Wah Guitar Lick

A little wah guitar lick using the B Minor Pentatonic Scale.

Caution Watch Out for Your Ears

I've been a bit down on playing lately. Preoccupied with lots of other things and just relatively uninspired. Today I sat down and just improvised over a backing track (from www.freejamtracks.com - used with permission) for the first time in a long time. The jam was pretty scalar in parts and downright atonal in others but it started to get my enthusiasm for playing back and thats why I wanted to share it mistakes and all. It's longer than most people will tolerate but maybe it'll inspire you to just pick up and jam along and not be too concerned about being perfect all the time. Normally my playing is a lot more bluesy but I this is just what I heard over this backing track so that's what I played. In my opinion you gotta try and let music flow through you and express what you feel - that was what I tried to do here.

Cheers.

Triplet Based Wah Guitar Lick

This is a tried and true variation of a classic minor Pentatonic guitar lick that
everyone from Jimmy Page to Kirk Hammett has used. It uses a triplet pattern that ascends the E Minor Pentatonic Scale. Practice coming up with your own patterns using triplets and try incorporating some doubled notes as well. Vary the use of the wah and palm muting to give this lick different sounds. This is a pretty basic cliche type rock lick but when used sparingly is a staple in most rock and metal guitarists arsenals.

Grab the wah Pedal

Here's a guitar lick in the style of Kirk Hammett that makes use of two trademarks Metallica's lead guitarist uses a lot. One is the wah pedal and the other is open string pull offs. I started with the C# Minor Pentatonic scale in mind but in the pull off section I just listened and played what sounded right to my ears.

Pentatonic Scale Lick in the Style of Kirk Hammett

Here's a B Minor Pentatonic Scale guitar lick that is inspired by Kirk's wah crazed licks and solos on Metallica's Black Album. I would recommend almost any track on the album as they contain lots of great licks and solos and some serious wah usuage. If your new to Metallica and love the wah pedal check out Enter Sandman for some awesome wah soloing based around the Minor Pentatonic Scale.

Melodic Guitar in the Style of Kirk Hammett

Today's guitar lick is a melodic based lick that is inspired by early musical interludes Metallica would frequently use in longer ballads. I've given this a bit a of a Celtic twist too. For excellent examples from the masters themselves I recommend "Fade to Black" from the great "Ride the Lightning" album. Frequently when Metallica use this type of melodic passage Kirk and James will play harmonized lines that give a fuller, richer sound to the overall composition. On studio recordings it is common to layer and harmonize several guitars for an almost orchestral sound.

Guitar Lesson site updates

Just a quick note. I apologize for not getting back into the daily swing as quickly as I had planned. I've had a number of commitments to attend to. New guitar lessons and daily guitar licks are being planned and I appreciate your patience. Thanks again for all the great feedback and requests. Your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. For new visitors please check out the guitar licks already posted that may be new to you. For everyone else thanks for putting up with the recent sporadic frequency of posts. Thanks again.

Keep strumming.

Kirk Hammett Style Guitar Lick

Here's a guitar lick in the style of Kirk Hammett's playing hearkening back to Metallica's black album days. It is a moderate tempo piece so I just played it through at regular speed. The guitar lick is based around the E Minor Pentatonic scale. Cheers.

Site Update and Happy Thanksgiving

Had a bit of an extended break from posting new guitar licks but plan to resume updates this week.I appreciate all the feedback on the site and all the positive comments. I've been enjoying the new Metallica album "Death Magnetic" and have enjoyed revisiting a lot of Kirk Hammett's playing on Metallica's back catalog. Inspired by Hammett's playing I've decided to dedicate the next group of guitar licks to some metal soloing primarily using the minor scale and minor pentatonic over some basic metal progressions. I hope to break out the wah pedal again and try to conjure up some old school metal for you. Again look for updates to get back to normal this week and if you your new to the site check out some prior posts for lots of Guitar Licks.

It's Thanksgiving here in Canada. So Happy Thanksgiving.