Featured Lesson
String Skipping
The purpose of this weeks lesson is two-fold.
Firstly it is going to introduce the concept of string skipping,
and secondly, as a follow up to last weeks lesson, be a great
exercise for string crossing.
As the name implies, you will play on one string,
skip the next string entirely, and then play again on the next
string. (you could even skip two or more strings, but for now,
lets skip only one) You will notice that this will enable you to
play wide interval type licks. For anyone worried that their
playing is too scalar, this could be a nice way to introduce
variation. You will also find that you are able to apply string
skipping to most of the scales that you already know.
How to practice these:
-
Use a metronome.
-
Use alternate picking and start each
exercise with a down stroke.
-
Start extremely slowly and speed up gradually.
-
Phrase as triplets to start with, and repeat.
-
Make sure that you are playing in time through
the skip. You may notice a tendency to lag during the skip and
then come in late on the next string.
-
In last weeks lesson, we isolated the means
whereby you cross the string and made sure that this is what
we are practicing. In this weeks lesson, the same applies, but
as and additional exercise, practice a different way to cross
over the strings. For example, if you cross the strings using
the elbow, try crossing with the wrist. If you cross
predominantly with the wrist, try and incorporate some elbow
movement. All this will teach is some flexibility, and who
knows, maybe a change in approach leads you to some new
discoveries.
-
Remember, as with string crossing, don't hit
the strings you are not supposed to be playing as you cross
over them.
-
I have included an ascending and descending
version of the exercise. Move them to all the string sets, and
try different intervals with the left hand.
-
Once you are comfortable with the exercises,
skip some more strings, or apply to some different scales.
You can create some interesting sounds applying this to
Pentatonic scales.
Here is the exercise:
These examples could be considered to be in the
key of C. The root note is on the high E string, 8th fret, so you
could move the exercises to different keys using the root as your
guide.
|
