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Dave McCulloch

String-skipping Lick


ABOUT THE LICK: This string-skipping lick is based on a C#Harmonic Minor lick Paul Gilbert taught on his "Terrifying Guitar Trip" video. Playing through the pattern slowly will quickly reveal that some notes are repeated in different octaves. I simply moved it up to E-harmonic Minor to make the fingering slightly easier to learn. The tablature encompasses the entire lick itself, though on the video I did a little "freelancing" to extend it somewhat.

Its strict alternate picking EXCEPT for the "pedal" tones (the notes played on the high-E). For those notes I use legato, picking ONLY the FIRST note of the five. Otherwise, I would end with a downstroke on that string, making the skips more effort. That is a very important point to remember in achieving any success with it. The other strings are always beginning on an upstroke.

One of the hardest things is NOT hitting the other strings during the skips. I would suggest using a dampener on the neck when beginning to reduce frustration until the fingering is learned. Anchoring your pick-hand and simply pivoting it will maintain accuracy in the skips.

Dave


the following bio material provided by Dave McCulloch

I've been playing electric guitar for about ten years. Only played in one band, while living in Spain(In front of a decent crowd, and televised during one gig!!) Talk about pressure. I'm still hooked on the 80's. I spend much time practicing fast licks and sequences to keep my chops up. Gearwise, I like to keep it simple. Most of the time its just my Washburn plugged directly into a Laney LC-15R. My obsession as of late has been Flamenco; living in Spain for ten years definitely got me hooked. I will be contributing both electric and Flamenco material.