• How can I improve my strumming?
• How can I come up with interesting rhythm patterns?
• Why is important to develop both hands to be a good guitarist?
• What is the correct thumb position?
• What is flatpicking?
• What are natural and artificial harmonics?
• How do I produce artificial harmonics on my guitar?
• How do I play reggae style guitar?
• How do I play ghost notes?
• How do I stop fret buzz?
• How do I mute strings?
• How high should I set my guitar strap?
• How do I learn to play really fast?
• How do I use my guitar knobs?
• What are some tips for finger nail grooming?
• How do I teach guitar to children?

How can I improve my strumming?

Like just about anything, strumming (and coming up with strumming patterns) can be learned fairly easily. But, and again like just about anything, how good you get will depend on how much effort you put into it. Some people are naturally talented in this area while others will have to work at it.

Surprisingly, the quickest way to learn how to strum doesn’t even involve touching your guitar. Really. Sit back and listen to some music. Any music will do, but if it just so happens to be a song you’re trying to learn, then more power to you. Now, listen. Hear the beat. Listen to the drums and the bass. Tap your feet with the rhythm. Take whichever hand you strum with, rest it on your thigh and tap out a pattern. Start simply … really simply if you have to. Even if it’s just tapping out every beat or every other beat. Once you have a pattern you like, repeat it until you are happy with your consistency. Are you able to keep up with the other instruments? Does your pattern copy theirs? If not (and it really doesn’t have to), does it add to the overall rhythm? Does it overwhelm the rhythm?

Here’s a trade secret for strumming. Get a snare drum book. It will teach just about every possible 4/4 pattern there is. Just pick a bar chord and follow the pattern of note. Use a rake and muffle the strings for the rests. Try shifting to different chords during these patterns. Go through the whole book and that should cover just about every rhythm out there. Do each each exercise until you don’t think about it anymore. It should go from a mathematical counting pattern to a feel. Once you feel the rhythm, move on the next exercise.

For a longer answer see the lesson Keeping Up With The Times.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to strumming and select edit to begin making improvements.

How can I come up with interesting rhythm patterns?

As a rule, the more people you’ve got playing, the less space there is to play around with. And the more people you have playing the same instruments (guitars more than likely) the easier it is for things to get muddy really quickly. The ability to hear and come up with appropriate rhythm parts cannot be passed over lightly.

And that’s just in playing for the fun of it. If your aspirations involve professional work, whether solo or with a band, then your ability to keep appropriate, interesting and varied rhythms are a must. I should point out here that it’s not only beginners who have trouble figuring out a good strumming pattern. But, bless their hearts, they are the only ones who seem to be willing to admit it.

We can tackle this difficult problem from many different angles, but let’s go after the easy solution first. You not only have to be able to keep time, but you also have to appreciate why you keep time. Time is what ultimately holds a song together. I can’t tell you how often I’ve been out to see musicians or bands and have noticed that there seems to be a huge perception gap between a “great,” “good” or “okay” act. Sometimes the “good” and “okay” bands actually have better musical talent than the “great” bands but they just don’t come across all that well. More likely than not, it is simply a matter of the group being in sync with each other. Simple things like starting and ending at the same places or giving dynamic changes in tone, volume or rhythm together as a unit have a powerfully positive effect on the audience. The average listener probably won’t be able to tell you that the lead player muffed a note or that the rhythm guitarist played the wrong chord for a brief moment (unless it was really wrong and really loud). But he or she will be able to tell you if the drums, bass and guitar are all playing at different tempos.

Regardless of your level of ability, you should own a metronome, which is a device that beats time at a pace of your choosing. Like everything else these days, there is no end to the various types you can get. I wouldn’t be surprised to find you could download one from the net. Let me offer one bit of advice, though. Use one that has an audible signal, a click, tick-tock or whatever. A simple flashing light really doesn’t cut it. Just like your eyes do not tell you how something tastes (although they may give you a good idea), they do not measure audible time. Your ears do.

Coming up with strumming patterns is a “growing pain” that everyone (well, just about everyone) goes through. You can even go through “strummer’s block,” when simply for no reason at all, you just can’t seem to get the hang of a particular song. There are times when I cannot get anything to go right and it’s necessary to take a break and “reboot.” Rhythm is one of those things that some people seem to be born with, but it is also something that you can work on to improve your own abilities.

Learn more about coming up with interesting rhythm patterns in the article Keeping up With the Times.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to strumming and select edit to make improvements.

Why is important to develop both hands to be a good guitarist?

I really feel that because so much emphasis on teaching the guitar these days (and let’s be fair, those days too) is on the neck end of the instrument, that a lot of the subtleties of playing the guitar are lost. Both hands are equally important and if you truly want to be a good / better / best guitarist, then don’t ignore practicing and developing techniques for your strumming hand.

It’s an age-old argument. Use a pick or use your fingers? And of course, I’m going to raise the bar and tell you that it’s important to be able to play both ways … with and without a pick.

Like just about everything else concerning the guitar, there are at least eight million “methods” of finger picking. And there are at least as many ways to use a pick as there are ways to use your fingers. Using different picks allows you to achieve numerous different “effects” with your guitar. Also changing the way you hold or use the pick can have different effects too.

The of using both fingers and picks can be found in the article Picking Your Poison. Also of incredible importance to your playing hand is a good strumming technique. A good starting lesson on that can be found in Keeping Up With the Times.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to Developing both hands and select edit to make improvements.

What is the correct thumb position?

There seems to be a real conflict of opinion as to whether this thumb should be pressed against the back of the neck or hooked around it with the flat of the thumb on top of the neck. Most books say to press it against the neck, but some say that although this is the proper way many guitarists use the lazy way. Indeed, most rock guitarists have their thumbs hooked around on top of the neck with the span between the fingers gripping the back of it.

Technically, I use both. Many people think that the thumb should be grabbing or pressing the guitar but the truth, for me anyway, is that the neck of the guitar rests against the thumb. This is a subtle difference but it is important. By not consciously gripping or pressing, my thumb pretty much follows along with the rest of my hand, almost always a mirror to the index finger on the fretboard. By not gripping or pressing, it is free to glide, not only up and down the neck, but also in its position on the back of the neck. This is essential to the way I play because I have small hands and on a thin neck like on most electric guitars, I will “barre” certain chords, say an F chord, by gripping the bass note with my thumb, like this:

E – 1st fret (index)
B – 1st fret (index)
G – 2nd fret (middle)
D – 3rd fret (pinky)
A – 3rd fret (ring)
E – 1st fret (thumb)

When I play a D chord, I will more often than not grab the 2nd fret of the low E (the F#) with my thumb as well if I want to make a final ringing chord out of it.

In both these cases I am using my thumb in a “rock” or hooking position in order to get notes that are otherwise awkward for me.

But frankly, most guitarists grip with their thumbs because they have no choice in the matter, seeing that they often hold their guitars way to low on their body in order to get a good grip. It’s ironic because while it looks cool (I guess) it truly limits their ability to play. They are using the thumb to hang on to the guitar, not using it to play. Do you understand this difference?

I think that it’s important to understand that your thumb should be more than a prop. It’s a player. It either grabs a note or makes it easier for the other fingers to reach theirs. If you worry about getting the notes first and let the thumb fall where it may, I think you’ll find that, eight times out of ten, it will end up in what you call the classical position. But there will be times when it will be in the rock position too. The thing is to not let the thumb dictate what the rest of the hand can do. And I also think that if you follow this “note first” philosophy, that the question of comfort won’t even enter into the picture. When you leave the thumb to last, it will automatically go for the most comfortable place.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to thumb position and select edit to make improvements.

What is flatpicking?

In your column entitled Tricks of the Trade, guitar column #22, there is a section in the Knocking on Heaven’s Door fill sequence that I am not sure how to play. It is the third line from the bottom of the sequence (a “knock knock knocking on heaven’s door” bit) and there is a fill that consists of a run of five notes that are two strings apart. ie. The TAB is saying to play the D and the B strings, and not the G string. How would you suggest to do this? And if your suggestion is otherwise, can it be done with a plectrum?

Concerning this particular riff on Knocking On Heaven’s Door, there are numerous ways of dealing with it. And no, you didn’t miss any earlier lesson on this! First off, I should say that I tend to finger pick a lot so when I wrote it out I hadn’t even thought about using a plectrum.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. A lot of players use a technique known as “flat picking.” This involves holding the plectrum with only your thumb and index finger to play the lower notes while picking the upper notes with your middle and/or ring fingers (I often use both!).

Another popular technique is “string muting.” Here you would finger the frets in such a manner that you can strum across them all but the middle one is muted. It gives of a slight “thunk” sound but this is usually drowned out by the other sounding strings. Jimi Hendrix was great at this. In this case, you could either mute the G string by lightly placing a finger on it directly or mute it by slightly angling the finger that is fretting the D string. These two methods do require some practice.

Finally, just to make your day, you could also play this and simply let the G string ring free. Since the song is in G and the chords that would be formed by playing it this way are also compatible for the key, it will sound fine. The open G serves as a drone and the chords around it help create a good tension that will be resolved once you hit the G chord that starts the following measure. This is another technique that I employ a lot, especially with songs in G, C and their relative minors.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to Flatpicking and select edit to make improvements.

What are natural and artificial harmonics?

If you are speaking of natural harmonics, that is when your finger is directly above the fret desired and you are barely touching the string. Immediately after picking that string you come away from the string and it should ring quite a bit higher than normal. This works very well at the five, seven and twelfth fret. Although there are some very high notes at about 2.5 and 1.7.

If you are talking about artificial harmonics. That is when you strike the string with the picking hand’s thumb as you cross the string when you pick. It is usually done in a downward motion. It will depend on where exactly you are picking above the pick-ups. So try many different areas.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to natural harmonics and select edit to make improvements.

How do I produce artificial harmonics on my guitar?

If you grip the tip of your pick so that when you strike the string it catches your thumb, you will hear a harmonic generated over the initial note. This is a common technique for lead guitarists and while it sounds great on an electric guitar you can also do this on an acoustic. It simply takes a little more practice.

You can also do it without a pick. When you strike the string with your finger or thumb, catch your nail on the string. This takes a little more practice, but like most things it’s amazing how easy it seems once you know how to do it.

Amazingly, harmonics can also be used to tune your guitar. Find out how in the article tuning with harmonics.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to Artificial harmonics and select edit to make improvements.

How do I play reggae style guitar?

Playing reggae on guitar, particularly if you’re not overly familiar with it, can seem very daunting. But like just about anything, the more you play around with it, the more it becomes second nature. I recommend starting out with a very basic beat to start out with. It doesn’t even have to be a reggae song, but it should be something you know well and that does not involve a lot of chord changes. The classic Stand By Me works well as do many simple songs.

Two things to remember: be sparse and clean. Try starting out with this simple rhythm pattern:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4
up up up

You’ll see that you only use upstrokes. Until you get very comfortable with reggae, I find that this technique helps to really concentrate on the rhythm – and it sounds very good, as well. Go lightly on the strings. If you’re using a Strat-style electric guitar, then I would also advise you to use one of the “out of phase” settings (second or fourth position on a five position switch). Keep it relatively clean – more high end than bottom and just a touch of reverb or chorus.

A couple lessons on Guitar Noise that might help you further are Playing An Old Stand By and I Shot the Sheriff.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to Reggae guitar and select edit to make improvements.

How do I play ghost notes?

The best description of a ghost note, is a note that is felt but not heard. You will play the note softer, and without emphasis. The note is usually in-between 2 parentheses. In addition, notes in parentheses could mean optional notes. For instance, if a particular riff is repeated, but sometimes the guitar player throws in some additional notes, those additional notes may be in parentheses. Do keep in mind the use of parentheses for bent notes as well.

The example below could mean either a ghost note or an optional note. There is no way of telling without a recording. And really in this context, do either and it will sound fine.

Another common answer to this question is that “ghost notes” are artificial harmonics. These are harmonics that are generated by picking a string with both your pick and your thumb. This causes the note and a harmonic (an octave above the note) to sound. It can be done on any guitar, electric or acoustic, although most people are familiar with this through the electric. Depending on your tone settings, amp and effects, it can be quite an intense, eerie sound.

You can learn more about harmonics an other useful trick for your strumming hand in the article Picking Your Poison.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to Ghost notes and select edit to make improvements.

How do I stop fret buzz?

There are many causes to fret buzz, though the biggest cause is Action. Raising the action will lower fret buzz. Since fret buzz is just the strings hitting the frets, raising the action – distance between the fret board and the strings – the strings arc of motion won’t hit the strings. High action means harder playability, the string is harder to push down.

A balance between good playability and no fret buzz can normally be found. It isn’t hard to adjust action, but in some cases it might be better to let a store do it for you. There are many books that cover complete setups for the guitar and are very accurate. Reading one of these and learning to adjust your guitar will help you save money in the end.

The action is adjusted at the nut and the bridge, not the truss rod – if you’re not sure what this is, it isn’t entirely important. Electric guitars can be easily adjusted in terms of action, both raising and lowering it. However, raising action on acoustics can be a problem since you will need to replace the nut/saddle (the bridge part the strings pass through).

Besides action, which is the main culprit and should be checked first, you can check out a list of causes. You might want to check with the forum to make sure the diagnosis is correct.

Though it is highly related to the acoustic guitar, it still partially relates to the electric.
This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to fret buzz and select edit to make improvements.

How do I mute strings?

String muting is used in TAB like this:

E--------
B---3----
G--------
D---3----
A--------
E--------

This type of tablature is played a la finger style – finger picking. The three bottom bass strings – E, A, and D – are plucked with the thumb, while the index plucks the G string, the middle finger plucks the B string, and the ring finger plucks the high E string.

Classical finger style includes a different notation for the fingers, which is indicated below:

• Pulgar, Stands for Thumb – P
• Indice, Stands for Index – I
• Medio, Stands for Middle – M
• Anular, Stands for Ring – A

In the above, you would follow the order. The 3rd fret on the D string would be played with the thumb; the D string is one of the three low strings. Then, you would pluck the B string with the middle finger, as all stated above in the first paragraph. If there were an X on the G string, that would signify that you would hit that string as well, with a pick even, but you would not be fretting anything, in fact, you would be muting it. This is string muting.

To string mute you would simply rest a finger, even a part of another finger, onto the specific string notified. For example the tab…

E--------
B---3----
G---X----
D---3----
A--------
E--------

Would mean that you would fret the appropriate strings, and for example, if you fretted the strings in the following fashion

3rd fret on D string fretted by Middle finger

3rd fret on B string fretted by Ring finger

You could move your middle finger down to lightly make contact and touch the string, just enough to stop it from ringing out.

Half the battle to playing technically is not playing anything else but what you want. When trying to stop extra noise on the strings above the pick, use the palm of your picking hand. When you want the strings to be quiet below the pick, use the fingers of the fretting hand that you are not using.

You can learn more about using using one of these techniques in the article Palm Muting.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to Palm Muting and select edit to make improvements.

How high should I set my guitar strap?

To what is comfortable with you. A general place to start is to have the strap set so that the back plate of the guitar is level your pelvis. You don’t want the guitar too low or too high. Too high and you’ll be tied up with tension trying to play appropriately, and if it’s too low you’ll have a hard time trying to fret and pluck.

How do I learn to play really fast?

Before we dive into the realm of developing speed, let’s dispel a few misconceptions about it. Firstly, speed in and of itself is irrelevant. However, speed used within the context of a good piece of music and with taste is a good thing. The second misconception of speed is covered in the article The Art of Practice. Most people believe that in order to play fast you must practice fast. While you will eventually need to practice fast in order to play fast you need to develop some basic techniques in order to get the tools in order to start working up to your goal. It’s these techniques that need to be developed SLOWLY.

You need to be able to think while you play. Aaron Shearer, a famous classical guitar pedagogue was an advocate of “aim directed movement”, which is having a clear understanding of where the fingers need to go before you move them there. Aim directed movement can only be accomplished by slow practice.

The key to fast scales? The key is not only to practice flexing the finger (what the finger actually does to pluck the string) but practice extending the finger as well. From the time we were born our hands have grabbed things, and we have held on to them tight, thus, developing the flexors. It is our lack of strength in the extensors that need the catching up. One of the best ways to develop this is to practice Rasgueados ( Raas-Gee-ah-doe).

In his book Pumping Nylon Scott Tennant makes a good observation about speed. He notes that when we look at an entire work you notice that the fast parts only last for a measure or two. What answers can one draw from this observation? Some of the answers I have drawn are that while it is helpful to know your scales and play them quickly, it is not necessary to play them at break neck speed for lengthy periods of time. One of the things that can help us develop stamina to hold out during those passages is the daily practice of speed bursts.

A speed burst is taking a small portion of a scale and playing it ascending then descending with the eighth note as the rhythmic value for each note. Without stopping play the same portion of the scale ascending and descending, this time using the sixteenth note as the rhythmic value for each note. These are very helpful in isolating certain trouble spots in a scale, such as shifts and string crossings.

There are a lot of articles on Guitar Noise that will help you develop speed. Start by studying the articles Finger Placement and Finger Preparation, The Art of Practice, Scales Warp Factor 10, Speed Bursts and Rasgueados. All of these are aimed at the classical guitarist and focus on the required technique.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to Building speed and select edit to make improvements.

How do I use my guitar knobs?

My advice to you is to do what I did and still do when I get a new guitar – first off, sit down by yourself in a room where you can plug your guitar in and walk a LONG ways off from your amp. Then sit down as far away as you can and experiment. And when I say “experiment” I mean to do so as a scientist would – TAKE NOTES!!! Start with one knob then work the others. Don’t forget to also get up and change the knobs around on your amp as well. It’s important to try out as many permutations as you can. This is going to take time and will undoubtedly be tedious, so perhaps you might also want to only try one set of settings at one sitting (sorry, I really should resist that sort of thing!).

Once you have an idea of what you’re dealing with, then, some day when you’ve gotten to a gig and everything is set up and you’re just killing time, have someone play your guitar on stage and you go out and listen to it. Give your “stand-in” directions on what knobs to turn. Again, try to listen as much as you can.

The sad thing is that once you get the whole band going, a lot of the little nuances will be lost in the overall mix. But if you have an idea of what the extremes and middles sound like, then you have a pretty good idea as to what is coming through to the audience.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to guitar knobs and select edit to make improvements.

What are some tips for finger nail grooming?

If you have ever shaken hands with a classical guitarist or seen a close up picture of his/her right hand, you will have seen that they have long nails on just the right hand. The nail is 50% responsible for tone, volume, and aids in accuracy and speed.

If you don’t have long nails better start growing them, or if your natural nails are brittle try using fake nails. The fake nails are a little weird looking but they get the job done. The nail does not have to be very long. When you hold your hand up in front of your face with the palm towards you the tip of the nail should just peek up over the fingertip. Nail shape is very important and there are a lot of different ideas as to what shape works best. I shape my nail to the contour of my finger tip, rounded . It is also important to invest in some 600 grit sandpaper in order to keep the nail nice and smooth and snag free.

As the nail extends the finger it keeps you from having to reach for every string. This will make finger picking almost effortless after a while. You will get used to long nails. Remember, there is too long as well. Frederick Noad has written about correct finger nails in some of his books.

For more on finger nails and classical guitar take a look at the article Finger Placement and Finger Preparation.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to Finger nail grooming and select edit to make improvements.

How do I teach guitar to children?

Many teachers start off their younger students with partial chords, using just the first three or four strings. For instance, you can play a G like this: xx0003 and a C like this: xxx010. Another thing that one can do is to use an open tuning (usually G or D). This is especially good if the child it adept at strumming. You can show where to barre the frets (or even use a slide) for your typical three chord song and the two of you can have a blast.

This is an interesting and we have a more detailed answer at How do I teach guitar to children? plus the article How Young Is Too Young To Learn Guitar.

For at least a while. Then reality hits. Hard. Because, whether you’ve barely completed your first run up the pentatonic scale or are a certified scorcher who has scuttle-butted his way to fret board freedom, its undeniable that at some point every – every - guitarist has felt restricted by their ability to move around the neck of the guitar within a solo. You’re trapped in those once-lovable box positions, you’re up to your eyeballs with those same old licks, and, worst of all, you have no idea how to really fix things.

Well, aside from regular practice methods, one of the best ways to break free from the confines of scale patterns is by using a slide. The reason for this is simple: it forces you to, effectively, use a single finger to solo. In turn, the lateral motion necessary will cause you to think across the neck, not up and down it. Soon, you’ll have learned to recognize scale intervals across the neck, allowing you to break free from those confounded box patterns. Yes, it is that simple. Well, sort of. Like all things musical, it takes time.

So, while slide guitar is a sure-fire way to break out of the box, it also tackles other extremely important aspects of your playing. Two, specifically, but they are related. First, it forces you to slow down and think about how you want to approach a solo in terms of individual phrases; remember, you’re effectively playing with one finger, so you won’t be able to cruise around like before, firing off licks in an uninterrupted stream; Consequently, you’ll develop an increased sense of timing and melody (master slide guitarist Sonny Landreth said in the June 2005 issue of Guitar One thathe eventually learned to approach slide guitar like he did the trumpet, thinking in terms of “breaths” or the spaces between notes, not just the notes themselves, which in turn fleshed out his regular playing).

Second, it forces your ear to develop, since if you land on the wrong note, you and everyone listening will be quite certain that it is indeed the wrong note. One of the biggest things that has held me back and probably holds a lot of beginners back in their soloing is that after really spending a lot of time on my pentatonic and blues chops, I tended to try to play fast when I soloed. In a moderate blues, for example, I’d strive for that SRV “stream of consciousness” flow of notes. It didn’t always happen (ok, it rarely happened) but that’s how I played, and still play a fair amount of the time. The downside in all this is that you tend to use a lot of “outside” notes and/or passing tones, which is fine as long as you don’t pause on one for too long

With slide, all bets are off; if you rest on a passing tone or outside note, its going to sound odd. Not necessarily bad, but definitely different. Sometimes, it will sound bad. Of course, that’s the beauty of it; you’ll have no choice but you learn your chord tones and arpeggios inside out to be able to maneuver efficiently. So you see, the slide approach to guitar, while a beautiful sound in and of itself, can also double as a laziness detector, which is something I have found quite useful as I try to improve my playing.

Enough chat, lets play something! For a quick rundown of basic slide techniques such as choice of materials and how to position and execute slide notes, I recommend Rick Payne’s great article, Acoustic Slide Guitar, on this website. That’ll get you going on the what’s what in slide playing. Note: Be sure to crank up the action a bit, so you can mute and play more easily and aggressively. But before we start…

These files are the author’s own work and represent his interpretation of this song. They are intended solely for private study, scholarship or research.

Basic Slide Accompaniment

I’m going to attempt to cover variety of approaches which you can take to playing slide. The first is as a complement to a standard blues vamp a la Robert Johnson. Johnson often used a hybrid of blues chords, licks and slide moves to construct his songs, and they can be very, very difficult play. Ramblin’ On My Mind is one of the more “basic” ones, and uses the slide to create a “call and response” motif with the basic blues shuffle; the shuffle is the call, and the slide lick is the response. The following is based off of that idea, but it’s not the original lick. But first, tune your guitar to Open E (low to high: EBEG#BE). You can also tune to Open D (DADF#AD) and place a capo on the second fret:

The toughest part about this little groove is switching from the shuffle to slide bit while staying in tempo and keeping everything clean. Remember to position the slide directly over the frets, not behind them as when fretting normally. Also remember to dampen with strings with your fret hand by “dragging” the fingers which are not occupied by the slide (slide players usually place the slide on the ring finger in order to have the middle and index fingers ready for “dragging duty,” but the pinky finger is also common). This is where the high action comes in; if your action is just a bit higher than normal on an acoustic, you’ll be able to mute and vibrato much more easily without the strings fretting out. An electric might require a bit more adjustment.

This sort of slide playing is a good introduction to the style since it is not too specific in exactly how the notes are played; the groove is what rules the roost here. My example is one approach, but the slide riff in this song can (and has) been played using countless approaches, as is the case for many blues standards (for a great version of this tune, pick up Eric Clapton’s Sessions for Robert Johnson DVD/CD). Don’t be afraid to be a bit aggressive when attempting the above lick. Use wide, singing vibratos, and add a note here and there. In other words, experiment with things. Even try using the slide to fret notes; you’ll get an odd, scratchy sound which can be very flavorful when used correctly, especially in a blues setting. Other times it can completely ruin everything, but, hey, its fun! That’s one of the best things about slide, especially unplugged; a sloppy approach (within reason) can in fact yield pleasant results. Play around with it.

All Slide All The Time

While the slide is a great tool for adding additional color to an acoustic or electric blues (or any piece of music, for the matter), it can also be used as the sole foundation for a song. Led Zeppelin’s “In My Time of Dying,” a tune which uses the slide almost exclusively throughout the eleven-minute track, is a good example of that. The second part of the opening riff (0:27 on the recording) is transcribed below. I took the liberty of adding some wide vibratos at the end of some the phrases to further embellish the slide sound. Note: The recorded version uses open A tuning, but standard will do just fine, since the intervals on the D, G, and B strings (the only ones we are using for this riff) are the same as in open A tuning: E , A, C#. The song will sound a whole step lower, but the transcription can still be followed as shown. To follow the recording, slap a capo on the second fret and there you go – instant open A.

This time around we have a little bit more going on in terms of melodic variety. Again, there is a call and response theme present, but it is quite different from the shuffle pattern in Figure #1. Bars one and three form the call, two and four the response. In addition, the final slide lick seems to be a response to the original response in bar two; the b3 note at the end of the fourth measure causes everything to remain “hanging,” whereas the original response lick in bar two resolved back to the root. This resulting tension, which is relieved when the phrases in the first two bars are repeated before a “lead-in” to the verse starting in bar 7 (not shown), is what gives this little melody its character. This character is sweetened up nicely by the use of the slide; try playing the riff normally and see how it sounds. To my ears, its rather bland compared to the original, especially without the vibratos.

Harmonizing Two Guitars With The Slide

Of course, the use of a slide is not at all limited to blues-based material, although it tends to work quite nicely in that setting. In both rock and pop rock, slide guitar is often used to harmonize a free standing guitar part, such as a chord progression. This is similar to the first example, but two guitars are required. Quite easily the most famous and readily accessible example of this motif is none other than everyone’s favorite southern rock hit, Freebird! Either have a friend play the chords for you, or record them on a cassette deck or loop program, then try the following slide theme (the chords to be played, as well as the approximate time intervals, are written in between the tab and notation for the slide part.

Yeah, ok, so everyone knows Freebird and it’s a cliché to use it as an example, blah, blah, blah. I chose it anyway because its also great for a reason. It’s a solid example of complementing a chord progression in a melodic way that fit’s the music perfectly. Why do you think it sold fifty zillion records? In terms of the music, one aspect which is particularly significant to our little study is the slide part uses the entire fretboard. This is a prime example of breaking out of those pentatonic patterns that can seem so restricting at times. Most of the melody is played on the G string alone!

While present in Freebird, direct harmonization of individual notes is more easily illustrated in another example. This one, with the second guitar arranged for slide, is from a Black Crowes tune entitled By Your Side:

Here, the slide guitar part harmonizes the second part of the riff, primarily by the use of fourths. Although traditional harmonization uses thirds, the fourth intervals present here, in conjunction with the phrasing and the slide, lend a kind of “down-home” vibe to the riff (if you want, harmonize the top lick using thirds as a comparison. It gives a noticeably different sound). The original recording uses two standard guitars and a different fingering of the notes, but I substituted a slide on a single string here for the purposes of illustration. Also, this example again reiterates the variety which can be had on even a single string

A Simultaneous Approach

While two guitars can create some great interplay, wouldn’t it be cool of you could add the slide to come of your own playing without constantly switching motifs and phrases? Well, the slide can also be used to spice up an individual chord voicing by using it to sound one of the notes forming a given chord. This is especially useful in open tunings, but you can accomplish this on some of your standard tuning chords and licks as well. Although this can be tricky to get the hang of, it can really add new life to old motifs. For example, lets take a standard blues turnaround in G, with the seventh descending to the fifth. Keep the slide on the G and D notes on the 3rd fret throughout the first bar, then use it to ascend the chords that finish the turnaround:

Notice a change in the sound versus if you fret the strings normally? This sort of playing has been developed into an art form by some slide players, including the above mentioned Sonny Landreth, who frets behind the slide as well as picking both in front of and behind it. I won’t try to give you an example of his work, since its quite hard and I can’t come close to using it, but I highly suggest you check out his site www.sonnylandreth.com. In the above mentioned Guitar One issue, he also gives a lesson displaying some of these techniques.

I hope you enjoyed this little presentation on slide guitar and the many benefits it can have toward different aspects of your playing. Even if you only use it as a learning tool rather than a musical one, the slide can help anyone reach a new level of playing and, most importantly, ear training. All that time you spend slowing down and focusing on the notes versus bpm, as hard as this is to do (and believe me, I know how hard it is!), will help make you a better player.

Some Slide References:
Sonny Landreth
Son House
Hound Dog Taylor
Eric Clapton
John Lee Hooker
Led Zeppelin
Robert Johnson
The Black Crowes

About the Author

Matt Desenberg is a guitarist living in southern Maine. He recently graduated with a degree in English and is currently working as a freelance writer. Music is his main love however, with a main focus (for now) on classic rock and blues rock. He is currently a student of virtuoso Tom Hess.

Today, I’m going to talk about tremolo tapping, which is a technique that I used to create a dramatic run in the song Up from the Ashes from my band’s Unconscience album (see figure 7). I “borrowed” the technique from Randy Rhoads’ work on the classic Ozzy albums Blizzard of Ozzand Diary of a Madman. Other artists who employ this technique in their songs include Joe Satriani and John Petrucci.

These files are the author’s own work and represent his interpretation of this song. They are intended solely for private study, scholarship or research.

Before we get into the specifics of tremolo tapping technique, let’s have a gander at the tremolo effect, its origins, and uses. Tremolo is the repetition of a note by means of very fast alternate picking. This creates a kind of a “trembling” sound, which is used especially for dramatic effect and/or tonal intensification. Double stops (2 notes) and even chords can also be played with tremolo. Usually, tremolos are measured, meaning that it subdivides the beat accurately according to the number of bars through the note stem (see figure 1A). An unmeasured tremolo, usually indicated with the word trem, can also be used. Tremolos were first seen on the piano and other keyboard instruments. The composer Franz Liszt often called for the technique to be used in his piano pieces. By the beginning of the 19th Century, tremolos had made their way into the Orchestra’s string section’s standard repertoire of effects.

Here are some examples of tremolo notation and their equivalents in regular notation:

Playing tremolos that involve several notes is very challenging if you use only one hand to alternate between the notes. In fact, you would probably have great difficulty keeping up in quick tempos. By tapping the higher notes, you can achieve a speed far surpassing the fretting hand. To execute tremolo tapping, use the back or side of the pick to strike the string. This will give you a more pronounced attack. In fact, some players, such as George Lynch, have been known to use quarters and other objects to get different sounds. Another important point is to keep your arm very stiff as you tap so that you are using your forearm to move the pick rather than your wrist. For extra speed, concentrate on keeping the pick very close to the string at all times because the further from the string you get, the longer it will take to hit it again!

Here’s our first example of tremolo tapping in action. It is short filler lick from I Don’t Know off of the Blizzard of Ozz album. To play it, place your index finger on the 5th fret of the fourth string and tap the higher notes with the pick. There are some slower notes at the beginning and end of the lick to give you time to get into and out of position.

An Ozzy favourite, Crazy Train showcases yet another amazing display of Randy Rhoads’ virtuoso technique. This time, he uses odd note groupings to create a kind of wavering in speed that very much blurs the line between a measured and unmeasured tremolo:

Our next example is an excerpt from Surfin’ With The Alien by Joe Satriani. This is a real fast and long descending sequence, which is sure to put your endurance to the test!

And finally, let’s look at the Up From The Ashes lick from off of my band’s Unconscience album. My aim was to combine Rik Emmett’s “Pentatonic Waterfalls” with tremolo tapping. Whereas Rik Emmett used pull-offs on a nylon string guitar to achieve a soothing waterfall-like effect, I used rapid-fire tremolo tapping, a doubled track, and lots of distortion to unleash unbridled metal fury!

To play the Up From The Ashes lick, slide your index finger up to the 12th fret and move it down to the next string as you descend. I don’t recommend barring the 12th fret because that will result in a lot of ringing. It may look fast with all the 32 nd notes, but at a mere 115 beats per minute, it actually works out to be slightly slower than the Joe Satriani example.

That brings us to the end of today’s lesson. I hope that these examples inspired you to come up with your own unique licks. Feel free to email me some of your ideas! Until next time, happy practicing!

All examples in this lesson were notated using Guitar-Pro software.

Let’s get back to Riff 1, which, up until now, you have woodshedded over the full range of the fretboard in individual positions. Here, we will focus on two string at a time while moving up and down the neck in a horizontal fashion.

Notice how we are just using strings 1 and 2, going up and all the way down again! Try the same for strings 2 + 3:

After you have mastered those two riff applications, it will be easy to do the same for the remaining four string combinations. And REMEMBER: When you feel your muscles of the fretting hand/arm tighten up, take a break and start doing this exercise at half the tempo; this will enable you to focus on relaxing and playing with as little effort as possible.

In unit 2 we started on one position for Riff 2. Try the next as follows:

Just as before with Riff 1, figure out all positions of the neck – eventually in all keys. This time however, you won’t find all these written out, because you should be able to apply the sequence of Riff 2 to the same scale shapes that we have used for Riff 1. Have fun and take your time.

To proliferate our skills on Riff 2, let’s complete the horizontal way of playing here as well – if you haven’t already:

Again, work your way through all combinations of two strings, one at a time!

Finally, it is up to you to work on integrating these concepts in your own playing. Below you will find a comprehensive study that combines those two riffs; however, that is just another stepping stone towards taking this style of playing to the next level. Play along with music as much as you can and focus on playing these lines! After some time of concentrated playing, you will need less and less of premeditated focus while approaching the very essence of effortless playing.

Also in this Series

• Legato Playing Part 1
• Legato Playing Part 2

To move on, let’s train this foundation a bit more but focus predominantly on the development of riffs and applications in this idiom.

Exercises 5a through 5d need to be executed once again with the same consideration to detail as described in exercises 1 through 4 (described in the first part of this series). Take your time and add this exercise to the first four as part of a routine to get through. Notice how the fingering 1-2-4 stays constant on string 3 and how only the one note played on the second string changes with each exercise. The same concept can be applied to different fingerings: Get creative!

The following Exercise 6 is tricky in that we have a group of four notes on each string (at first played in hammer-ons with each first note picked; on the way down in pull-offs) but played in triplets. Definitely use a metronome at first, slowly increasing the tempo over a few days or weeks. You should soon notice how the picked notes, emphasized notes if you will, fall on changing parts of the triplet pulse.

Riffs 1b though 1g pick up at the last installment’s riff 1 by taking the same phrase and its approach to other positions while staying in the same key: A-major/F#-minor.

The following Riff 2 will direct us into changing positions. For simplicity’s sake, we will stick with the key of F#-minor. However everyone should transfer the riffs learned in these columns to as many keys as possible, maybe simply by turning on the radio, then figuring out the key of the currently playing song and going for it with these lines.

Make sure to also move down the neck once this is figured out. It is just as easy and the slide should be executed with the first finger.

We will get into variations of Riff 2 as well as a bit more of preparatory foundation exeercises in the next installment. Until then, have a great time with it.

Also in this Series

• Legato Playing Part 1
• Legato Playing Part 3

When I now teach this technique to students, I start at the very beginning, no matter how long they have been playing guitar for. It is important to take it extremely slowly, focusing on how easy it is to do this first exercise – not on how fast you will play it;

Speed is the result of slow and accurate practicing!

Start this first exercise by placing all four fingers of the left hand on one fret each (frets V to VIII). The first bar has the fourth finger pulling off (p.o.) and hammering on (h.o.) and every bar can be repeated or soloed as desired. Make sure to do this slow enough so you can keep all fingers close (!) to the fretboard after each pull off. If done too fast, you will notice that there’s no control over that exaggerated pull off, and your fingers will learn an inefficient, if not bad, technique. So, take your time, focus on ease and relaxation, and increase speed only slightly every day. This way, you will give your system time to learn in an efficient manner.

Exercise two will increase the challenge a bit, still working with a purely technical idea:

This should be practiced on all individual six strings. Take your time on this before going on to the next set of exercises, which combine these first two elements.

Ex. 3

Exercise 3 uses only hammer-ons and one should pay close attention to the rhythm of triplets (sixteenth-note triplets to be accurate). Practice first with a metronome to even out the rhythms, which can be played as eighth-note triplets as well. With concentration and perseverance you will quickly notice your improvement in feel, which will in turn enable you to execute this difficult passage in an absolutely even and unhurried playing style – something that is of utmost importance for legato playing.

The same approach should be taken for the following exercise as well as the application-riff at the end of this first installment.

The following application-riff is in the key of A-major/F#-minor. Move it around to different keys and play it along with some music. The next installment will get even more into playing applications that built progressively on this unit’s foundation work.

Also in this Series

• Legato Playing Part 2
• Legato Playing Part 3

I was primarily a bluesman until I was seventeen. As much as I love the blues there are a lot of techniques involved with untrained playing that can really affect your future playing and will cause serious damage to your wrists and fingers that are not curable allot of times. I know it looks cool to have a low slung guitar, but it is not efficient in any way, shape, or form. It forces your wrist to bend in a way that it shouldn’t, causing carpal tunnel and many other ailments. It is crucial to have your wrist as straight as possible while playing. If you are a beginner or intermediate student that has not ever taken professional guitar lessons before then you need to sign up immediately with a qualified teacher. Your best bet will be to go to a jazz or classical teacher in your area. Whether you like those styles or not that is pointless. You have to have someone watching you to point out what you should be doing to get proper technique. It is also impossible to pull off complex lines without good technique. This is why I am doing work on the Internet to get people out of the rut that they get stuck in. It happens to 99% of all guitarists at some point of time when they are stuck playing the same rehashed stuff over and over again.

So, now that, that is off my chest, I have already said that your wrist should always be straight. Not only should your wrist be straight, but your thumb should always be behind the neck. There is only one exception for that and that is when you go to pull off a soaring blues bend. Other then that it needs to be behind the neck at all times period. Now with the right hand I personally use a cross between the Shawn Lane style of picking where my hand makes a loose fist and I hold the pick at a slight angle and the Eric Johnson bounce techniques. I almost always anchor my hand on the bridge with a very, very light touch. My pick is held as close to my hand as possible. Being in this position it is nearly impossible to trip up anywhere. A lot of great guitarists anchor their finger on the body. I personally prefer to keep my hand in a fist for maximum balance and to keep my fingers from getting in the way. By doing it this way I can easily palm mute, do pinch harmonics, and reach everything very comfortably. The bounce technique is where you go up with the pick instead of through the whole string. This allows me to get to the other side of the string very quickly and efficiently. The key to doing this is to be able to lightly brush the string yet be able to get some power in it as well. Of coarse crosspicking should always be used religiously. This is where you do a downstroke with the pick, and the next note played you do an up stroke. As far as sweep picking I go through the note mute it with my palm and rest my pick on the next note, which of course will be on the next string. You do not want your notes to ring out while you are sweep picking. The way I utilize my right hand is a very complete method compiled from years of instruction, school, and even students. Just like everything else it is an on going learning process, but the essentials change. I mute all strings that are not being played on with my palm and extra fingers on my left hand.

Left Hand

As far as my left hand goes again efficiency is everything. My left hand is probably the strongest technique that I have. I usually do it the same way Vinnie Moore does it where you use the very tips of your fingers. After time you will develop muscles that you never knew you had. If you look at Vinnies fingers they are almost like sculpted mallets. I also encourage you to lift weights on both arms. Primarily curls and reversals to build you forearms so you will have stamina. Your left hand needs to always be able to go to the next move in an efficient manner. Use visualization heavily for really both hands. Visualize how you will play one passage to quickly be able to go to the next. I also mentioned visualization in my how to practice column. Of course always use a metronome to build maximum technique. With your thumb behind the neck you have a greater range of reaching for those far out there notes. You should be able to comfortably reach at least an eight fret span. Always look for a more sensible way to play something. If you are reading the tab for something and it has you going all over the place. Look for the same notes in a six fret span. You should be able to play any chord or scale in any given six frets. The only reason you should ever have to move out of where you are at is for different tones. You should come up with as many possible ways to play anything. Also practice getting your fingers in a normally uncomfortable situation so that you can get anywhere at anytime in a quick and fluent manner while still being in time.

That covers my basic technique. I’m sure I could sit here for hours on end covering everything, but I will have to save that for a book Thank you for all the kind Emails and you are always welcome to Email me if you have any questions.

Once upon a time I used to play metal, had hair, wore leather pants and played guitar on stage leaning over a fan. I was a legend in my own mind. So drawing on that long forgotten experience, let’s figure out this hammer on/pull off/tapping thing using the ending section of Van Halen’s Eruption as both example and exercise.

First though, let’s define things:

Hammer on -- Note generated by lightly snapping your finger down behind a fret.

Pull off -- Note generated by removing your finger from a string, slightly pulling the string as you do.

Tap -- Note generated by tapping the fretboard behind a fret with your non-fretting hand’s index or middle finger.

One thing at a time, let’s get Hammer-on down. I’m going to use an acoustic for this first part.

Now I’m not going to re-invent the wheel. I’m just going to paraphrase it a bit. I took all of this next section practically word for word from David’s wonderful article Tricks of the Trade:

On your guitar, make an open Em chord. Strum the chord and then one at a time lift, pick the open string, and hammer on with your fretting fingers. It is just a little snapping motion, bring down your middle finger where it is supposed to go. This isn’t a brute force thing. It’s simply a sharp little tap.

When you are playing alternating bass with your chords, a hammer-on helps to spice things up a bit or it can be used as a rhythmic fill.

Try this on your acoustic or without distortion if you’re playing electric:

It should sound like this:

Download mp3 (Right-click and “Save as”)

Does it? Great! You are on your way!

Okay let’s go to the Pull-off.

Let’s stick with the acoustic. Put your finger on the second fret of the A string. Pick or strum the string with your strumming hand. This will sound the B note. Now pull your finger off.

If you’re lifting your finger straight off the string, you will not get much of a sounding of the open A. What you need to do is pull the string when you’re removing the finger and the best way to do this is with a slightly downward motion. Basically what you are doing is “picking” the string with the finger on the neck.

It should sound like this:

Download mp3 (Right-click and “Save as”)

Here is the Exercise in C from David’s lesson. It combines hammer-ons and pulloffs. See the article for the tab.

Download mp3 (Right-click and “Save as”)

And there you have it. Two thirds of what you need to know to play Eruption: Hammer-on and Pull off.

Before we go any further, here is our Guitar Noise disclaimer:

These files are the author’s own work and represent his interpretation of this song. They are intended solely for private study, scholarship or research.

Remember, too, that this is just how I do it. If you are only looking to play along with the recording this isn’t for you. I think EVH tunes it down a half step and he plays so fast I have no idea what he is doing really. But this will give you a pretty darn good approximation of the style and feel. I actually play a couple of sections on the way up that he doesn’t just to lengthen the thing a bit. Besides, practically no one will notice the difference on stage.

Now when you see this tabbed out it seems really complex. It isn’t really. You are playing sets of four notes over and over and over again.

It goes like this tap, pull off, hammer on, hammer on. Start again, tap, pull off, hammer on, hammer on.

Take this slowly and work your way into speed. It will come.

I’m going to break this into three parts. The first part is going up the neck. The next section is coming back down. The final section is eruption of the blood vessels in your forearm.

In the first section, going up the neck, each of the sections is repeated eight times. Think of these sections individually and then put them together.

Now put away that acoustic and get out the electric.

Let’s pick and hammer.

We are going to use the B string since that is where we are going to end up anyway.

So here’s what we are going to do. Pick the open B, now hammer on with your left hand index finger onto the fourth fret.

Great, but wait there’s more, leave your index finger on that fourth fret and hammer on the seventh fret with your ring finger.

Do this 43, 895 times or until your forearm feels like it is about to fall off.

Now let’s pick and pull-off.

On your B string, place your index finger on the fourth fret. Now pick that string and ever so slightly pull your fretting finger down towards the floor and off. It should pluck the open string.

Now fret the B string at the seventh fret with your ring finger AND fret it at the fourth fret with your index finger. Pluck the B string. Now pull off with your ring finger. You should sound the note of the fourth fret. But there’s more, now pull off your index finger on that fourth fret, sounding the open note.

Now the only other thing is the tap. Bring the finger of your choice down, (I use the index) on the twelfth fret. It should sound a nice and clear note. Remember you are using a sharp, but light tapping motion. In this exercise, I am ever so slightly pulling off with my tapping finger. Try it and see what you think. It depends a lot on your setup.

When you get this going you will notice an accordion-like pattern, the tapping finger goes up, the hammer-ons follow. The tapping finger goes up, the hammer-ons follow.

For examples of all of the above, check out the MP3 after the tab. I play the whole thing slowly.

Here is “Going up the neck”: Notice each section is repeated 8 times except the last which I play only four times in the recording.

Here is an MP3 of the going up section at a slow tempo.

Download mp3 (Right-click and “Save as”)

Onward to section two; let’s go back down the neck.

Same thing as before, but you only repeat each section three times. I tabbed it out, but notice the first 8 repeated sections are really the same set of four played twice.

Go slowly and just memorize the pattern. Once you have the muscle memory in place, speed will come quickly.

And finally, here is the section where your arm explodes. Have I said work this slowly? No need to say it here, you have no choice. This is the little finishing piece, six each of two riffs, play the first one again, skip to the last section and alternate them 1 time each as fast as you can. When your arm starts to bleed, run your fingernail or pick down your low E and hit a power chord at the bottom.

And here it is complete and up to speed. Ha-ha, up to speed, I crack me up. It’s all relative. It’s as up to speed as I’m going to get. I’m playing my 1979 Fender Heavy Metal Strat, with everything at 11, played through distortion, compression, flanger, and a dash of reverb. I stomp on a stereo phaser at the very end.

Download mp3 (Right-click and “Save as”)

Enjoy it, but don’t blame me when your left arm packs its bags and walks out on you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find where my arm stormed off to.

The Great Guitar Noise Experiment

This is an experiment. Use it at your own risk. No guarantees here.

The links below will take you to a short video of the lesson above. Let us know in the news section how this works for you.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcB3vmBnieU

So, let’s begin with finger placement. The question that is probably on everybody’s mind is, from which point on the finger do I strike the string? First let’s address several issues. The first issue is that, if, you have ever shaken hands with a classical guitarist or seen a close up picture of his/her right hand, you would have seen that they have long nails on just the right hand. The nail is 50% responsible for, Tone, volume, and aids in accuracy, and speed.

If you don’t have long nails better start growing them, or if your natural nails are brittle try using fake nails. The fake nails are a little weird looking but they get the job done. The nail does not have to be very long. When you hold your hand up in front of your face with the palm towards you the tip of the nail should just peek up over the fingertip. Nail shape is very important and there are a lot of different ideas as to what shape works best. I shape my nail to the contour of my finger tip, rounded. It is also important to invest in some 600 grit sandpaper in order to keep the nail nice and smooth and snag free.

If you have ever played tennis or know someone who does you might have heard about hitting the ball from the “sweet spot” on the racket. As a guitar player it is your task to strike the string from the “sweet spot” on the nail. The sweet spot is the place where the nail meets the flesh. This is where you get the best tone and volume. Most guitarists will tell you that striking the string is a combination of flesh and nail. The truth of the matter is that striking the string is all nail. Put your i finger to the string and make sure that the string is in the crevase where nail meets flesh and notice that when the string is properly placed the only thing that is going to touch the string when you pull back is the nail. Try this experiment:

1. place the finger on the string so that the flesh touches.
2. Strike the string, notice that the tone is harsh.

Finger Preparation

Finger preparation is done to train the fingers to go the proper spot each time it’s also trains the fingers for proper movement and timing. The first use of preparation is with scales. Let’s take a first position Major scale. Here it is in tab.

Here is the sequence of finger preparation:

1. Prepare both the left hand finger and the right hand finger. Make sure that the left hand fingers play on their tips and that the fingers remained arched. Make sure that throughout the scale that you are playing from the sweet spot of the finger.
2. For the sake of argument let us begin the scale with the i finger of the right hand. As soon as i plays m will shoot onto it’s respective sting and await your command to play.
3. As soon as m plays i will shoot out and prepare and wait to play it’s note.

This sequence between i and m will occur throughout the entire scale. You should notice that if you are playing this properly the notes will be stacatto ( short and quick). Staccato notes during this exercise are good it shows that you are preparing the fingers quickly and accurately. As you master this placement of the fingers try using what is called a continuity stroke. This is when you still prepare the notes but instead of right away it is at the last possible second. The continuity stroke results in a legato ( smooth and flowing) sound which is the desired end result of the training. The preparation will train the fingers to go to that “sweet spot” each time.

The second place we will use a preparation stroke is arpeggios. There are two kinds of preparation strokes when it comes to arpeggios, the first one is, Full preparation, the second is sequental preparation. Full preparation is used when arpeggios are ascending. Using open strings prepare you fingers like this:

• p on the sixth string
• i on the third string
• m on the second string
• a on the first string

The order and sequence of preparation is as follows:

1. p plays the sixth string
2. i plays the third string
3. m plays the second string
4. a plays the first string, the instant that a plays it’s string p should immediately go to it’s string and prepare
5. The instant p plays its string i, m, and a immediately go to their respective strings and prepare.
6. i plays its string
7. m plays its string
8. a plays its string, the instand that a plays it’s string p should immediately go to its string and prepare, where the whole process repeated over and aver again until it is mastered.

The sequential preparation is done when arpeggios are descending. Here is the sequence for sequential preparation:

1. p plays the sixth string, immediately a goes to the first string and prepares.
2. a plays its string, immediately m goes to the second string and prepares.
3. m plays its string, immediately i goes to the third string and prepares.
4. i plays its string and immediately p goes to its string and prepares.

From here the process is repeated over and over again until mastered.

Just like in the scale section of preparation strokes you eventually want to abandon the prepared stroke in favor of the continuity stroke, which will give you that smooth legato sound. For now though really work that prepared stroke in order to train the fingers to move. If this is all a little overwhelming remember slow practice is the key, concentration and focus are essential.

There are two different ways of sounding a string. The first is called the Free Stroke, the second is called the Rest Stroke. The free stroke is what we will concentrate on first, since it is the stroke you will use the most. The free stroke is executed by preparing the finger on the string then playing the string allowing the finger tip to come into the palm of the hand. The following is a list of questions you should ask yourself.

1. Did I keep my wrist relatively flat?
2. Did I keep my wrist in line with my forearm?
3. Did I follow through?

Follow through? Follow through is the natural expulsion of muscular energy without opposed muscular force to stop the motion. This is clarified by an analogy. Let us say that you and a friend are rolling a ball. You roll the ball and it stops on it’s own without any outside interference. That is proper follow through. Now, your friend rolls the ball and you jump in front of it stopping it before it has had a chance to stop on its own, this is not following through. To apply this to the free stroke, if you strike the string you must allow the finger to stop on its own without any opposable muscular force to stop it. The finger must go into the palm of the hand and stop because it has naturally expelled the energy that originally set it in motion.

This is important because if you fail to follow through, you are using excessive muscular energy, first the energy to set the finger in motion, secondly to stop it. Using proper follow through we expel energy once and that is to set the finger in motion. If we fail to observe proper follow through, this will lead to muscle fatigue, which results in lack of control, tone, balance, accuracy, and speed. Remember to keep the knuckles of the hand over the strings being played.

The second way to sound a string is by the rest stroke. To execute the rest stroke, the same hand position should be kept as far as the alignment of wrist and forearm, and arch of the wrist. The only difference is that the fingers should extend a little more. As a result of extending the fingers the knuckles will be slightly offset to the strings being played. Now we get to sounding the string. Strike the string, and this time instead of allowing the finger to come to the palm of the hand, the finger should come into the string directly behind it. For instance, if you strike the first string with i, after striking the first sting, i should come into the second string.

There is a major difference between the rest stroke and the free stroke. The free stroke has more of a gentler tone whereas the rest stroke is louder and fuller in tone. The free stroke is what we use to play arpeggios and multiple voiced passages. The rest stroke is primarily used for fast scales. That’s not to say that you will never play scales with free stroke, because you will. For example if you are playing a composition and you have a passage you are playing free stroke because it is multi voiced, and there is a quick scale passage thrown in then a quick return to free stroke, it would be unwise to make the switch from free to rest because if it is a short enough passage the switch would use to much energy. Plus, rest stroke being the stronger of the two might unbalance the line and upset the phrasing. The rest stroke will be used in the context of free stroke an example might be that you are playing accompanying arpeggios with p, i, m, and the melody is with the a finger. By, playing the melody with the a finger using free stroke would make the melody indistinguishable from the accompaniment. In such a case a would use a rest stroke which would clearly set it apart.

To practice these two strokes, run through scales, using free and rest strokes. To practice arpeggios there is no better way than by obtaining a copy of Giuliani’s 120 studies for the right hand (this can be purchased at any music store, and if they don’t have it they can order it for you.)

Well I hope you enjoyed this lesson. I look forward to next week when we will be talking about finger placement.

The first thing we must address when conditioning the right hand is it’s position to the strings. Firstly lay the hand flat over the strings. It is important to keep the hand parallel to the sound board, for reasons which I will explain later. Next, curl the Index, Middle, and Ring finger until the Index (i), is touching the G string, The Middle (m) is touching the B string and the ring (a) is touching the high E. It is important at the time to look at the wrist. Here is a list of questions you should ask yourself at this point:

1. Is my wrist in line with my forearm? This is important because if your wrist is bent in either direction the tendons now have to pull around a corner, this can aggravate the tendons causing pain and any number of injuries.
2. Is my wrist flat? If the wrist is arched it affects the angle of attack of the fingers to the strings. An arched wrist can affect tone, volume, speed and accuracy. Keep in mind that a collapsed writ is just as bad as an excessively arched one.

The next thing we need to do is to bring the thumb (p) into contact with the low E string. One thing I have noticed in my years as a teacher is that as soon as this position is obtained the student begins to panic and immediately rests the little finger (c) on the sound board. The problem with this is that it restricts the use of a and also causes the hand to rotate causing the i finger to have “reach” now for the strings whereas before they were readily accessible. The same is true of rotating the hand into the guitar.

Let’s examine the right hand fingers and their relationship to the strings in terms of length. The i finger falls quite naturally onto the strings reaching them with retaliative ease. The m finger being the longest in relationship to i and a has no problem reaching the strings no matter which way the wrist is rotated. The a finger on the other hand in dramatically hindered because of it’s length. If the hand is rotated towards the guitar the strings in their relationship to the a finger get farther away resulting in an big stretch. This is why the hand must be kept parallel to the soundboard, for the sake of making the length of the fingers the same.

A good exercise to practice keeping the hand in this position is to play p on the low E, the i on the G, the m on the B string and the a on the high E, in successive order. Play this over and over in front of a mirror in order to keep an eye on the hand positioning and you have taken the first step toward a superior right hand technique.