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Some Techniques
Here are some useful techniques to have in your musical vocabulary (those marked with a * are more suitable for electric guitars, those with ** for distorted electric guitars)
1. Slide
2. Bend*
3. Release*
4. Hammer on
5. Pull off
6. Unison bend*
7. Harmonic
8. Pinch harmonic**
9. Tapping**
1 – Slide
Play the D note with your index finger on the 7th fret of string 3 and without releasing the pressure, slide your finger up two frets, to E – this is ‘sliding up’. Play the E note and slide your finger back down – this is, unsurprisingly, ‘sliding down’.
2 – Bend
Play the D note with your ring finger on the 7th fret of string 3 and bend the string by moving your finger along the fret without releasing the pressure – you will hear the note getting higher in pitch (bending up). Now, while you still have the string bent upwards, pluck the string again, and move your finger back to its original position, and you will hear the note bending down. This is what is known as a Release
4 & 5– Hammer on & Pull off
Play the D note again, this time with your index finger, and now press your ring finger on the 9th fret, without plucking again – you will have heard two notes being played, but the second will not have any plucking sound. Now do the opposite: leave your fingers where they are, the ring finger on the 9th fret and the index finger on the 7th. Pluck the string, and quickly remove your ring finger, so that only your index is left pressing the string. You will again have heard two notes being played, only the second without any plucking sound. This is a Pull off.
6 – Unison bend
Play the 10th fret on string 2. Play the 12th fret on string 3, and bend the string until it is the same pitch as the first note you played. Now do both together, so that you eventually have the sound of the same note being played twice at the same time, but with the sound of a bend preceding it. This is called a unison bend.
7 – Harmonic
Touch, but do not press, string 3 over the 12 fret (over the actual fret bar, not the gap between bars as you would normally). Now pluck the string and remove your fret-board finger immediately. The ringing sound is known as a harmonic.
Natural harmonics, i.e. those played over an open string, have the limitation of only being available over the 7th, 12th and 19th fret bars. To get around this, do the following:
Press the string down over any note, say the 2nd fret of string 2. This is two frets above the open note for string 2. Therefore, with the index finger of your plucking hand, touch string 2 above the 14th fret bar (i.e. two above the 12th) and pluck holding the plectrum between your thumb and ring finger; you have played a harmonic two frets higher than an open string.
8 – Pinch Harmonic
Very popular in heavy metal, pinch harmonics absolutely must be done on a distorted electric guitar. Play any note with a plectrum with your thumb close to the tip, holding it such that immediately after striking with the plectrum, your thumb lightly touches the string. If done properly, this gives out a very high pitched ringing sound.
9 – Tapping
Again effective only over a distorted electric guitar, put your plectrum away and literally tap with your fret-board hand on any note – you should get a ‘yodelling’ kind of sound made up of two notes: the open string note and the note of whatever fret you are tapping. If you are feeling a little bolder, use you picking had fingers to tap as well. Eddie Van Halen practically pioneered this technique.
Although the above may seem fairly dull and pointless at first, they are invaluable for giving lead guitar parts feeling. Pick any lead guitarist you admire and study on of his lines – I guarantee you will hear at least a couple of these in any solo. They are the guitarist’s equivalent of adjectives in language.
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