Guitar Study
Advanced Modern Legato
Total lessons in study:
In this study we get an in-depth analysis of modern legato, along with several examples on how to apply it in real-world musical situations.
1. Tom Quayle on Legato and Hybrid Picking
Hi there guys and welcome to this tutorial on Legato and Hybrid picking that I've entitled Modern Legato Application/Approach.
In this lesson I'm introducing you to 5 examples of phrases or lines that I often play when improvising. We'll be playing scale like figures and lots of arpeggios through many positions on the neck...Read More
Right! On to the application of this legato approach.
These preliminary exercises are designed to help you warm up and develop your legato and hybrid picking.
Preliminary exercise no.1 is based on a G major scale but is 'souped' up with some chromaticism to spice things up a little. This is the kind of thing players such ...Read More
Right, here we go!
First of all I need to point out that all of these examples are written out in my 4ths tuning - in other words I'm tuned from low to high - E A D G C F. I've done this to represent these phrases in the form they'd be if I was to improvise them. I've given you standard tuned versions at the end of the tut...Read More
Now onto exercise 2! Hope you got on okay with exercise 1! This one is also over a G major tonality.
Things become a bit trickier now with some fairly big stretches. Make sure you're warmed up for this one! The first section of this line is a Gadd9 arpeggio played over 3 octaves. I use my first finger to barre across the 5...Read More
Some of example 3 should be familiar to you as it borrows some ideas from example 1, namely the descending Gmaj7 arpeggio at the end of the line. Again, the line is over a G major tonality.
The difficulty with this phrase comes from the slides performed with the little finger or pinky sliding from the 11th to 12th fret on ...Read More
Here's example number 4.
Now, in this example, again over a G major tonality, I use some pretty unorthodox stretches between my 1st and 2nd finger stretching between the 5th and 2nd frets on the A string. I do this because it allows me the best attack and control during the phrase. However, if this feels completely weird o...Read More
Right! Hopefully you've still got some energy left in those fingers to tackle this final example.
Unlike the previous lines which were constructed over a Gmajor tonality, this one moves between two separate tonalities - G Dorian and Bb Dorian. Having the ability to construct or improvise phrases moving between various scal...Read More
Here's the TABS for standard tuning. Note that some of the examples have altered fingerings to compensate for the B string in standard tuning.
Pay attention to any fingerings written underneath the TABS - be sure to compare these to the versions in 4ths tuning to see any differences and advantages/disadvantages to each ver...Read More
2. Al Joseph's Legato Applied to Rock and Metal
Welcome to this tutorial on legato! Stay relaxed for this one, folks.
1. Make sure fingers stay as close to the fretboard as possible
2. Steady wins the race - If you play or practice at 'your' natural pace with complete accuracy, you will aquire more speed
3. Proper breathing and posture = Stronger pla...Read More
NOTE: You may notice I'm using a lot of pick strokes. But it doesn't mean it's note legato. Through studying guitar players like Marco Sfogli and Paul Guilbert, I've found that the mixture of using pick strokes can do wonders for making your lines sound punchier and tighter.Read More
Here's a smooth lick inspired by Dream Theater's guitarist, John Petrucci. Guys, watch out for the tricky string skipping here... :-)
Practice this one slowly until you have it down solid. Once you have this one down, go to the next page to practice a lick inspired by Infinite Guitar's Tom Quayle!Read More
This 3rd lick is based on our own Tom Quayle's 'Mordern Legato' technique. Notice how he uses a combination of linear and horizontal movement through the scales? Pretty cool stuff!
Once you have these licks under your belt, be sure to head on over to the next page to test your skills with the backing track!Read More
Have fun with the backing track guys!Read More
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome to my first tutorial of 2014. This month I want to share 5 short but very useful licks with you. Make sure to read through the text and study the tab carefully to get the most from this tutorial.
Good luck guys. Let's have fun this year! :)
Lick #1
I'm starting out with this lick to give you an id...Read More
This is my most played and favorite shape to use when shredding fusion-styled lines. I really abuse this lick so I had to throw it in here for yah! :)
It'll be quite a stretch for most but it's pretty playable.
HELPFUL HINT: Just take your time and always use bigger subdivisions (8th notes as opposed to 16ths if too fast)...Read More
I love this lick so I had to do it. A lot of you have seen this one already. C minor pentatonic, second position, GO!!!
Remember to relax, sit with good posture and make mental notes of how these shapes relate to the intervallic structure of the scale.Read More
This one is definitely a 'Marco Sfogli' lick for sure. When visualizing this one, try thinking within the C minor pentatonic scale.
Remember to relax, sit with good posture and make mental notes of how these shapes relate to the intervallic structure of the scale.Read More
So in this lick, we're using the same shape in the right hand as before. Only this time we're adding our tapping finger.
Remember to relax, sit with good posture and make mental notes of how these shapes relate to the intervallic structure of the scale.
Thanks for a wonderful year! Please make sure to hit me up on the for...Read More
Practice hard with the backing track folks! All 5 licks are tabbed out below.Read More
3. Rick Graham's "Hammer-ons Only"
Hey there and welcome to this month's follow up tutorial. It's hammer time you lot!
Now that you have practiced the basic principles we went over in the previous tutorial, you are ready to take a step forward with your legato technique.
The majority, if not all, of you will be familiar with the standard 'slurring' techniq...Read More
These first set of exercises start with a b minor pentatonic scale. Make sure that throughout the exercises you do not slip back into using pull offs, hammers only gentlemen! Try not to use too much distortion if you can help it. This will really force your technique to keep up and will also help to avoid any unwanted strin...Read More
These next examples start with B Mixolydian. Again, make sure that you are making each note sound with the same volume and tone as the previous and be sure to pay close attention to the weaker index finger.Read More
These final examples are based around simple arpeggio shapes as opposed to the previous scale based examples. The position shifts may require some work and again, try to keep total control over every note that you play keeping everything as even as possible.
Hope you've enjoyed this tutorial and don't forget to head on ove...Read More
Here's the drum backing for you to practice this month's exercises with. Best of luck!Read More