Thursday, April 30, 2009

Slide Guitar - Blues Lick in Open G


A beginner level blues slide guitar lick in open G tuning. I broke my only slide so used a bottle and playing over the neck.For best results a real slide and usual technique would work best.This guitar lick uses pick and fingers.
Open G tuning is used a lot by slide guitar blues players and
some rock bands favor it notably the Rolling Stones
and Black Crowes. Open G tuning from low to high is:
DGDGBD

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Open G Blues Guitar Lick " Dead Seagull Blues"


A guitar lick in open G from a solo blues instrumental song I'm
currently writing called "Dead Seagull Blues". The song version is going to be slower and on acoustic guitar but I like this using electric at an upbeat tempo as well. Open G tuning is used a lot by slide guitar blues players and some rock bands favor it notably the Rolling Stones and Black Crowes. Open G tuning from low to high is:
DGDGBD

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Dorian Mode Guitar Lick


Guitar Lick in D Dorian Mode resolving to the flat third F. A clean jazz blues guitar lick. The Dorian mode alters the major scale by flattening the third and the seventh notes. In the case the D Dorian this alters the F# and C# making them natural. This means that the notes of D Dorian are the same as C Ionian mode which is the C Major Scale. In my opinion it is better to bring out the flavor of the mode thinking of the intervals and underlying chord patterns. I do find it useful to equate to a major scale though just to get a layout of the note choices on the neck.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Guitar Lick - G Major Pentatonic Scale


A beginner level country guitar run based around the G Major Pentatonic scale. As you can see in the tab and video the lick begins on the 20th fret with a bend and hold technique combined with a fretted note to produce a double stop. This is a beginner level use of the technique. Advanced country players use variations of this concept to emulate the sound of a pedal steel guitar.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Guitar Lick Sliding Chord Pattern


This is a guitar lick based around a sliding chord pattern. Once you get this under you fingers from the video and tab examples try altering the rhythm and picking patterns to make up your own guitar licks and riffs. You can also use this type of pattern based guitar idea with other chords and shapes to create music phrases. Try some altered tunings with this type of playing and incorporate some droning open strings and you can create some interesting sounds as well. Have a great Friday. I'm off to see the PEI guitar festival on the weekend should be a great event!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Jazz Guitar Chord Progression


Today's guitar lick is based around a clean jazz chord progression. I was just
practicing some jazz guitar chords and stumbled upon this brief chord sequence
that I liked.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Chromatic Guitar Lick


A jazzy chromatic guitar lick with video and tab as usual to kick off Wednesday.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Flat Picking Country Guitar Lick


Here is a flat picking country guitar lick in G. Even if this is not your regular genre or style of guitar playing learning some basic flat picking guitar licks is a great way to brush up on your alternate picking technique.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Rhythm Based Guitar Lick


A guitar lick based around rhythm fills over a chord Progression in the key of G. For a master example of this style check out "Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix.



Thursday, April 16, 2009

Country Guitar Lick in G


A little country guitar lick in G. A pretty typical guitar run using lots of open string pull offs and legato technique.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Country Guitar Lick


A country guitar lick filling the transition from an F to G chord progression.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Guitar Lick Open String Pull Off Mixolydian Mode


An guitar lick based around E Mixolydian Mode using open strings and
legato technique. Lots of great metal bands incorporate open string runs and legato
to make some great riffs. Check out "Thunderstruck" by ACDC and "Wasted Years" by Iron Maiden for two great examples.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Wide Interval Guitar Lick - Mixolydian Mode


An E Mixolydian Mode guitar lick using wide intervals and slides. This lick
resolves the the D note so try playing it over an E7 chord to
bring out the full effect of the flat seventh.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

E Mixolydian Mode Guitar Lick


This short guitar lick based on the E Mixolydian mode has a lot
of twists and turns to keep your left hand busy. I came up
with this when trying to replicate a guitar lick my teacher
used during a jam session.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Legato Guitar Lick - E Mixolydian


A descending guitar lick based around the E Mixolydian Mode. Once you get
this shape under your fingers you can try extending this pattern up and down the neck
and create your own runs with it. Try this over an E7 chord.

Monday, April 6, 2009

E MIxolydian Mode Guitar Lick


An ascending guitar run based on the E Mixolydian Mode. Try this
over an E7 Chord. This lick uses legato technique with lots of hammer ons.
Try to make it as smooth and flowing as possible. You can also vary the guitar lick
by muting and picking some of the lines and using legato on others. This use of contrast is a good way to spice up runs. In the video and tab example however,
I've stuck to straight legato playing.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Legato Guitar Lick


A short legato guitar lick. Try expanding this pattern to move either vertically or horizontally up the guitar neck. Hey if your really adventurous do both. Have a great weekend!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Guitar Lick - G Major Scale



A guitar lick based around the G Major Scale. I've provided a chord progression you can try this guitar lick over that uses two variations on a G chord that I think sound nice and happy. I figure it's warming up and soon will be baseball weather so why not a happy guitar lick too.