Who Needs Strings Anyway? By D14 Hey-up dudes, Daz14 here. Since this is my first column at Insane Guitar, I thought I will show you something... Insane! Well I bet you didn't see that one coming, did you! Okey dokey, one of my most-favouritest-ever-ever techniques string skipping. There are many ways to practice this, such as playing every other string in a scale sequence for example... however my favorite (that gets you to THINK) is limiting yourself to two or three strings, and never deviating from them. This means that not only will you have to jump strings in the 3-notes per string (or box-shape) scale but you will have to endure death defying leaps up and down the fret board horizontally as well as vertically. Like so (B Phrygian): Example 1 |------5-7-8-7-5---------5-7-8-7-5-|------8-7-10-7-8---------10-12-14-12-10-------- |----------------------------------|----------------------------------------------- |-4-5-7---------7-5-4-5-7----------|-4-5-7----------5-4-2-4-5--------------7-5-4~~- |----------------------------------|----------------------------------------------- |----------------------------------|----------------------------------------------- |----------------------------------|----------------------------------------------- Easy easy... NNghhh!!! Here's a tip, for the first half, root your thumb to the center back of the neck as if you were going to play the B, C and D. Don't move it... it is an 'anchor' to your jumps. Secondly, alternate pick these for cleanest best effect. Work at these VERY SLOWLY, and although the second half seems fairly chaotic, it can be done worked to a nice speed, much to the amuse of your audience (musical masturbation anyone ;o) Ok, skipping one string leads to limited fun... how about this, then? Basically, add some sweeping! This can add a lot of musicality to your playing, especially when played slowly. This lick has fragments of B and E minor arpeggios: Example 2 |-------10h12h14p12p10-------------15h19p15----- |------------------------------------------17~-- |-----11--------------11---------12------------- |---12------------------12-----14--------------- |----------------------------------------------- |-------------------------12h15----------------- Continuing this a step further, onto tapping and skipping, here is another beast of a lick displayed by neo-classicist everywhere making good use of the diminished scale. Stretch, goddamn you, STRETCH!! Example 3 |------------------------T20p11h14h17T20p17p14p11------------------------- |------------------------------------------------------------------------- |T20p11h14h17T20p17p14p11------------------------------------------------- |------------------------------------------------T19p10h13h16T19p16p13p10- |------------------------------------------------------------------------- |------------------------------------------------------------------------- |---------------------------- |-T19p10h13h16T19p16p13p10~~- |---------------------------- |---------------------------- |---------------------------- |---------------------------- Finally, here is a whopper of a lick for those skipping monsters (what an image, skipping monsters). I based this on a Paul Gilbert lick I saw on one of his videos, and made my own version. This one definitely is the hardest here but definitely is the coolest... some of you might have seen this one on my website lesson, together with clips. Pick this one perfectly, your diligence will be rewarded (if not in this life time, in the next ;o) www.d14andbleedingme.homestead.com/lesson1.html for 'slow' and 'fast' clips. Example 4 |--------8-9-11-9-8---------------8-9-11-9-8-------------8-9-11-9-8--------------- |-7-9-10-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------------------11-9-8-9-11-------------------------- |-------------------13-11-9-11-13------------------------------------------------- |-------------------------------------------------------------------12-11-9-11-12- |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |8-9-11-9-8--------------- |-----------10-9-7-9-10~~- |------------------------- |------------------------- Agghhhhh! |------------------------- |------------------------- That's it from me, thanx for checking my column out, and see you next time. Go to my website for info on me, my project and the dreaded Player's Profile page! D14 www.d14andbleedingme.homestead.com |