lesson

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Expand your playing by limiting your options.

Intermediate

Intermediate

  • Learn how to "trick" yourself into creativity.
  • Understand how to focus on a single rhythmic motif through a progression.
  • Develop a better sense of articulation, time, and phrasing.
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Improvisation is one of the great joys in music that celebrates spontaneity and self-expression. It gives us a chance to explore our instrument and what we naturally hear and feel in an open format. Limitations help challenge us to improvise inside specific parameters and, as a result, can break us out of our typical musical vocabulary.

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A gateway into some of the most recognizable Vai-isms.

Advanced

Intermediate

·Develop a deeper sense of subdivisions.

·Learn how to combine odd groupings.

·Perfect the “Yngwie” pattern.

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I had the pleasure of taking part in a project a couple of years back breaking down Steve Vai’s playing on David Lee Roth’s Eat Em and Smile album. Safe to say my fingers were fried after three months of practicing, but there were so many creative ideas to learn from. Late ’80s and early ’90s Vai is really something to behold, as he was featured in huge bands and changed the face of instrumental guitar. I want to look at some technical aspects of what he would do in terms of linear lines and expressions. My hope is that by learning them, you can take them and make them your own. Let’s dive in!

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It doesn’t have to be all cowboy boots and yee-haws!

Intermediate

Beginner

• Learn how to comp using hybrid picking.
• Add nuance to your playing by combining pick and finger string attacks.
• Add speed and fluidity to your lead playing.

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The first thing most guitarists think of when they hear the phrase “hybrid picking” is undoubtedly twangy Telecasters. While that may be the most common use of hybrid picking, it is far from the only application. Diving into hybrid picking opens a whole new world of control, timbre possibilities, ideas, speed, and more.

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