Stevie Ray Vaughan uses this one in his solo on "Love Struck Baby" from Texas Flood. It's a classic blues lick with some chromatic passing notes. Sounds best using single coil pickups (or a single coil combined with a humbucker) and some crunch.

Slapping is a technique that is certainly not restricted to bass playing. Actually, it can sound very nice on the guitar. I played this piece on an accoustic guitar with build-in pickups. All the notes on the low E-string are played by slapping the right hand thumb on the string. All other notes are played by plucking them with the right index finger (or hammer-on). I hold my right hand in the same position I would use for normal finger picking, with approximately a 45 degree angle between my thumb and the low E-string. The muted slaps (x) sound like that bec...

In a nut shell, the basics of playing pinch harmonics are: 1) Find a convenient way to touch the string lightly with your picking hand at the same time that you pick the note. How this is done best depends on the way you hold the pick. Most players hold the pick between the thumb and the side of the index finger (like Joe Satriani does). Then pinch harmonics are probably played most easily by touching the string with the side of the thumb quickly following the downstroke. I have a rather unconventional way to hold the pick, using a three-finger grip with the thu...

For ascending legato patterns it's convenient to pick the first note on each string like I do here (there's some more picking at the end). If you can play it all legato, then good for you. This is just one of many patterns I use to keep my legato in shape. Try to come up with your own by moving the basic ideas around.

This Dokken riff (I forgot from which song) is great for practicing your pinch harmonics. The first set of pinch harmonics is played by pinching about one and a half cm to the left of the middle pickup (on a strat-type guitar). For the second set, pinch roughly above the middle pickup. For the third set, move about 1 cm to the right of the middle pickup. An extra challenge is to get both the palm-muted notes and the pinch harmonics right.

Here's another solo from the same tune as in the "legato-based improvisation" lesson. This one mixes staccato playing, sometimes palm-muted, with legato to get a dynamic funky sound. Dig in with the pick to get that snappy sound. Work on your timing when doing this kind of solos, it is crucial to get it just right.

When played only on the B-string, this trick is rather old. Adding the open E to the sequence freshens it up a little. This is one of these things on which you can very easily expand.

This trick takes the "Slapping - #1" trick one step further. Instead of plucking single notes with your right hand index finger, you pluck double stops (two notes/strings) with your index and middle fingers. The slapping routine is pretty similar. Mute the low E with your left hand thumb when you slap on the A string.

This is a good finger picking exercise and fun to play. It sounds best on an acoustic guitar. Use your thumb for the low notes, and your first finger for the high notes.

This one is slightly harder than it sounds. You have to mute the notes on the B-string after you've played them to make this type of lick sound clean. I do this muting with my right hand thumb. Alternately, you could release the note with your left hand, but that does not seem very ergonomic to me. The tab shows only the basic patterns that are used. The open E gives it a characteristic sound. Again, you can easily fool around with this one to make something else out of it.

I got this idea for playing fluent arpeggios while doodling on an accoustic. The clip is electric guitar though. The idea is quite simple: it is four note arpeggios, the first note of each is tapped, the second note a pull-off from the tapped note on the same string, while the third and fourth notes are played by hammering-on on two different strings. You'll see it's pretty easy to do.

This is a nice work-out for the left hand, when you use a lot of legato playing. Yngwie played something very similar in one of the songs on his first album. I liked the melody right away. It consists of three very similar patterns that start out with a little three string arpeggio followed by a scalar run that takes you back to the note you started with. I played it in the key of D (harmonic minor) here. You have to do a little stretching which makes it somewhat tougher on the left hand. To have an ending, I played a pattern with some fast hammer-ons/pull-offs,...

Start with a sweeped arpeggio and add a tap on the top note. Then go down the E minor scale without picking a single note (legato technique). Finish off with an E power chord.

This is a tough lick, but fun to play. You start with a basic C major arpeggio, same shape as in legato ex 3, and after that it's all legato. Sweep the arp up, then position your right hand quickly for the taps. Tap with your second and third fingers (17, 19 fret). The descending arp is all hammer ons, finish off with a little tap and slide down to A on the 5th fret.

Go easy on the left hand when practicing this kind of legato playing. Don't do it too long without pause. The best way to practice this without risk of injury is to play it for a few minutes (about 5) and then switch to something that is easy for the left hand. For example, something with a complex picking pattern. When you switch to another string pick the first note, then play all the other notes by hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides as indicated in the tab. Be careful to avoid noise from other strings while doing the hammers and pulls. All the slides are done with the...

This is the kind of thing you could play as an intro to a blues-rock song (imagine the band joining in at the end). It is also fun to play this kind of things when you're playing alone and want to do some soloing that still sounds like a tune. Since there is no drummer to guide you, it will train your feeling for rhythm as well. The first solo lick consists only of notes of the C minor blues scale (C, D, E-flat, F, F-sharp, G, B-flat). For the second lick, I borrow a note from C dorian: the A in the bend at the 10th fret of the B-string. In the third and fourth licks ...

The Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Funky Monks" opens with this riff. Use finger picking: the thumb picks the low notes, the index and second fingers pick the upper & double stop notes. Pluck hard.

This entirely legato lick has a nice rolling sound. Only the first note is picked; everything else is pulling off and hammering on. I find this idea very useful in soloing, because you can easily improvise with it.

Hi again! After some months of silence I'll post some stuff I've been recording during that time. So, no exercises for a while, but "real" soloing instead. This first solo starts with a legato technique improvised part. It uses patterns similar to the ones in my other legato excercise, but this one is in the key of A minor. Don't take the tab too literally. It's improvised and played freely. Try to pick up some ideas and toss these in your own solos. Note that the notes in the first part are not all equally long, the rolls follow the flow of the backing part by ...

This is far from original (sounds like a million other shred riffs), but it's a good workout. I play 6-note patterns on the high E and B strings, mostly from the E minor scale and some from the E harmonic minor scale. Use alternate picking and practice it at a speed similar to the slow version in the clip. Once you can play that easily and without mistakes, then playing it faster will be not too difficult.

Here's a fast descending lick with a lot of tapped notes. Try moving it around the neck and transform it to other scale patterns.

Here are some more sweep-n-taps for ya. It's a sweep up, a hammer and tap, and legato downhill. Keep your right hand close to the notes you're tapping while sweeping up. I tap with the middle finger here, and hold the pick between index and thumb.

This little trick is useful for ascending runs. Players like Satriani use this kind of lick quite often.

This blues intro contains many aspects of my favorite blues playing: mixed major/minor blues scales, chromatic passing notes, muted strokes, bends, and 2 or 3 string chords. The lick in the first bar tends to A and then rolls into D, where the drum and bass are supposed to kick in. Even though there is nothing spectacular in the piece, it still sounds cool because of the variations between different scales and techniques.

Learning an advanced technique involving tapping, hammering on and pulling off four note arpeggios on three adjacent strings.

I've noticed that there is a lot of confusion about harmonics, and especially pinch harmonics. So, let's try to clear up some of the misunderstandings.

This tutorial is a series of exercises to help you practice your legato technique. These lessons are aimed at advanced guitar player.

This tutorial is a series of exercises to help you practice your legato technique. These lessons are aimed at intermediate guitar player and feature a legato exercise in the style of Joe Satriani.

Slapping is a technique that is certainly not restricted to bass playing. This tutorial will show you how to play this technique on a guitar.

This tutorial will show you some open string rock licks. Some of them are picked while some of them use legato techniques.

This is a nice work-out for the left hand, when you use a lot of legato playing. Yngwie played something very similar in one of the songs on his first album. I liked the melody right away. It consists of three very similar patterns that start out with a little three string arpeggio followed by a scalar run that takes you back to the note you started with. I played it in the key of D (harmonic minor) here. You have to do a little stretching which makes it somewhat tougher on the left hand. To have an ending, I played a pattern with some fast hammer-ons/pull-offs,...

Stevie Ray Vaughan uses this one in his solo on "Love Struck Baby" from Texas Flood. It's a classic blues lick with some chromatic passing notes. Sounds best using single coil pickups (or a single coil combined with a humbucker) and some crunch.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Funky Monks" opens with this riff. Use finger picking: the thumb picks the low notes, the index and second fingers pick the upper & double stop notes. Pluck hard.

This is the kind of thing you could play as an intro to a blues-rock song (imagine the band joining in at the end). It is also fun to play this kind of things when you're playing alone and want to do some soloing that still sounds like a tune. Since there is no drummer to guide you, it will train your feeling for rhythm as well. The first solo lick consists only of notes of the C minor blues scale (C, D, E-flat, F, F-sharp, G, B-flat). For the second lick, I borrow a note from C dorian: the A in the bend at the 10th fret of the B-string. In the third and fourth licks ...

This is a good finger picking exercise and fun to play. It sounds best on an acoustic guitar. Use your thumb for the low notes, and your first finger for the high notes.

If you raise the second note of the pentatonic scale by half a note (from a minor 3rd to a major 3rd), you get this "alternative pentatonic" scale, which has a very characteristic sound. You can use it best in a blues context.

This blues intro contains many aspects of my favorite blues playing: mixed major/minor blues scales, chromatic passing notes, muted strokes, bends, and 2 or 3 string chords. The lick in the first bar tends to A and then rolls into D, where the drum and bass are supposed to kick in. Even though there is nothing spectacular in the piece, it still sounds cool because of the variations between different scales and techniques.

This is far from original (sounds like a million other shred riffs), but it's a good workout. I play 6-note patterns on the high E and B strings, mostly from the E minor scale and some from the E harmonic minor scale. Use alternate picking and practice it at a speed similar to the slow version in the clip. Once you can play that easily and without mistakes, then playing it faster will be not too difficult.

Here's another solo from the same tune as in the "legato-based improvisation" lesson. This one mixes staccato playing, sometimes palm-muted, with legato to get a dynamic funky sound. Dig in with the pick to get that snappy sound. Work on your timing when doing this kind of solos, it is crucial to get it just right.

The short solo in this clip contains some nice licks, most of them not too hard to play. The most tricky lick is probably the one at the very beginning. It's a tapping lick where the taps (T), hammer-ons (h), and pull-offs (p) are kind of irregular and it will take some (slow) practice to get it right up to speed. Then there is something based on two right hand taps played fast after each other, followed by a descending scalar pattern with a lot of legato in it. When the drums get a bit more aggressive the solo starts to ascend in a lingering way with some tripl...

Here are some cool blues licks in D, which you might find useful. The first one has a lot of hammers, pulls and slides. The second one is pretty similar but mostly picked. There are some ghost notes (between brackets) in the first lick, which are played to keep it more fluent.

Here is a convenient way of playing pedal tone (pedal point) patterns with large intervals. You simply play all the notes as hammer-ons with the left (fretting) hand, and mute the strings using the right hand by gently resting it on the strings behind the left. In this example, I played the signature pedal melody from "La Campanella", a classical piece by Liszt (it's a beautiful piano piece, go check it out). The last bit is some fast hammer-ons/pull-offs.