Guitar Exercise 8ths and 16ths

This guitar lick expands on a lesson Paul Gilbert wrote in the latest Premier Guitar see a few posts back for the link. In this guitar exercise I am using just four notes notes D and C and A and G  in two different locations on the neck. The first set is the D at the third string 7th fret and the C on the 5th fret the A and G are on the same frets just on the fourth string. The second position for these notes is the 7th fret G string and 10th fret 4th string for the D and C and again up to the 4th and 5th string for the A and G notes. Now in this exercise you are going to play D,C,A,G first in eight notes with a downstroke and then the same combinations for 16th notes. Then you switch to the next position and do the same just begin with an upstroke. Start slowly with a metronome and see if you can alternate two beats with eighth notes and 2 beats with 16th notes.

A great lick that starts off with the first sequence is a solo section from the live version of "Suicide Solution" by Ozzy and Randy Rhoads. A more recent song that also uses a similar sequence is "Ravenous" by Arch Enemy.

Ok here are the notes in the two positions shown in guitar tab:

Guitar Exercise: C Major Scale & Legato

This is a great guitar exercise for learning the fretboard, scales and practicing legato at the same time. I used the B string and C Major scale as an example but you can apply this exercise to different scales, strings and positions on the guitar fretboard. Basically you use all legato no picking. The sequence is hammer on from nowhere, pull off hammer on hammer on and then pull off pull off then move up to the next sequence of three notes and keep going within the notes of the C Major Scale. The tab notation should make this clear but let me know if anyone needs more explanation. In the guitar tab example below I started with the C note at the 13th fret B string and moved the sequence down the neck. Once you get used to this guitar exercise try moving the sequence up a few times then down at random while staying within the notes of the scale.

Pole Vaulting with Paul Gilbert

Thought I'd share this article from the latest Premier Guitar issue. Paul Gilbert gives some great exercises and licks to develop string crossing picking and legato guitar playing.

Shred Your Enthusiasm: How to Practice Pole-Vaulting

Guitar Exercise - Alternate Picking Altered Tuning

Today's guitar lick is in the same detuned guitar tuning we have looked at for the past couple of days. Check the other posts if you need a further explanation but the tuning is detuned from low to high DGDGGD. This guitar lick has a kind of piano sound to my ears. It is all 16th notes and makes a great alternate picking guitar exercise. Start slowly and work through the lick with a metronome gradually increasing the speed as you can play perfectly at each successive tempo. Try to use strict alternate picking. Here is the guitar tab:

Altered Tuning and Chromaticism

Ok not sure if this is much more musically relevant than the last post but I think this guitar lick is really fun to play. I just came up with it and it is a bit of a twisty lick. It sounds best if you get it around 120 bpm. I'm well under that at the moment but it does make a great practice lick for finger independence. The tuning for the lick is the same as the last post the guitar from low to high is detuned DGDGGD. The 6th, 5th and 1st strings on the guitar are dropped a whole step and the second string is lowered to a G to match the third string.

If this type of guitar lick appeals to you I would recommend practicing with a metronome and strive for consistent 16th notes. Ok here is the guitar tab.

The guitar lick starts off with a funky 16th note intro using muted strings and hammer ons.The lick then progresses to a descending patterns on the second and third strings. Next there is a sequence of ascending notes played on the first three strings. I play the first string with a down stroke and then upstroke for the next two notes. In the final bar there is a real tricky sequence. Experiment with different fingerings to see what works for you. I use one finger per fret until the notes on the 15th fret which I bar with my middle finger. The lick ends with a flashy little pull off section and repeats back into the intro.

Altered Tuning Guitar Licks

Usually when I try altered tuning guitar licks I am trying to emulate the feel and or sound of middle eastern music and instruments. A great Canadian band ( now broken up) to master this was the Tea Party. Jeff Martin has continued to explore middle eastern influences with his new band and solo career. However today's guitar lick has absolutely no connection with this genre. I was playing around with an altered tuning on guitar and came up with a little lick that sounded more like a happy cowboy lick from the 50's or a really syrupy tv jingle.Anyway here it is. DM me on twitter if you need the powertab @jimifan. Here is the guitar tab:

The tuning for the lick is DGDGGD. All altered notes are lowered. So the 6th,5th and 1st strings are lowered a whole tone and the second string B is lowered to a G. You'll note that all you end up with are two notes D and G. This guitar lick was a little bit sappy but the next couple days will look at this tuning and see if we can't extract some more relevant musical ideas from this tuning.
Happy trails.

Drop D Clean Guitar Lick #2

Here is another guitar lick in Drop D tuning that uses a clean sound. This a more of a pop rock style guitar lick. If you have a delay pedal or some chorus use that to color the clean sound of the guitar a bit. The guitar lick alternates with a simple pattern that is played in different octaves. The lick relies heavily on the open D strings on the 4th and 6th strings to ring out. If you like this like try extending the pattern with more notes that sound good to you. The guitar lick uses all eighth notes and repeats at the end. Let the notes ring out especially the open string ones. Here is the guitar tab: