Guitar Study
Learning How to Use Hybrid Picking
Instructors: Rick Graham, Richard Lundmark
Total lessons in study:
Hybrid Picking involves using both a pick and your fingers at the same time. In this study you'll learn how to apply this technique in addition to learning examples and an etude.
1. Hybrid Picking: Overview and Etude
Hey everyone and welcome to this new tutorial on Hybrid Picking!
For the uninitiated, Hybrid Picking is a technique which requires the use of pick and right hand fingers. It's a technique which is used by all manner of guitarists such is the effectiveness of the technique.
There are many benefits to using this technique. ...Read More
Okay guys, check out the video of our Hybrid Picking Solo Study and make any notes that you think will be relevant before we head on over to the breakdown videos. Practice hard and have fun!Read More
Throughout this study we have a recurring right hand pattern which repeats throughout the majority of the piece. Once we have this pattern under our fingers we can concentrate on negotiating the chord changes as smoothly as we possibly can.
I like to think of the right hand pattern in two ways: Ascending we have four group...Read More
We continue the piece with more of the same, this time with a series of descending diminished 7th chords. The fingering stays the same with the exception of the final diminished 7th chord.
These chords are followed by a quite tricky passage which will require extra attention particularly with the right hand fingering...Read More
After the descending slurred passage we find ourselves back on familiar ground with the right hand pattern that by now you should be comfortable with.
This continues until the final Em chord which is a repeat of the pattern we came across back in part 2.
Experiment with your right hand fingering choice during the harmonic...Read More
2. Hybrid Picking Exercises
Welcome to this tutorial on Hybrid Picking!
Hybrid picking is a very useful technique, applicable in many musical styles, ranging from Country to Fusion. In the world of country this technique is called 'Chicken Picking', probably stemming form the fact that in the old days of folk music, guitar players used to flat pick p...Read More
OK, so before we go into the actual sequences we will look at some preliminary exercises that nails the essence of what we will be doing. First off we will do 3-string, 4-note arpeggios going up the scale.
As you can see in the video (and the tabbed examples below) there are a few voicings we can use for this. As most of t...Read More
I this first example, we use the 4-note arpeggio derived from the preliminary exercises. As discussed there, we can then take this up any scale. In this particular example I have used the A Dorian mode, but do try this over any scale or mode. Also, at the end of this tutorial, I have provided you with the Am13 chord I playe...Read More
In example 2, we use the same A Dorian mode, but this time we will also encounter a position shift, moving up the fretboard ascending, and then descending further up the neck. In this example you should note that when descending I'm using a different pattern all together, and use the pick only, in 'Gambale-fashion'.
Those ...Read More
In example 3 it's time for some diminished runs, which we of course all love don't we now!
The Am13 provides an excellent backdrop for the Half-Whole step diminished scale, since it shares may common tones with the A Dorian mode, and is also the diminished mode most commonly used over a jazz/funk or fusion style track (as ...Read More
Example 4 is a kicker! In this one we move into the promised land of pentatonics so get ready to stretch those fingers!
Here we're using the 3-note per string approach to pentatonics, connecting two adjacent positions. We also layer pentatonics on each other going up in minor thirds, so we will play through the Am, Cm, Ebm...Read More
So, we've run through 4 examples of arpeggios now, so it's high time we get down to some linear stuff right?
In example 5 we play the A Dorian scale ascending and descending in a very linear fashion, just to get used to picking every starting note on every new string. This is something that might not be something you want ...Read More
In the final example we have a sequence that combines with arpeggiated and linear ideas. Here, we will also be using hybrid picking both ascending and descending. By now, you should have the two main approaches firmly under your fingers, so this final example should be a breeze! Once through that, the REAL work will begin! ...Read More
Alright guys, here is a 'backing track' of sorts. It's a continuous 4 minute chord, the Am13 used in the examples. So feel free to try out any of the examples over this, or any other things you might have lying around i A Dorian, Diminished, Altered or what not.Read More
3. Hybrid Picking Lines
Welcome to this short ”lick-based” tutorial. This time we’re going to have a look at a Hybrid Picking lick or ”line”. This line was something I came up with in improvisation over an A Dorian groove. Thus, the lick is primarily in the A Dorian mode, apart from the end where I transition into A d...Read More
In this part we’ll first look at the lick slowed down, and then some isolation exercises derived from the lick. I want to note here that I have not notated the isolation exercises to conform to any kind of bar-lengths, that is say 16 notes over 4 bars. Rather, I have isolated the idea itself, and notated it within one...Read More