heavy accent on the first beat. Try creating an eight pulse groove by simply moving the second accent back one pulse; ONE two three FOUR one two three four ONE two three FOUR one two three four and so on. Different grooves will make a huge difference to the feel of phrases and will make monotonous picking practice much more enjoyable. Play around with accents and see what you can come up with.
The Difference Between Practice And Performance
If you apply these techniques you might feel that all the stopping and starting is destroying the flow of your playing. At this point it’s important to understand the difference between practice and performance. Practice isn’t a performance and performance isn’t practice. During a performance, the piece has to be played from start to finish and the imperfections just have to be lived with. In the practice room however, we don’t have to live with imperfections. That’s what practice is for!
Hopefully you haven’t lost the will to live while reading this article. I went into far more detail than I originally planned. But programming the subconscious for accuracy is all about meticulous attention to detail. I might also have stated the obvious on occasion but it’s impossible to know at what stage of development the reader might be, so I felt it best to cover as much as possible. I hope there is something in here for beginners and intermediates alike. Thanks.
Conclusion Of Left Hand Techniques
Well, first at all this is not really a lesson. This is a summary of some exercises for:
-a fast, clear left hand
-a clear alternate picking of the right hand
-the harmony of both hands
I was inspirated by so many lessons about left hand trainings and their exercises, so there is to say that the core of this training is not all mine!
The basic rule of all these exercises is regular training. Every day at least 20 minutes is really necessary, because daily but short training is a lot better than one training a week which takes 5 hours.
The second rule is that speed is not the key! So don't start with 400bpm, start slowly. The importance is to hit every clear tone in the absolutly correct timing. The speed comes with the training, because your hand will learn the movement "by heart" and after that, the speed will increase a lot!
All exercises should be done with alternate picking! That means, that the pic goes down, up, down, up... Do not use the method that the pic goes only down, down, down! If you use alternate picking, your whole guitar sound will be - trained for some time of course- improved in a very good way!
The third rule is to not give up! Here are listed 8 exercises and it seems like here is a lot of work to be done... And yeah, it is. But if there is work to do, don't say "I'll start tomorrow" or "I'll will train the weekend". Do it as soon as possible... Why not now?
The last rule is to combine the boring lesson with nice songs. Every time you tell yourself "I'll stop now, this exercise is only a waste of time- and it sounds so shit!" play a nice song! As you will see, even a short training will improve the song! Now, when the song is over, you continue with the training.
notes which are marked with i should be play with the index finger
notes which are marked with m should be play with the middle finger
notes which are marked with r should be play with the ring finger
notes which are marked with p should be play with the pinky
EX 1
i m i m i m i m i m i m m i m i m i m i m i m i
E---------------------1-2-I-2-1---------------------I
B-----------------1-2-----I-----2-1-----------------I
G-------------1-2---------I---------2-1-------------I
D---------1-2-------------I-------------2-1---------I
A-----1-2-----------------I-----------------2-1-----I
E-1-2---------------------I---------------------2-1-I
EX 2
m r m r m r m r m r m r r m r m r m r m r m r m
E---------------------2-3-I-3-2---------------------I
B-----------------2-3-----I-----3-2-----------------I
G-------------2-3---------I---------3-2-------------I
D---------2-3-------------I-------------3-2---------I
A-----2-3-----------------I-----------------3-2-----I
E-2-3---------------------I---------------------3-2-I
EX 3
r p r p r p r p r p r p r p r p r p r p r p r p
E---------------------3-4-I-4-3---------------------I
B-----------------3-4-----I-----4-3-----------------I
G-------------3-4---------I---------4-3-------------I
D---------3-4-------------I-------------4-3---------I
A-----3-4-----------------I-----------------4-3-----I
E-3-4---------------------I---------------------4-3-I
This exercise shows how weak the ring finger and pinky are! The EX 1 is a lot easier than EX 3, because the index finger is - of course - stronger than the pinky! A big problem is that many guitarists use only the first 3 fingers because they are naturally stronger than the pinky, but this little finger is very important to reach fast higher frets and to be faster in solo!
After these 3 exercises, we go on with exercises with 3 Finger on each string.
EX 4
i r p i r p i r p i r p i r p i r p p r i p r i p r i p r i p r i p r i
E-------------------------------1-3-4-I-4-3-1------------------------------I
B-------------------------1-3-4-------I-------4-3-1------------------------I
G-------------------1-3-4-------------I-------------4-3-1------------------I
D-------------1-3-4-------------------I-------------------4-3-1------------I
A-------1-3-4-------------------------I-------------------------4-3-1------I
E-1-3-4-------------------------------I-------------------------------4-3-1I
EX 5
i m p i m p i m p i m p i m p i m p p m i p m i p m i p m i p m i p m i
E-------------------------------1-2-4-I-4-2-1------------------------------I
B-------------------------1-2-4-------I-------4-2-1------------------------I
G-------------------1-2-4-------------I-------------4-2-1------------------I
D-------------1-2-4-------------------I-------------------4-2-1------------I
A-------1-2-4-------------------------I-------------------------4-2-1------I
E-1-2-4-------------------------------I-------------------------------4-2-1I
EX 4 and 5 are important for the timing (3 notes a string)! The next exercise is one of the most important!
EX 6a
i m r p i m r p i m r p i m r p i m r p i m r p
E-----------------------------------------1-2-3-4-I
H---------------------------------1-2-3-4---------I
G-------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------I
D-----------------1-2-3-4-------------------------I
A---------1-2-3-4---------------------------------I
E-1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------I
EX 6b
p r m i p r m i p r m i p r m i p r m i p r m i
E-4-3-2-1-----------------------------------------I
H---------4-3-2-1---------------------------------I
G-----------------4-3-2-1-------------------------I
D-------------------------4-3-2-1-----------------I
A---------------------------------4-3-2-1---------I
E-----------------------------------------4-3-2-1-I
Repeating EX 6 often is definitly NO waste of time!
Following: a Version of EX 6
EX 7a
i r m p i r m p i r m p i r m p i r m p i r m p
E-----------------------------------------1-3-2-4-I
H---------------------------------1-3-2-4---------I
G-------------------------1-3-2-4-----------------I
D-----------------1-3-2-4-------------------------I
A---------1-3-2-4---------------------------------I
E-1-3-2-4-----------------------------------------I
EX 7b
p m r i p m r i p m r i p m r i p m r i p m r i
E-4-2-3-1-----------------------------------------I
H---------4-2-3-1---------------------------------I
G-----------------4-2-3-1-------------------------I
D-------------------------4-2-3-1-----------------I
A---------------------------------4-2-3-1---------I
E-----------------------------------------4-2-3-1-I
At this point is to say, that all exercises should be done in the other direction. Here is how the exercise EX 6 would look like if you reverse it
EX 8a
p r m i p r m i p r m i p r m i p r m i p r m i
E-----------------------------------------4-3-2-1-I
H---------------------------------4-3-2-1---------I
G-------------------------4-3-2-1-----------------I
D-----------------4-3-2-1-------------------------I
A---------4-3-2-1---------------------------------I
E-4-3-2-1-----------------------------------------I
EX 8b
i m r p i m r p i m r p i m r p i m r p i m r p
E-1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------I
H---------1-2-3-4---------------------------------I
G-----------------1-2-3-4-------------------------I
D-------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------I
A---------------------------------1-2-3-4---------I
E-----------------------------------------1-2-3-4-I
All exercises should be often reversed, because then the pinky is the leading finger! This improves the pinky and the whole technique as well.
I'll come to an end now. If I find a "new" exercise, I will tell it. I hope that this contribution was helpfully and I'm sorry if there are mistakes in this text. See you, Martin Messner.
Harmonising The Major Scale For 5 String Sweep Picking
Intro
In this lesson I hope to outline how we can use the principles of the major scale and how each degree of the scale has a particular tonality which we can use to create sweep picking exercises.
Firstly we must understand some terminology
Degree - a particular note of a scale.
Interval - the musical gap between two notes. For scales they are usually measured in tones (full steps) and semi-tones (half steps). If there is a difference of a tone between notes they are two frets apart, for a semi-tone it is one fret.
The Major Scale
The first things to understand are the degrees of the major scale, which are as follows (from the first to 8th):
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and the Octave (8th).
This NEVER changes. Every major scale has the same degrees, whether it starts on C, D, F sharp, any note.
Next we must recognise the interval between each note:
1st -(tone)-> 2nd -(tone)-> 3rd -(semitone)-> 4th -(tone)-> 5th -(tone)-> 6th -(tone)-> 7th -(semitone)-> Octave (8th).
Again, this is the same for whichever note you start on.
Here’s where it gets complicated!
Each interval of the scale has it's own ‘feel’ to the tonality of the piece as a whole (this is often called the ‘key’ of the piece) and this dictates which type of sweep you have to play over it.
Here are the relative feels of each (and so which sweep you play):
1st – Major
2nd – Minor
3rd – Minor
4th – Major
5th – Major
6th – Minor
7th – Diminished
8th (octave) – Same as first.
As you may know a major feels ‘happier’, whilst a minor feel ‘sadder’.
The Sweeps
I will now tab out the entire sequence for a D major scale starting on fret 5, string 5, going up the scale using 5 string sweeps, corresponding to the tonality of each degree of the scale. From this you should be able to pull out the patterns for major, minor and diminished sweeps.
1st - D (fret 5,string 5)
--------------2------------
----------3------3---------
------2-------------2------
---4-------------------4---
5-------------------------5
---------------------------
2nd - E (fret 7)
--------------3------------
----------5------5---------
------4-------------4------
---5-------------------5---
7-------------------------7
---------------------------
3rd - F sharp (fret 9)
--------------5------------
----------7------7---------
------6-------------6------
---7-------------------7---
9-------------------------9
----------------------------
4th - G (fret 10)
--------------7------------
----------8------8---------
-------7------------7------
----9-------------------9---
10-------------------------10
------------------------------
5th - A (fret 12)
-------------------9--------------
--------------10-----10----------
----------9---------------9--------
-----11---------------------11-----
12------------------------------12-
--------------------------------------
6th – B (fret 14)
--------------------10-----------------
---------------12------12-------------
----------11---------------11----------
-----12-------------------------12-----
14----------------------------------14-
-----------------------------------------
7th – C sharp (fret 16)
--------------------12-----------------
---------------14------14-------------
----------12---------------12----------
-----14-------------------------14-----
16----------------------------------16-
-----------------------------------------
8th (octave) – D (fret17)
Same as the first.
The Application
You will notice that all the major sounding degrees use the same pattern for their sweeps, likewise for the minor degrees, and the same is true for diminished. The sweeps I have tabbed will apply for any major, minor or diminished sounds. Therefore they also apply to any scale.
Once you have learnt these 3 patterns you can go up and down any major scale, starting on any degree of the scale and play the harmonised sweep behind it. If you know how to harmonise a minor scale then you can apply it to that too etc.
Not only that but it is also a great way to practice different sweeping patterns whilst applying them to a scale.
Remember to start slowly and I’d practice in semiquavers (4 notes per beat) and take off the repeated starting root note of each sweep
ie I play -
--------------2-------------------------3----------
----------3------3-----------------5------5-------
------2-------------2-----------4------------4----
---4-------------------4-----5-------------------5
5--------------------------7-----------------------
----------------------------------------------------
(notice how i dont repeat the fret 5, 5th string).
Etc etc. Have fun !
Tremolo Picking
Some people say that it is "playing as fast as you can" but that is not true. Tremolo picking can be difficult especially when you adding other techniques such as string skips, sweeps, and hammer on/pull offs.
Tremolo picking can be seen in tabs as this.
E|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3----------------------
B|----------------------------------------------------------------------
G|----------------------------------------------------------------------
D|----------------------------------------------------------------------
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------
The picking must be tight and in rhythm. Usually, you will see tremolo picking in sets of 4 or 8 note sets. This IS NOT the only way. In fact, I made a riff using tremolo picking using triplets, and it still works.
The first thing to do is play the example above in 4th notes. When your ready, go into 8ths, then into 16ths. The idea is to try and stay in time. You must use a pick if you want to go fast when you first start. Practice holding your pick correctly because if you hold it incorrectly, it may be difficult doing things like string skips while tremolo picking.
Now, the first time I heard of tremolo picking it was from Emperor's album, Into The Nightside Eclipse on there first track Into the Infinity of Thoughts. The beginning of that song uses tremolo picking, with large string skips, and is pretty difficult to pull off.
E|-----------------0-0-0-0----------|-------------------0-0-0-0----------|
B|----------------------------------|------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------|------------------------------------|
D|---------2-2-2-2----------2-2-2-2-|----------2-2-2-2-----------2-2-2-2-|
A|-0-0-0-0--------------------------|-0-0-0-0----------------------------|
E|----------------------------------|------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
|------------------0-0-0-0---------|------------------0-0-0-0---------|
|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
|--0-0-0-0-2-2-2-2---------2-2-2-2-|--0-0-0-0-2-2-2-2---------2-2-2-2-|
|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
This is just an example so I won't show the entire thing, but feel free to listen to the song if you have not yet heard it yet. String skipping might seem easy, but when you jumping 3 whole strings, it can be extremely confusing and frustrating to do it and keep in time. Practice makes perfect, so start slowly like before, and slowly work up. Most of the time, string skips will not involve 3 strings, so start string skips using both 1 and 2 string skip such as this example.
1-string skip example 2-string skip example
E|---------------------------------|--------------------------|
B|---------------------------------|--------------------------|
G|-----------------5-5-5-5-3-3-3-3-|--------------------------|
D|-0-0-0-0-3-3-3-3-----------------|-----------------4-4-4-4--|
A|---------------------------------|--------------------------|
E|---------------------------------|-0-0-0-0-3-3-3-3----------|
Now, usually tremolo picking refers to one single note. But in cases it can be used in chords as well. In Mayhem's famous song Freezing Moon, the guitarist Euronymous uses power chords in a tremolo picking fashion with unusual chord progressions.
E|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9------------------|
D|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8--9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9--8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-|
A|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8--7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7--8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-|
E|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-------------------6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-|
This can also be seen in the song Under A Funeral Moon by Darkthrone.
e|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-----------------8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8--9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9--8-8-8-8-8-8---|
A|2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6--7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7--6-6-6-6-6-6---|
E|0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--------------------------------------------------|
Remember! These two songs are played using 16th notes! Tremolo picking is not nearly as good if you cannot stay on rhythm. Sure, playing fast is cool, but if you can play fast and stay on rhythm, then your getting somewhere. Tremolo picking is extremely useful when writing black metal and other metal, and maybe used in other genres, however I have only seen it in black metal.
Good luck to all of you and have fun!
Rhythm Guitar For Intermediate To Advanced Players
Right, first a little bit of background. This is my first lesson I have ever written, and as such I can only hope it meets the standards people are looking for. I was searching around on UG and other such sites the other day for some information on advance guitar rhythms, being more of a rhythm than a lead guitarist myself.
Having been unable to find much that was aimed at the more technically advanced guitarist, I decided to piece together the knowledge I have gained over my few years playing guitar. This article is as such aimed at an intermediate to advanced player, looking to strengthen their right hand, and left-to-right hand synchronisation. Those reading this article should already have a reasonable understanding of metres and timings, such as 16th and 32th notes. This is not a lead guitar lesson! Please don’t read this expecting an article on soloing techniques such as sweeps, alternate picking, legato, and vibrato e.t.c. If this article is received well I may consider other such lessons, but for know I’m going to stick to the rhythm side of playing.
Ok, now we’ve got that out the way, onto our first technique. A rhythm guitarist has a multitude of techniques out there for his use. The first of these, and in my opinion one of the most important and widely used, is the down-stroke (in this article the symbol for down-stroke will be “v”). The following exercise will help to improve your right-hand strength and stamina. Try to play this exercise cleanly and smoothly, with as little slipping or missing of the strings as possible. A metronome may help to keep you in time, but don’t set it too fast to play with, try to find a speed which is comfortable but still challenging, and just go until failure. Punching to far above your ability level will not help to increase your abilities faster, it may in fact hinder your progress.
Key:
C – 1/4 Note
E – 1/8 Note
S – 1/16 Note
T – 1/32 Note
v – Down-Stroke
^ – Up-Stroke
Exercise 1: The Down-stroke (Check out the middle section of Dream Theater’s “Pull Me Under”)
E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|–––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––|
|–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–|–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–|
v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v
So, the exercise above is designed to strengthen your right forearm in preparation for the more complex rhythms ahead. Once you can play this rhythm at around 180bpm for at least 2 minutes solidly without tiring, then you are well on the way to becoming a much better rhythm guitarist.
Exercise 2: Alternate Picking (Check out the intro of Trivium’s “Enter the Conflagration”)
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–|–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–0–|
v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^
This second exercise introduces us to another technique commonly used in pretty much every style of music involving a guitar. Each note should be picked cleanly and evenly, alternating between down and up-strokes. I’m not going to insult you by explaining what an up-stroke is, ‘cause if you are reading this then you should already know, right? Anyways, try playing this technique with a metronome again, aiming at around the 180bpm mark for advanced players. Oh, and for those of you who are thinking “Yup, that’s me, I’m amazing, he called me advanced”, just shut up and go back to having no social life, or go for 250bpm, then you can happily boast your asses off. But not here. No one cares.
Exercise 3: The Gallop (Check out the Breakdown to Lamb of God’s “Black Label”)
S S E S S E S S E S S E S S E S S E S S E S S E
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––-–|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–0–0–0––0–0–0––0–0–0––0–0–0–|–0–0–0––0–0–0––0–0–0––0–0–0–|
v ^ v v ^ v v ^ v v ^ v v ^ v v ^ v v ^ v v ^ v
This third technique is widely used in death and speed metal, giving a sharp and aggressive feel to the rhythm of the music. This technique was first popularised by English metal band Iron Maiden, in particular verse and chorus rhythms in their songs involved high speed repetitions of the move. This move should create a one-two-three-rest one-two-three-rest feel to your rhythms. Perhaps start really slow, counting the beats in your head or out loud, to a metronome of course, and gradually up the tempo as you feel more confident. Yet again, do not go too far above your comfortable level, as the faster you go the sloppier you become, and you may develop bad habits. I know I did and so cannot stress this point enough.
Exercise 4 + 5: Adding Complexity (Check out Paul Gilbert’s “Technical Difficulties”)
|–3–| |–3–| |–3–| |–3–| |–3–| |–3–| |–3–| |–3–|
S S S E S S S E S S S E S S S E S S S E S S S E S S S E S S S E
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–0–0–0–0––0–0–0–0––0–0–0–0––0–0–0–0–|–0–0–0–0––0–0–0–0––0–0–0–0––0–0–0–0–|
v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^
Yeah, it’s impossible to write triplets in the new version of Word that line up, which kinda sucks. Anyways, this exercise expands on the alternate picking idea, using a more complex rhythm note; the 16th note triplet. Try this at around 150bpm for advanced guys, or maybe 100 - 120bpm for less technically proficient players (Don’t worry, you’ll get there eventually).
S E S E S E S E S S S S S E S E S E S E S S S S
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–––––––––––––––––––––––––-–––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|
|–0–0––0–0––0–0––0–0––0–0–0–0–|–0–0––0–0––0–0––0–0––0–0–0–0–|
v ^ ^ v v ^ ^ v v ^ v ^ v ^ ^ v v ^ ^ v v ^ v ^
This is out last technique I’m going to cover today. Don’t know what to call this one, so I’m going to call it the Up-Down Gallop, ‘cause that’s kinda what it is. This is one of my personal favourite rhythms, especially coupled with bouncing notes on the E-String on every 1st note of the couples. This in turn can be combined with hammer-ons and pull-offs, creating a really funky and syncopated rhythm, which sounds and look kinda cool, especially with the constant up-down drill of the right hand. This rhythm may look easy in theory, but is definitely not for the faint hearted, and only those completely secure with the other techniques I have covered should attempt this. Just go for this at any tempo you feel like. There was no tempo I could find which would prove a challenge enough for those who are able to complete all other challenges I have set throughout the text.
This concludes my “Rhythm Guitar for Intermediate to Advanced Players” lesson. I hope you have enjoyed this lesson, and it has helped to push you into new areas of playing and new styles of music. I know these techniques certainly gave me the edge I needed to create far more complex and interesting songs.
Troubleshooting To Guitar Techniques
Hello metallers, grungers and wannabee slashes. I'm Sion Atkinson. Now you may be wondering 'if I haven't heard of you before how can I be certain that what you are teaching is top notch stuff. I would answer that by saying that I've practised these techniques and found that I've not got anywhere with them. Until, my teacher taught me how to do them properly. And so I'm writing this to prevent this happening to you. Over the next lessons, I'm going to provide lessons on how to sweep pick, hammer ons and pull offs (groan)and lots of other useful crap.
Hammer Ons And Pull Offs
I know. There are thousands of articles on this subject but many don't know how to execute them properly. When you hammer on and pull off, you want to make sure that the high notes and low notes sound equally loud. Therefore, you have to apply more force with your left hand fingers when they pull off or hammer on than you do when you use a pick to play the notes. If you're hammering on, make sure the string hits the fingerboard as this helps the string vibrate more.
Pull offs are a lot trickier, especially if you're using your 3rd and 4th fingers. When pulling off you want your pull off finger to move in a horizontal direction so you pull your finger off the string. Trust me, the amount of people (myself included) who just lift their finger off the string is enormous. And if you bend the string (which you shouldn't unless told to do so in the tablature), support the string with other fingers so it doesn't move. However if you're pulling off to an open string like so
e 5p0 7p0 8p0 7po
b 5p0 6p0 8p0
g
d
a
e
Try and control how much you pull off. You could pull off earlier instead of dragging the string with your finger by accident.
Another example would be
e 8p5p0h8p5p0h8p5p0h4h7p0h4h7p0
b
This shows how you can mix hammer ons and pull offs together. It shows how important it is to make them loud otherwise the notes will fade out (unless you're using loads of distortion.
Here's an example from one of my own solos
e 12
b 15p12 12 15p12 17p12 14
g 15 15p14p12
d 14
a
e
This includes a pull off from the 4th finger to the 3rd on the last phrase which is quite tricky. Be sure to practise before playing the whole lick.
Even Kurt Cobain used them and he wasn't one of the most proficient players around. Here's the main riff from 'Man who sold the world'
e
b
g 2 2 2 0 2p3p2p0
This would make a great excercise if you moved it by one fret each time until you reached the twelth fret.
Other Examples
You might want to listen and check tabs to the following songs 'Battery' by Metallica, Anything by Alterbridge They also use hammer ons from nowhere. 'Crush day' by Joe Satriani. 'Whiskey in a jar' by the one and only Thin Lizzy. Also check other lessons on the website for excercises. They really do help!
O.K. my work is done. Please post any comments if you'd like to tell me what technique I should write about next which you need help with.
Troubleshooting. Part 2
Hello to all guitar hungry people out there. Thanks for posting some comments, I'll keep making the naked tabs from now on. I've tried to include two mini lessons into one because
1. I forgot to include something in my last lesson.
2. I'm gonna cover something which appears in these lessons a lot.
Part 1. Hammer Ons From Nowhere
As I mentioned previously, Alterbridge uses a lot of legato (fancy word for hammer ons and pull offs)in their solos. After all, if you are hammering onto notes all the time, why don't you hammer onto strings to save you from getting your picking hand confused?
C major excercise
e
b
g
d LH7h9h10
a LH7h8h10
e LH8 (tap onto the fret 8 with your index finger)h10
The sign LH indicates to hammer on from nowhere with your left hand fingers, and you just have to apply the same rules as you do for normal hammer ons. For those who didn't check out the last lesson, you just tap the string with your fingertip until the string hit's the fingerboard. It will provide enough force to make the note vibrate and therefore you get the note. Just make sure you hammer on on the fret shown after the sign. In a way, it's kinda like a right hand tap (using your middle finger to tap a note which I'll show another time) except on the left hand.
Try this moving this excercise up and down the fingerboard, like so
e
b
g
d LH7h9h10p9
a LH8h9h11p9
e LH9h10h12p10p9
or how about this
e
b
g
d LH5h7h8p7p5
a LH5h6h8 LH8p6p5
e LH5h6h8 LH8p6p5
This will help all your fingers become strong and quick so that your hammer ons and pull offs will sound great. If you've checked other lessons on this site, apply this technique to other excercises on here. It's f--king tricky at first, but you can do it with patience.
Last but not least, make sure you put these ideas into practise and properly. If you don't, you risk practising bad habit's in the future. Tricky techniques like this require patience and repetition, so you should at least do this kind of stuff for 10 minutes every day. It's not long, compared to how much Steve Vai used to practise everyday, and with each day you will notice an improvement if they are done properly. For now, I also suggest you keep the distortion as little as possible until you can do this cleanly. Sorry to nag at you but I'm just trying to help.
All right that's it. Next lesson I'll help with right hand tapping. Keep shredding!
Hendrix Rythm Spice
Ok first. I'm actually 13 so I'm pretty young and fiddle about with my guitar a lot and been watching a heck of a lot of hendrix vids to realise what he does, lets start.
If you look at the way hendrix plays his chords, there not barre chords but he does play them up the frets, what he does is uses less fingers to cover a chord and have the remaining fingers to "spice" up the rythm with little touches.
Normal A barre
e|--5--
B|--5--
G|--6--
D|--7--
A|--7--
E|--5--
But Hendrix tries to make the same chord but use less fingers the (number) shows the finger to use
A chord (Hendrix Style)
e|--5-(1)-
B|--5-(1)-
G|--6-(2)-
D|--7-(3)-
A|-------
E|-------
If done correctly, your pinky shall be free, woo! This allows you to improvise with your little pinky in many ways and all that.
For example (ok not really a good one but still)
e|--8p5-5-----5-5---5-
B|--5---8/7p5-5-5---5-
G|--6---6-----6-6h7-6-
D|--7---7-----7-7---7-
A|--------------------
E|--------------------
Of course that's pretty cool and simple, I'm pretty mince at it myself but I'm sure all you good players will have no problem jamming and inprovising with this shape (can obviously be moved around just like a barre chord). If your wondering, a minor just takes your 3rd finger away making it 5,5,5,7 (if you get what i mean). After looking at that, you could be wondering how to do a A shaped barre. Or perhaps looking at the first you may have figured the first but here it is anyways.
D barre chord
E|----
B|--7-(barre with just your first finger)
G|--7-
D|--7-
A|----
E|----
Now of course the barre with the first finger doesn't mean you are limited to only 7 and above. You can use the notes on the 5th fret, you can use that to build this jazzy/blues kind of technique... it's hard to explain, look here.
e|------------------
B|------7-----7h8-7-
G|------7-----7---7-
D|------7-----7h9-7-
A|--5-5---7/9-------
E|------------------
You may notice a shape from "wind cries mary" and correct, that is the shape and its a brilliant technique I love to do often.
The minor for this may "seem" obvious now I've explained the aboves but in fact what I do to play the minor is do this.
(D minor hendrix style)
e|-----
B|--10-
G|--10-
D|--12-
A|-----
E|-----
I've moved it up 3 frets and added my 3rd finger on the D string 2 frets up.
I've pretty much coverd what I wanted to share so I hope some of this stuff was somewhat useful and I hope to get feedback.
Speed Guitar Now. Part 1
We’re flooded with advice on the subject, but is anyone really paying attention to the “SEED”? Furthermore, following it?
My first advice is: Clear your mind, physical exercises are not the first step. Why do you want to play faster?
a) To express something that cannot be expressed slowly?
b) To impress someone?
c) To play a song at its original tempo?
d) Because you don’t want to be limited in your playing?
e) Because it’s cool?
f) Etc.
If “a,” then you’ve probably heard someone expressing something really cool that you couldn’t play. Or maybe you have a melody in your mind that, at slow tempo, would sound weak. Well that’s great; you have a very good reason to increase your speed.
If “b,” then your goal as a result might be disappointing, because once you have achieved your wished speed that person could be not interested at all in your abilities. But, if you’re trying to impress another guitar player, well… you probably know that some guitar players are many times “whinny cretins”, so don’t expect too much of a good response from some of them, even if you’re good.
Better yet, do it and impress yourself! Of course I don’t want to be a downer, there’re people who really are going to be impressed, but don’t take the speed as a guarantee.
If “c,” then you have a good reason, but sometimes is also interesting a song played at a different tempo. And when I say a different tempo I mean slower and faster!
If “d”, that’s great but there’s an issue here, some people don’t know what the limit they want to cross is (more on that ahead). On the other hand, some people think that they’ve reached their limit when they actually haven’t, so keep that in mind.
If “e”, that’s ok, but is this what you really want to do in the long run musically speaking?
So, do you know now why you want more speed? Be honest to yourself.
Ok, if you said yes, then let’s move forward.
My second advice: Now you have to establish the desired speed you want to reach.
If you don’t set certain speed as the goal, you probably won’t strive enough to play faster. This is important, I mean it, don’t have a low opinion of this step or you’ll be fooling around for years.
Ok, this is just the beginning. Don’t underestimate these first steps, a lot of people will and they’re probably the kind of guitar players who always complain and never get any better, don’t be like those downers who think everything is common sense and skip this. On the other hand if you already knew this, then this is a good reminder, now go for it!
Speed Playing. Part 2
In Speed Playing 2 were going to look at some more advanced speed playing techniques to expand your skills and help you shred till your fingers bleed. As before there will be plenty of excersises and tips to help you along the way.
This lesson will be split into 4 sections:
1. Neo-Classical Playing
2. Sweep Picking
3. String Skipping
4. Using these techniques musically
Neo-Classical Playing
Ok so maybe you've heard of this, neo-classical basically means new-classical, as neo in latin meand new. Yngwie Malmsteen uses this style a lot, this style focus on fast paced playing, highly technical phrases and repeat(pedal) licks. Before we start lets just look at 2 scales which neo-classical players use frequently.
Harmonic Minor
A B C D E F G# - 1 2 3 4 5 6 #7
As you can see this simply is an A minor scale with a raised 7th.
Melodic Minor
A B C D E F# G# - 1 2 3 4 5 #6 #7
This is the same A minor scale with a raised 6th and 7th.
The harmonic minor is quite simple, yet the melodic minor is a strange scale because you play it normal ascending, but lower the 6th descending, so it convertes back to the harmonic minor. As you can see in the example below:
E------------------------------5----------------------------------------
B--------------------------6-9---9-6------------------------------------
G--------------------5-7-9-----------9-7-5------------------------------
D--------------6-7-9-----------------------9-7-6------------------------
A--------5-7-8-----------------------------------8-7-5------------------
E--5-7-8-----------------------------------------------8-7-5------------
This is simply the A harmonic minor scale, as you can see its just a copy of the minor scale with a raised 7th.
E------------------------------5----------------------------------------
B--------------------------7-9---9-6------------------------------------
G--------------------5-7-9-----------9-7-5------------------------------
D--------------6-7-9-----------------------9-7-6------------------------
A--------5-7-9-----------------------------------8-7-5------------------
E--5-7-8-----------------------------------------------8-7-5------------
This the A Melodic minor scale, it has a raised 6th and 7th descending and then only a raised 6th descending, or in other words it changes to the harmonic minor scale.
Here are a couple of pedal licks, they seem quite simple but most players play them very fast:
E--12-11-8----8-11-12-11-8----8-11-12-11-8----8-11-12-11-8--------------
B----------11--------------11--------------11--------------11-----------
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----13-15-13----13-17-13----13-17-13----13-17-13----13-17-13----------
B--14----------14----------14----------14----------14----------14-------
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E--17----------------17----------------19----------------19-------------
B-----17-19-20-19-17----17-19-20-19-17----19-20-22-20-19----19-20-22----
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see, these licks sound quite classical and played at high speeds can sound great in solos. That last one will be quite tricky as its so high on the neck ,if you're struggling try it an octave lower.
Lets look at a couple of examples from other songs so you can get an idea of what neo-classical licks can sound like:
Michael Angelo Batio - No Boundaries:
E--------12----13-12-------------15----12-------------------------------
B-----13----13-------15-13-12-15----15----15-13h15p13p12-------13----15-
G--14----------------------------------------------------14-12----14----
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------12----------------------------------------
B--13-12h13p12-------------12----15-13h15p13p12-------------------------
G--------------14-13----13----------------------------------------------
D--------------------14-------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Vai - Eugenes trick bag
E-----------------------------17-15-13------------
B-----13-17-13----15-17-15-13----------17-15-13---
G--14----------16-------------------------------16play this
D-------------------------------------------------part twice
A-------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------
E--------------17-15-13----------19-17-15---------
B-----14-17-14----------17-14-15----------18-17-15
G--14---------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------17-15---------------
B--------15----18-17-15-------------18-17-15------
G-----16----16----------16-17----------------17-16
D--17---------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------
B--------------18-17-15----------18---------------
G-----14-17-14----------17----16----19-17---------
D--15----------------------18-------------19------
A-------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------
As you can see from these 2 licks, there played very fast and high up the neck, usually grouped together but the using the same kind of minor progression.
One last thing were going to look at in neo-classical playing is diminished arpeggios.These are simply a triad but with a minor second and minor (diminished) third. So a C diminished chord would be C, Eb, Gb. These small 3 string arpeggios are a shape which can be repeated on the neck so for example:
E-----------13h16p13----------------13h16p13----------------10h13p10----
B--------15----------15----------15----------15----------12----------12-
G--13h16----------------13h16p13----------------13/10h13----------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------10h13p10--------------7h10p7------------7h10p7-----------
B-----------12----------12---------9--------9--------9--------9-------4-
G--10h13p10----------------10/7h10------------7h10p7------------7/2h5---
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E--2h5p2-----------2h5p2------------------------------------------------
B--------4-------4-------4----------------------------------------------
G----------2h5p2-----------5p2------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
These can be tricky arpeggios, the intial hammer on is quite off putting but you don't have to play them too fast. Diminished can sound good in neo-classical playing but use them sparingly, the occasional one or 2 together with minor or major arpeggios can sound good, but a whole series of them wont.
Sweep Picking
A technique everyone loves, there's so many lessons on UG about this so I'll just break it down into a few small vital tips:
1. The main focus of sweep picking is synchronisation. Sometimes your fretting hand will move to fast and sometimes your picking hand will move too fast. Remember to play very slowly and follow both hands equally, it's much better to play slow accurate arpeggios than fast sloppy ones.
2. Muting. One of the most annoying things when you but some distortion on sweep picking is unwanted noise. Your fretting hands needs to fret the note exactly as you play it and leave as soon as the note is heard. Your picking hand can aslo slighlty drag down gently on the bridge to mute as you go. Don't mute heavily ,just a slight mute especailly on the lower strings.
3. Emphasing the lowest and highest note. Especially with 5 string and minor arpeggios, making sure the lowest and highest note is heard clearly will make your arpeggios sound nicer. Focus on hearing that first downstroked note and hit that pull off loud and clean, this gives your arpeggio a rich, noticable sound which stands out.
Major Arpeggios
Ok we know an arpeggio consists of the notes of a traid, so a C major will have the notes C, E, G. So how do we find arpeggios quickly on the fret board and use them. Heres how:
E--------12h15p12----------12h15p12-------------------------------------
B-----13----------13----13----------13----------------------------------
G--12----------------12----------------12-------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a C major, we have a G, then a C, then an E followed by a G. This exact shape can be played anywhere. How do you find the arpeggio? Find the root note on the B string. So heres:
D major
E--------14h17p14----------14h17p14-------------------------------------
B-----15----------15----15----------------------------------------------
G--14----------------14-------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A major
E-------9h12p9---------9h12p9-------------------------------------------
B----10--------10---10--------------------------------------------------
G--9--------------9-----------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E major
E--------16h19p16----------16h19p16-------------------------------------
B-----17----------17----17----------------------------------------------
G--16----------------16-------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This simply shape works perfectly anywhere. What about minor arepggios? They are a bit more tricky but not too far off this style:
A minor
E--------12h17p12----------12h17p12-------------------------------------
B-----13----------13----13----------------------------------------------
G--14----------------14-------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see, the root will be on the G string this time now, but the end note will be the same as the root:
C minor
E-------15h20p15----------15h20p15--------------------------------------
B----16----------16----16----------16-----------------------------------
G-17----------------17----------------17--------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
D minor
E--------17h22p17----------17h22p17-------------------------------------
B-----18----------18----18----------18----------------------------------
G--19----------------19----------------19-------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
F minor
E-------8h13p8--------8h13p8--------------------------------------------
B-----10-------10---10-------10-----------------------------------------
G--10------------10------------10---------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see, a slight different shape but finding it now should be easy.
5 string sweeps and sweep taps:
The 5 string versions of these aren't too difficult and the way to find them is just as easy:
C major
E--------------12h15p12----------------------12h15p12-------------------
B-----------13----------13----------------13----------------------------
G--------12----------------12----------12-------------------------------
D-----14----------------------14----14----------------------------------
A--15----------------------------15-------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This time the root is not only on the B string but the initial A string note, here are some more:
D major
E--------------14h17p14----------------------14h17p14-------------------
B-----------15----------15----------------15----------------------------
G--------14----------------14----------14-------------------------------
D-----16----------------------16----16----------------------------------
A--17----------------------------17-------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E major
E--------------16h19p16-----------------------16h19p16------------------
B-----------17----------17-----------------17---------------------------
G--------16-----------------16----------16------------------------------
D-----18-----------------------18----18---------------------------------
A--19-----------------------------19------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A major
E-------------9h12p9--------------------9h12p9--------------------------
B----------10--------10--------------10---------------------------------
G--------9--------------9----------9------------------------------------
D-----11------------------11----11--------------------------------------
A--12------------------------12-----------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Now for the minor shapes, the same applies with the 3 string versions, the initial note will be the root:
C minor
E-----------------15h20p15----------------------------15h20p15----------
B--------------16----------16----------------------16-------------------
G-----------17----------------17----------------17----------------------
D--------17----------------------17----------17-------------------------
A--15h18----------------------------15h18p15----------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
D minor
E-----------------17h22p17----------------------------17h22p17----------
B--------------18----------18----------------------18-------------------
G-----------19----------------19----------------19----------------------
D--------19----------------------19----------19-------------------------
A--17h20----------------------------17h20p17----------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
F minor
E----------------8h13p8--------------------------8h13p8-----------------
B-------------10--------10--------------------10------------------------
G----------10--------------10--------------10---------------------------
D-------10--------------------10--------10------------------------------
A--8h12--------------------------8h12p8---------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
That last one will be especailly tricky, the finger rollling is tricky, using your 3rd finger will be the best option. You'l need to place the very tip of your finger on the D string as you sweep, then roll your finger down so the flesh of your finger gradualy spreads down the 3 strings.
As for the sweep tapping, the main key is to ready your middle finger and move your picking hand slightly closer to your fretting hand. Then as you hammer-on the E string note, move your hand over and tap the string.
C major
E--------------12h15h20p15p12-------------------------------------------
B-----------13----------------13----------------------------------------
G--------12----------------------12-------------------------------------
D-----14----------------------------14----------------------------------
A--15----------------------------------15-------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
T
E major
E--------------16h19h24p19p16-------------------------------------------
B-----------17----------------17----------------------------------------
G--------16----------------------16-------------------------------------
D-----18----------------------------18----------------------------------
A--19----------------------------------19-------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
T
As you can see, the tapped note is always the root note. One of the main issues here will be getting your picking hand ready to sweep up the strings again, but if you just focus on getting the downward sweep and tap nailed slowly, youl be fine.
String Skipping
String skipping basically means playing a sequence on a string, then changing to a new one thats 2 strings away, so your skipping a string. Players like paul Giblert use licks like these a lot. Here are a few scale string skips:
A minor
E------------------------------------------5h9p5-----5h9----------------
B--------------------------6h8-----6h8----------------------------------
G------5h7p5-----5h7p5-----------------7h9-------7h9--------------------
D----------------------7h9-----7h9--------------------------------------
A--5h7-------5h7--------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
C Phrygian
E------------------------------------------8h11p8-----------------------
B------------10h11p10----------------10h11------------------------------
G-------8h10--------------------------------------10p8------------------
D---------------------10p8------8h10------------------------------------
A--8h10------------------------------------------------8h10p8-----------
E--------------------------9h11-----------------------------------------
E Dorian
E--------------------------0h2--------------------02p0------------------
B----------2h3----------------3p2---------3p2---------------------------
G----------------------2h4--------4p2---------2h4-----------------------
D------0h4-----4p0------------------------------------------------------
A------------------2h4----------------4p2-------------------------------
E--0h2-------------------------------------------------0h2--------------
All I've done here is chosen a few notes at random from a few scales. Next we'll do a couple of arpeggios:
G major 7th
E--------------10h14p10-------------------10h14p10----------------------
B-----------------------------------------------------------------------
G--------11h12----------12p11-------12p11----------12p11----------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A--10h14----------------------10h14----------------------10h14----------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
C major
E-----------7h10p7--------------7h10p7----------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------7h9--------9p7------7h9--------9p7------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A--7h10----------------7h10-----------------10p7------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A minor
E----------5h8p5-------------5h8p5--------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------------------------------------
G------6h9-------9p6-----6h9-------9p6----------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A--5h9---------------5h9---------------5h9------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a series of arpeggios played melodicaly, I used the same example in my tapping lesson, but the same can apply here. Like sweep picking, you must let go off the strings exactly after youve played them, you can also keep your picking hand's palm close to the bridge to mute those annoying lower strings that always ring out.
Using These Techniques Musically
Ok heres a few licks for you to try out. First a neo-classical lick:
E--------------------------------12----12h15----------------17-15-13----
B-----12-15-12----12-16-12----13----13-------13----12-14-16----------17-
G--13----------13----------14-------------------11----------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------19-17-15-------------
B--15-13----------------16----------------19-17-15----------17-15-------
G--------17-15-14----17----17-19-17----19------------------------10h13--
D-----------------16----------------18----------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----10h13p10----------13-11-10-------------------13h19p13-------13-17-
B--12----------12----------------13-11-10-------15-------------15-------
G-----------------10h13-------------------13h16-------------16----------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Next is a sweep picking lick:
E--------------16h19p16-------------------------10h14p10----------------
B-----------17----------17-------------------12----------12-------------
G--------16----------------16-------------11----------------11----------
D-----18----------------------18-------12----------------------12-------
A--19----------------------------19/14----------------------------14/17-
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------14h17p14------------------------9h12p9----------------------
B--------15----------15------------------10--------10-------------------
G-----14----------------14-------------9--------------9-------------12--
D--16----------------------16-------11------------------11-------14-----
A-----------------------------17/12------------------------12/15--------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----12h15p12----------------------7h10p7----------------------14b(17)-
B--13----------13-----------------8--------8-----------------15---------
G-----------------12------------7------------7------------14------------
D--------------------14-------9----------------9-------16---------------
A-----------------------15/10--------------------10/17------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Now the two combined! :
E-----------------10h15p10-------------------------------15h20p15-------
B--------------11----------11-------------------------16----------16----
G-----------12----------------12-------------------17----------------17-
D--------12----------------------12-------------17----------------------
A--10h13----------------------------10h13/15h18-------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------8h13p8------------------------------13h17p13--
B----------------------10--------10------------------------15-----------
G-------------------10--------------10------------------15--------------
D--17------------10--------------------10------------15-----------------
A-----15h18/8h12--------------------------8h12/13h17--------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------6h11p6------------------------11h15--------
B--15----------------------8--------8-------------------12-------12-----
G-----15-----------------8------------8--------------11-------------11--
D--------15------------8----------------8---------12--------------------
A-----------13h17/6h10--------------------6h10/13-----------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----12h15p-------------------------14h17h20p17p14---------------------
B--12--------12-------------------15----------------15------------------
G---------------13-------------14----------------------14-------------12
D------------------14-------16----------------------------16-------14---
A---------------------15/17----------------------------------17/15------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E----12----------------13h19p13----13h16----------14b(17)--------------
B-13----13----------15----------15-------15----15-----------------------
G----------12/13h16-------------------------14--------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope this helps.
