When I dig into a burning solo, I like
to combine different techniques that
can give my lines an interesting feel. In this
lesson, we’re going to combine an intervallic
approach to playing arpeggios with some
wicked hybrid picking.
Displacing certain notes in the arpeggio
and combining them in odd groupings creates
a flowing, angular feel that will make
people say, “Hey! What is that?” These
examples will involve a lot of string skipping,
so in order to play them at breakneck
speeds, we’ll need to use some hybrid picking.
Essentially, hybrid picking is when
you use the other fingers on your picking
hand—usually the middle and ring fingers—
in addition to the flatpick. Hot-rod
country players have been doing this forever,
and we’re going to steal it and combine
it with some pure rock fury.
In the first example shown in Fig. 1,
I’m playing a G#m arpeggio starting on the
b7th. This works really well over the F#m.
Since F# is the second note of an E major
scale, this chord functions as a iim7. This
arpeggio will be our starting point for adding
some intervallic displacement, since
right now it sounds a little plain. Download Example 1 audio...
In Fig. 2 we take the same arpeggio and create a seven-note pattern that will repeat twice. In the example I have notated which finger to use for each string with a representing the ring finger and m indicating the middle finger. The missing last note gives the lick a displaced feeling, but continuing with the 16th-note rhythm adds excitement. The arpeggio is pulled apart by bouncing intervals between the b7 and the lick’s root note, and with the 5th, b3rd, and the b7 occurring an octave higher. In the audio example, I cycle the lick twice so you can hear the connection between the two seven-note patterns.
Download Example 2 audio...
Throughout the years, I’ve been asked
many questions, the most popular being:
How did I develop my technique? More
specifically, what is the best way to increase
picking speed when you seem to have hit the
velocity ceiling?
We’ve all been there. You know the feeling.
You set the metronome to a given speed and
play accurately to the beat. As you increase the
tempo, you eventually max out at the same
point, over and over again. There seems to
be a disconnection between different speeds.
There’s slow, medium, fast and turbo! (And as
you know, all of us aim for turbo, whether or
not we want to admit it.)
I contend that reaching that top speed
sometimes has more to do with a certain feel
than it does just adhering to a strict beat. I
think it physically feels different and we honor
a whole different set of approaches than at a
slower tempo. More so, it’s how we hear or
view the notes we’re playing. Let me explain.
When we’re diligently slaving away, playing
to a fast beat, we’re usually picking to a
standard subdivision of the beat (quarter-note,
eighth-note, sixteenth-note, and so on). It’s
most likely we view each note singularly and
play its subdivisions with an even, unaccented
consistency. This approach is valid and has
served us well up until this point. Yet now, it’s
this point we want to get past.
I’ve noticed that if I group the notes differently
in my mind while accenting certain
ones I get different results. If I think of a
grouping or a phrase of notes instead of just
the single notes, I experience a much different
feel, and therefore, a different result on
the guitar. The key to this is that I accent a
certain note in each phrase, and that note
becomes my focus point.
As I’m playing this grouping of notes, I
make sure that my “focus note” lands on a
certain beat. As long as I make sure this note
lands consistently on a particular beat, all the
other notes in the phrase move accordingly
around it. By placing the accent on a certain
beat, we automatically delineate the phrase.
This gives us our grouping feel.
Fig. 1 shows a scale broken down to groupings.
I find that more often than not, the
accented note is not the first note in the phrase,
but rather the phrase’s highest or last note.
The accented note is the key to making this
approach work. I aim for it and by doing so, all
the other notes in the phrase fall into place. Download example audio...
This approach also translates to other guitar
techniques. Take sweep picking, for example.
I’ve always viewed sweep picking as a “timeless”
technique—not in any historical sense, but in
the sense that you can fit a sweep (regardless
of how many notes it contains) into a required
space by viewing it in groups or phrases.
Now take a look at Fig. 2, where I play
some arpeggios with unusual groupings. To
accomplish this, I have to treat each arpeggio
as one grouping or phrase and make sure that
the first note of the group falls on the quarter
note (in this example). Don’t be intimidated
by the value or numerical grouping of the
notes. Remember, this phrase is only as fast as
the tempo you choose, so it looks scarier than
it really is. The audio example that illustrates
this concept is a song called “Magnus 212”
from my upcoming CD, 212. You’ll hear
some other grouping examples in this audio
clip as well. Download example audio...
The advantage of this approach is that it feels different to play these riffs if the notes are grouped and the phrases have an accent in them. I believe that viewing fast lines this way opens up your technique, because it feels different to play with accents and groups instead of playing straight up with the metronome. Where you would think of one note, now you can visualize a phrase around it.
After covering various techniques
and approaches over
the past few columns, I figure it
might be fun to combine some
of these ideas to create new licks
and sequences. In the following
examples, I’ll combine string
skipping, barring, and hammer-ons
from nowhere.
Fig. 1 involves the use of a diminished arpeggio sequence that merges all three of the above concepts. The combination of big interval jumps generated by string skipping and the hyper-speed possibilities provided by the barre, creates the potential for an insane-sounding result.
To play these examples, I recommend hybrid picking (plucking strings with one or more of the available picking-hand fingers in addition to the pick), as it makes it easier for you to execute these ideas and make them sound tighter.
Fig. 2 is a long melodic exercise that also combines barring and string skipping. In this example, we’re outlining a classic chord progression in the key of D major using major and minor triad arpeggios. This passage is designed with a triplet feel and alternates between two very distinctive 12-note sequences.
The arpeggiated F# minor triad involves a huge stretch between the 10th and 16th frets. If you find this physically impossible, simply change the F# (16th fret, 4th string) to E (14th fret, 4th string). It will no longer be a genuine arpeggio, but it will still sound great. The overall concept is much more important than the actual notes.
Combining these techniques yields many possibilities, so I recommend experimenting on your own. You may be surprised with what you discover.