Legato

[GuitaRR]

Hi guys

i'm trying to learn legato but im having some problems...i cant get it to sound smooth and theres too much noise.

also, im not too sure how to execute it...as in when to pick and when not to.

for e.g. the lick attached is from a song and they play it really fast and its played using legato (excuse the tab im new to this software)...mine sounds really messed up, and if played with alt picking just doesnt sound smooth enough...

if playing this using legato when would i pick? and would anybody mind playing the lick for me using legato?

[Heyjoe87]

Do you practice legato with a metronome? I've been practicing legato with my metronome and noticed my legato is more in control rather than whacked out like it used to be. I would suggest to play at a tempo that is challenging but not really difficult to pull off. try 8th notes and then 16th. If you mess up on the 16 notes, stop then lower the tempo. You might also want to try bursts which is playing a fast part accurately, but for only a couple seconds. :)

[Strum]

When to pick...well personally, I pick each string once (assuming i'm doing a run like the one you've mentioned) and do the rest legato. Start slow, and build up speed gradually but making sure the notes are clear and of equal volume. As for the recording, i'll do that in a bit...

EDIT: There...excuse the sloppiness :p

[MJK]

Try using that neck pickup. Personally, I like the sound of picking the start of every descending triplet, i.e. pick every 3rd note starting with the first, which also gives it a nice accent.

In the attached .mp3 I play it first as I just described (pick the start of every triplet), then picking only the first note when I change strings, then finally as pure legato (bridge pickup, muting strings at the neck)

Lots of different ways as you can see to keep it clean.

[forgottenking2]

lol MJK I just noticed your signature. Poor Johnny, I am sure he ended up hollow inside.

[freaksauce]

I don't know if you are doing this already but practice your legato licks with a clean tone before you go adding any distortion, that way you will hear where you're missing notes or note fingering the notes cleanly. Start practicing very slowly and let you're fingers get used to the patterns and build strength. If your fingers are strong enough you won't even need to pick!

[GuitaRR]

Wow guys thanks for the replies...i get it now.

[EricV]

Indeed.. try to build up strength in all fingers, even the pinkie. I put a "6 min trill exercise" into one of my articles, sorry I dont remember which one. It is supposed to help building up strength. One part involved putting index-,middle- and ringfinger along the string (like frets 5,6 and 7) and then leaving them in place while hammering with your pinkie. Might be hard at first, but if you do this on a regular base, youll build up strength, precision, speed and stamina.

The advice about the metronome is essential, as legato (just like sweeping) might cause you to rush certain notes, or have an uneven timing, and you wanna avoid that. Might sound choppy, uneven...bad.
And of course, muting is essential as well. I recently worked on a legato lick with a student, and he was supposed to do a pull-off from a fretted note on the high e-string to the open string. And whenever he did, he would generate noise, it was the b-string ringing. Once we figured it out, we worked on rectifying that. A lot of times, the importance of muting isnt mentioned, and I see why, because after some time, it becomes second nature, and I guess I dont even notice doing it anymore, but it is important for the legato-playing to sound better, more accurate, cleaner.
Using a clean-tone definitely is a good idea, but I also recommend to keep switching between a clean and a distroted sound every once in a while, because with distortion, you might get unwanted noises that you dont notice with a clean sound, so you wanna check that out too.
Anyway, hope this helps
Eric

[Padawan]

Good advice, I just want to ad that you should also work on your slides, here is a little exercise. You should do it all over the neck and on every string.