Arpeggios are the notes of a chord played one note at a time. You can use arpeggios for your improvisation technique.
Another advantage of learning arpeggios is that you understand better how a chord is built up.
For example if you use the chord A minor in a song you use the notes A C E because the formula is the 1st 3rd(lowered 1/2 a step) and 5th tone.
An arpeggio of Am will be like this on the 5th position:
Steve Vai is a master in handling arpeggios. In the film Crossroads Steve Vai and Ry Cooder are doing some wonderful shredding licks known as Eugene´s trick bag. You can check the tab to practise for yourself. Use a metronome to built up speed gradually because it´s a hard piece of work. Try to find out the Chords Steve Vai and Ry Cooder are using.
Have fun!
This song here is divided in several pieces to give you a clear demonstration of how the song is built up.
First of all we are going to start with the plectrum. Hold the plectrum sidewise instead of the normal position. Because the top has more relief to keep the plectrum from falling from your indexfinger and thumb, the plectrum in this position gives a more grating punch to the strings which is typically the style of The Edge.
Try it out to hear the difference! If you realy want to sound like The Edge you must buy blue Herdim Picks. You can order them at www.tonetoys.com
for a reasonable price. Get used to play with alternate picking. Like this it is easier to build up speed.
Plectrum position standard
Plectrum position The edge
Furthermore use a delay sound set to 3/16 tempo about 340-350 milliseconds.
The switch of the pickups for the intro is set between the 2nd and 3rd pickup.
We will show here the version of “Rattle and Hum”. De intro starts with a few flageolet tones. You Keep your finger above the strings in the 12th and 7th position. When you hit the strings you keep your indexfinger posted at the same postion without pushing the strings.
Hybrid picking is a great way of adding another dimension to your sound. Players in many different styles such as blues, bluegrass, country, rock and jazz use hybrid picking when they play guitar. One of my favorite guitar players, Stevie Ray Vaughan, uses hybrid picking for his solo in the song “Lenny.”
What is hybrid picking?
As the name suggests, hybrid picking is a technique that is a cross between regular picking and finger picking (AKA fingerstyle). Hybrid picking allows for the guitar player to sound notes on separate strings without sounding the string in the middle.
For example, lets say you wanted to play something like this:
What would you do when you got to the red notes? Well a good option would be hybrid picking.
How to hybrid pick
Here is how I approach hybrid picking. I hold my pick like I would normally hold it, between my thumb and index finger, like so:
(I use a small pick, so it’s hard to see my pick, but it’s there)
But for hybrid picking I use my middle finger to pluck the lower string like so:
So in the tabs above I would pick the note on the G string and pluck the note on the high E string with my middle finger. To get the notes to sound at the same time I “pinch” them so my pick and middle finger both squeeze towards each other. Once you pinch let the strings slide off your pick and finger at the same time by moving your hand slightly away from the string. This will cause both strings to slide off at the same time. Presto! Hybrid picking!
Another great way to use hybrid picking is to alternate between using your pick and your middle finger. What is the advantage to this? Well it sure makes string skipping a lot easier, especially when you are skipping two or more strings. Try playing this A minor lick with hybrid picking. The red notes use a pick and the blue use your middle finger:
Experiment with hybrid picking and see how you can incorporate it into your playing. It is quite a cool technique
Chords are built up by 2 or more tones. Most common chords have 3 tones. They are built on the 1st, 3rd and 5th tone of the major scale. They are called triads.
To understand chords better it is best to write down a major and minor diatonic scale. For example the C major scale and an A minor scale. Like this you will get a good overview on how the intervals are built up.
C major chord:
C D E F G A B C
1st C
3rd E
5th G
A Major Scale
A B C# D E F# G A
1st A
3rd C#
5th E
There are many combinations to form a chord. Here you will find a table of chords built on the A Major Scale.
