Hey there Premier Guitarist, what’s going on? I hope you enjoyed last month’s guest column with Bruce Bouillet because he’s back! Bruce was kind enough to “sit in” for another column this month. Remember that if you want me to go over something specifically, or if you have questions about something, I can always be reached at
toshi@toshiiseda.com,
intseguitr@aol.com or for those on MySpace,
myspace.com/toshiiseda. Bruce, you once more have the floor!
Alright folks, Bruce Bouillet here. Grab your favorite git-fiddle and hang on to your shorts because this hybrid picked sequence is a real barnburner. For those of you just getting into the hybrid picking style, let me break it down.
Hybrid picking is a phrase used to describe a style of picking that incorporates one or more fingers of the pick hand working in combination with a pick. In other words, it’s like fingerpicking and regular picking combined all on one hand. The advantages to this are wider interval phrases, less stress on the pick to do all of the work, a cool sonic texture combining the attack of the pick and the pluck of the finger, and the taming of difficult to pick phrases, which will make your playing time easier and more enjoyable. Starting with the notes of the E natural minor scale (E Aeolian), we use the notes E, F#, G, A, B, C and D. Let’s look at two simple phrases you can start hybrid picking on.
Phrase 1
Start with your index finger on the low E at the 7th fret and picking it, then hammering at the 8th fret with your middle finger. Then, with the index finger on the A string at the 7th fret, pluck the string with the middle finger of your pick hand and use your pinky to hammer down on to the 10th fret.
Phrase 2
In this phrase, start with your middle finger on the low E at the 8th fret. Pick the string,place your index finger on the A string at the 7th fret and pluck with your middle finger. Hammer down on the 10th fret with your pinky. Place your ring finger on the 9th fret of the D string and pick. Repeat this sequence in the next two position of E natural minor.
Using these two phrases back to back creates a unique ascending phrase; once you’ve got those short phrases under your fingers, have a go at the final passage – it really
sounds like you’re doing a lot once it’s up to speed. Even though it is diatonic in form, it sounds like you’re playing a lot of adult notes – definitely a little bit of Shawn Lane’s influence shining through. You can actually hear examples of these riffs in action on my new solo CD, Interventions and on my first solo album, Unspoken. Until next time, we’ll see you on the road!
Full exercise:
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Toshi Iseda
Toshi Iseda is an Alumnus of the prestigeous Berklee College of Music and the American Conservatory of Music. He has been featured in Guitar Player, Guitar World and Guitar/Guitar One Magazines, and is a former instructor at the National Guitar Workshop and former instructor at the American Institute of Guitar.
toshi@toshiiseda.com
intseguitr@aol.com
www.TOSHIISEDA.com
myspace.com/toshiiseda