Legato+Tap
Posted by zylaxis on guitarwar.com - Dec 26, 2004 @
03:04:52 AM
Adding RH tapping to LH legato licks
Download Lesson MP3 File
[HERE]
In a recent post,
"Black Ice," I used a lot of extended legato licks, adding RH tapped
notes into the scalar/modal mix for smoothness and fluidity.
There are number of great professional guitarists who are well-known for this
approach; they include Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth,
Rather than transcribe parts of my solos verbatim, I decided that it would be
more useful to show the exercises I use to prepare these techniques, because
they're a little less random and much more structured than my improvisations.
The legato technique is ALWAYS problematic, and it takes a lot of work not only
to achieve it, but to maintain it as well. Two tips that might help in
practicing these exercises, which I use regularly:
1. Practice on your electric guitar without
an amp. Spend at least half your practice time doing this. Your ears will
get more sensitive, and it'll really force you to clean up your technique.
2. Practice your 3-notes-per-string scales LH only, without a pick, ESPECIALLY
ascending. In order to make the most of tapping/legato you must learn to
hammer-on with your LH index finger "from nowhere," and it is
extremely difficult to do it cleanly. It's the fundamental key to Allan Holdsworth's sound, and it takes constant work to maintain
it.
Here is the basic A-major scale fingering we will be using; the E at the [9th
fret/G-string] is doubled at the [5th fret/B-string] for a pattern that lies
nicely across the neck and under the fingers. Steve Vai
uses this fingering extensively (check out a transcription of "
E
|-------------------------------5-7-9-|
B
|-------------------------5-7-9-------|
G
|-------------------6-7-9-------------|
D
|-------------6-7-9-------------------|
A
|-------5-7-9-------------------------|
E
|-5-7-9-------------------------------|
Here is an exercise for the LH alone. DO NOT USE A PICK. Hammer the
index-finger notes "from nowhere".
[repeat
2-4x or as long as you can stand it]
E|---------------------------------h5h7h9p7p5--------------------------------|
B|---------------------------h5h7h9----------h9p7p5--------------------------|
G|---------------------h6h7h9----------------------h9p7p6--------------------|
D|---------------h6h7h9----------------------------------h9p7p6--------------|
A|---------h5h7h9----------------------------------------------h9p7p5--------|
E|(h)5h7h9-----------------------------------------------------------h9p7p(5)|
LH: 1 2 4 1 2 4 1 2
4 (etc.)
Next is an exercise for RH/LH together:
E
||----------------------------------------------t14p5h7h9-|
B
||-------------------------------------t14p5h7h9----------|
G
||----------------------------t14p6h7h9-------------------|
D ||-------------------t14p6h7h9----------------------------|
A
||----------t14p5h7h9-------------------------------------|
E
||-t14p5h7h9----------------------------------------------|
[repeat 2-4x]
E |-t14p9p7p5----------------------------------------------||
B
|----------t14p9p7p5-------------------------------------||
G
|-------------------t14p9p7p6----------------------------||
D
|----------------------------t14p9p7p6-------------------||
A |-------------------------------------t14p9p7p5----------||
E
|----------------------------------------------t14p9p7p5-||
The third exercise is again for LH alone, following a slightly more
complicated but fairly standard pattern. Again, DO NOT USE A PICK:
E||---------------------------------------------------------------------h5h7|
B||--------------------------------------------------------h5h7h9p7p5h7h9---|
G||------------------------------------------h6h7h9p7p6h7h9-----------------|
D||----------------------------h6h7h9p7p6h7h9-------------------------------|
A||--------------h5h7h9p7p5h7h9---------------------------------------------|
E||h5h7h9p7p5h7h9-----------------------------------------------------------|
[repeat 2-4x]
E
|-9p7p5-----------------------------------------------------------------||
B
|------h9p7p5h7h9p5p5---------------------------------------------------||
G
|--------------------h9p7p6h7h9p7p6-------------------------------------||
D |----------------------------------h9p7p6h7h9p7p6-----------------------||
A
|------------------------------------------------h9p7p5h7h9p7p5---------||
E
|--------------------------------------------------------------h9p7(p5)-||
Last, we have an exercise which combines the
previous with RH tap-ons:
E
||----------------------------------------------------------------|
B
||----------------------------------------------------------------|
G ||----------------------------------------------------------------|
D
||-------------------------------------------h6h7h9-t14p9p7p6h7h9-|
A
||-----------------------h5h7h9-t14p9p7p5h7h9---------------------|
E
||-(h)5h7h9-t14p9p7p5h7h9-----------------------------------------|
E
|-----------------------------------------h5h7h9-t14p9p7p5h7h9-|
B
|---------------------h5h7h9-t14p9p7p5h7h9---------------------|
G
|-h6h7h9-t14p9p7p6h7h9-----------------------------------------|
D |--------------------------------------------------------------|
A
|--------------------------------------------------------------|
E
|--------------------------------------------------------------|
E
|-t14p9p7p5-------------------------------------------------------------|
B
|----------h9p7p5h7h9-t14p9p7p5-----------------------------------------|
G
|------------------------------h9p7p6h7h9-t14p9p7p6---------------------|
D
|--------------------------------------------------h9p7p6h7h9-t14p9p7p6-|
A |-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
E
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
[repeat 2-4x]
E
|---------------------------------||
B
|---------------------------------||
G |---------------------------------||
D
|---------------------------------||
A
|-h9p7p5h7h9-t14p9p7p5------------||
E
|---------------------t14p9p7(p5)-||
I hope this lends a
little insight into some useful techniques.