Confession #36 - Pull, Hammer and Slide! (Phrasing 1)

One of the things that distinguishes the guitar from most other instruments is that some notes can be found in more than one place on the fretboard.   For example, the A note at the 5th fret of your sixth string is the same note as the A when your fifth string is played open.  They both have the same pitch or frequency, but they have slightly different timbres due to the physical differences between the fifth string and the sixth string.

The other thing that distinguishes the guitar from most other instruments is all the different ways that a particular note can be played or delivered.


PHRASING

Phrasing is the term that is used to describe the way a particular note has been played or delivered.  There are numerous ways to deliver a particular note.  Options include:

• fretting the note and just playing it
• sliding into the note from above or below
• hammering-on or pulling off to the note
• bending into the note

Let's look at some of these options, and then apply them to Am Pentatonic Lick #1 from Confession #35 - Repeat & Vary! (Improvisation 1).


HAMMER-ON, PULL-OFF,  & SLIDES

Here's  a TAB that shows three of the techniques mentioned above:

Hammer-on, Pull-off, and Slides
(Click to Enlarge)

Hammer-On

The first half of the first measure shows a hammer-on.

Fret the first note (G) with finger 1 and pick the string.  Do not pick the second note (A).  Instead, bring your 3rd finger down forcefully onto the 10th fret and hold it there (i.e. "hammer" your 3rd finger onto the 10th fret).

Done with sufficient speed and force, the string will continue to vibrate and the A note will sound.

Pull-Off

The second half of the first measure shows a pull-off.

Fret the first note (A) with finger 3, and the second note (G) with finger 1 (i.e. both fingers are on the fretboard at the same time). Now pick the string to sound the A note.  Do not pick the second note (G).  Instead, tug down slightly with finger 3 as you remove it from the 10th fret.

Done properly, finger 3 will pluck the string and the G note will sound.

Slides

The second measure shows two slides, the first from the G note to the A note, and the second from the A note back to the G note.

Fret the first note with any finger you like.  Pick the string to sound the first note.  Do not pick the second note.  Instead, slide your finger up/down the fretboard to fret the second note.

Done properly, the the string will continue to vibrate from the picked first note and the second note will sound.

If you have a death-grip on the fretboard (see Confession #30 - Lose the Death Grip! ), you're going to find slides difficult.  Use a lighter touch and slides will be easier.


ADDING PHRASING to Am PENTATONIC LICK #1

Last week we looked at this lick:

Am Pentatonic Lick #1 - No Phrasing
(Click to Enlarge)

It's promising, but I find it sounds a little stiff.

Let's add a little phrasing to this lick, as follows:

Am Pentatonic Lick #1 - With Phrasing
(Click to Enlarge)

Instead of starting the lick on the A at the 10th fret of the second string, we're going to play what is called a grace note slide.  We start on the G at the 8th fret, but slide up the the A on the 10th fret as soon as the string is picked.  Its called a grace note because is duration is so short.

The second half of the lick goes from the D at the 10th fret of the first string  to the C at the 8th fret.  Instead of picking both notes, let's pull off from the D to the C.

Having added only a grace note slide and a pull-off, the lick sounds more loose and more interesting.

Take a look at some of the licks you've created and see if you can apply some phrasing to them to make them sound more interesting!

Video

Next Week's Confession - Play Something, Play Anything!

Confession #35 - Repeat & Vary! (Improvisation 1)

When I was doing lessons, my teacher would sometimes say "Let's Jam!" and start playing some rhythm guitar and let me lay down some lead lines.  Frankly, this terrified me.  My teacher was super-cool, but I always felt some self-imposed pressure to fill the space and to create some interesting lead lines.  Filling the space was easy.  Creating interesting lines, not so much.  So this usually resulted in me wandering up and down a pentatonic or major scale in a steady stream of eight notes.  Really boring stuff !!!


IMPROVISATION

True improvisation is the spontaneous creation of music, which sounds like a very wide-open mandate and thus makes improvisation very intimidating.  There are simply so many choices you can make that it is easy to become paralyzed.  However, there are a variety of techniques that you can use to make the task less daunting and the resulting music more interesting.

Most of us are never going to find ourselves on stage having to improvise a solo.  We'll be much more likely to apply these techniques in one of two situations:

• we're jamming with our friends and thus are free to experiment, or
• we're on our own and trying to come up with some riffs or licks, or a solo

REPEAT AND VARY

The first improvisation technique we'll cover is what I call "repeat and vary".  Your noodling around and have come up with something interesting.  Play it again and change it slightly!  Add a note, or drop one.  Play two 16th notes in place of one 8th note!  There are lots of options!


Am Pentatonic Lick #1

Here's an example of this technique.  The first measure below defines a musical phrase.  The second measure repeats the phrase but omits the G on the "and" of beat 2.  This results in two changes:

• the stream of notes changes, and
• the phrase finishes on the "and" of beat 3 instead of on beat 4

Am Pentatonic Lick #1
(Click to Enlarge)

Note the tempo indicator.  It's telling you to play with a shuffle rhythm.  If you aren't sure what a shuffle rhythm is, think of a typical blues tune.  The bass sounds something like this:

    Bump ba Bump ba Bump ba Bump

    1    &  2    &  3    &  4

Although its counted as an 8th note rhythm, the first 8th note is held a bit longer, and the second is shortened.


Am Pentatonic Extended Box

In case you are wondering, the notes in Am Pentatonic Lick #1 are taken from the Am pentatonic extended box, as shown below:

Am Pentatonic Scale with Extended Box
(Click to Enlarge)

Video

Next Week's Confession - Pull, Hammer and Slide! (Phrasing 1)

Confession #34 - 16th Note Boot Camp (Part 3)

Two weeks ago, we started a series of exercises to help you get comfortable with playing 16th notes, two per measure (Confession #32 - 16th Note Boot Camp (Part 1) ) and four per measure (Confession #33 - 16th Note Boot Camp (Part 2) ).


Intermediate Training 

This week we'll explore some exercises that use more complicated 16th note patterns and I'll show you a trick for translating them into something more familiar.  Below the exercises is an audio only YouTube video which demonstrates each of the exercises, and gives you something to play along with to practice.

Again, the demonstrations are at 60 beats per minute and when practicing the exercises without the video, use a metronome! (see Confession #5 - Use a Metronome!)


Exercise #6

The 6th exercise shows the impact of  sustaining 16th notes over the beat (in this case, Beat 2).

Exercise #6
(Click to Enlarge)

Count and pick this exercise as follows:

 1    & uh (2) ee &    3    &    4    & 
 d    d u      u  d    d    d    d    d 


At first glance this pattern may seem complicated, but watch what happens when we double the duration of each note:

 1    2 &  (3) &  4  | 1    2    3    4 
 d    d u      u  d  | d    d    d    d 

Does the first measure look familiar?  It's the folk rhythm (see Confession #10 - Learn the 'Folk' Rhythm!)!

Once you know how the folk rhythm sounds, it only takes a little bit of practice to translate it into a faster 16th note based version.  Steve Miller's 'The Joker' uses a 16th note folk rhythm pattern in the chorus.


Exercise #7

The 7th exercise shows the impact of sustaining 16th notes over the 'and' of the beat (in this case, the 'and' of Beat 1).

Exercise #7
(Click to Enlarge)

Count and pick this exercise as follows:

 1 ee (&) uh 2    &    3    &    4    & 
 d u      u  d    d    d    d    d    d 


Again, doubling the duration of each note may make it easier to understand this rhythm:

 1 & (2) &  3     4  | 1    2    3    4 
 d u     u  d     d  | d    d    d    d 

Once you've got the feel for it using 8th notes, you can translate it to 16th notes.


Video

Next Week's Confession - Repeat & Vary (Improvisation 1)

Confession #33 - 16th Note Boot Camp (Part 2)

Last week, we started a series of exercises to help you get comfortable with playing 16th notes (see Confession #32 - 16th Note Boot Camp (Part 1)).


Basic Training - Continued

This week we'll explore some exercises that put two pairs of 16th notes in a measure, the rest of which is filled with steady 8th notes.  Below the exercises is an audio only YouTube video which demonstrates each of the exercises, and gives you something to play along with to practice.

Again, the demonstrations are at 60 beats per minute and when practicing the exercises without the video, use a metronome! (see Confession #5 - Use a Metronome!)


Exercise #4

The 4th exercise puts four 16th notes in each beat in the measure, one at a time.

Exercise #4
(Click to Enlarge)

Count and pick this exercise as follows:

Beat 1

 1 ee & uh 2    &    3    &    4    & 
 d u  d u  d    d    d    d    d    d 


Beat 2

 1    &    2 ee & uh 3    &    4    & 
 d    d    d u  d u  d    d    d    d 


Beat 3

 1    &    2    &    3 ee & uh 4    & 
 d    d    d    d    d u  d u  d    d 


Beat 4

 1    &    2    &    3    &    4 ee & uh
 d    d    d    d    d    d    d u  d u


Exercise #5

The 5th exercise puts four 16th notes together, starting on the "and" of one beat and stretching into the next beat.

Exercise #5
(Click to Enlarge)

Count and pick this exercise as follows:

Beat 1 into 2

 1    & uh 2 ee &    3    &    4    & 
 d    d u  d u  d    d    d    d    d 


Beat 2 into 3

 1    &    2    & uh 3 ee &    4    & 
 d    d    d    d u  d u  d    d    d 


Beat 3 into Beat 4

 1    &    2    &    3    & uh 4 ee & 
 d    d    d    d    d    d u  d u  d 


Beat 4 into Beat 1

 1    &    2    &    3    &    4    & uh 1 ee &    2
 d    d    d    d    d    d    d    d u  d u  d    d


Video

Next week we'll look at some exercises that use more complicated 16th note patterns and a trick for translating complicated looking patterns into something more familiar.

Next Week's Confession - 16th Note Boot Camp (Part 3)