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Mailbag: Picking / Smoothing It Out
(19 Oct 02)
More Picking/Legato exercises
OK, this is not supposed to be another article about the stretch-pentatonic. The idea was to work on your picking / legato-combinations. So lets take a look at some different licks using that technique!
Here are two sequences in A Minor. Listen to "Frenzy" for some licks in that area of the neck, also using a picking / legato-combination. Move this one around, and try it on different string-combinations. Be creative!
K, let's add some more string-skipping to break out of our sequences once more, incorporating some rather big interval-leaps... check this one out:
The key's A Minor for that one. Of course you'll immediately notice that this time, we're hammering and pulling on the lower (G-) string and alternate-picking on the higher string. Try to move this one up and down the neck (and make sure you don't hear the B-string at all!)
When I said "Move it up the neck", I meant something like this:
String-Skipping can sound really cool, and tone-wise, it can help you to break out of the same old licks a bit... And once you really work on your picking- , legato- and muting chops, it ain't that hard anymore to adjust to string-skipping.
Here's the decending version, still in the key of A Minor:
Here's the same thing with a slight difference:
Right, we are now "legato-ing" on the G-String and alternate-picking on the high E-string. Experiment with that. Decide for yourself which version sounds better. As I said, the picked notes stand out a bit more compared to the hammered / pulled off ones.
And here, once again, one of my favorite licks, the famous "Nuno / Gary Moore"-repeating lick. This one uses a nice combination of picked, hammered and pulled off notes, giving it a smoother sound and maybe making it a bit easier than it is when you pick each note...
Believe it or not, I am done, and I don't even have a long-winded boring conclusion as usual... go figure...
Happy picking!
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Eric started playing the guitar at age 10. He attended GIT and studied with Scott Henderson, Brett Garsed, Dan Gilbert amo. Eric is involved in several bands and recording projects and his instrumental debut - Hidden Creek - plus his instructional book Talking Hands - A Guide To Contemporary Lead Guitar Techniques is available HERE
Visit his website at www.ericvandenberg.net
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