SAM STOCKTON

Hello one and all. it's a bit of a weird name but for this article but does sum up the general technique rather well. The idea came about when I was watching the amazing Allan Holdsworth not that long ago. He plays seamlessly in all directions and got some lovely effects from moving across the neck. As guitar players we tend to move up the neck when going from the low strings to the high ones and vice versa when coming back down. So I came up with two exercises which do this process the other way round. There will be two more parts to this lesson, the next installment being some legato licks across the fretboard incorporating this technique in a musical setting and lesson three which will be adding tapping into the equation for some more madness.

Lick 1A - O.K so this lick is in groups of fives so nothing to scary there! This lick feels really awkward at first because your hands never go in this direction but there are some great results to be had from this technique. Both of the licks aren’t designed to be musical. There merely there to get the brain and the hands used to this particular way of playing. Lick 1a is written as strictly legato so it gives the old left hand a bit more of a work out. This is not to say you cant pick it. The usual rules apply, take this slowly and make sure that the first finger of the left hand is hitting the starting note on the next string cleanly and clearly each time. Enough talk, its below so see what you make of it.

Lick 1B - Phew!! Its quite a work out that one. So as the saying goes what comes up must come down or is that the other way round with this exercise!! The first thing you will see is that this exercise is in groups of six‘s. Mainly because I wanted personally to practise going back down the scale but adding a new element into the equation killing two birds with one stone if you will. This feels even more awkward than going up the strings because of the pull offs we encounter. Again slowly but surely wins the race. Fell free to adapt the exercises to your own wicked ends and get them underneath your fingers and then we can start having even more weird fun.!!

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the following bio material provided by Sam Stockton

Sam Stockton

Sam studied on the degree programme at the Guitar Institute in London, England. While there he studied all kinds of musical styles and opted for the jazz modules. Sam has played all over the country in many different musical settings as diverse as Reggae, Soul, R&B, Jazz, Rock and Fusion bands. His current projects include The Captain Lab Rat Experiments debut album which is still currently in development, a four piece Jazz funk band, and The Grandma Rockafella band that will be playing during the Brecken Jazz festival later on this year. Sam also co-writes lot of commercial songs with a keyboard player and composer. Sam currently lectures, teaches one on one and performs in the West Midlands and you may well start seeing him demonstrating for Patrick Eggle guitars soon. Sam's website is in development so stay tuned for more info or email Cptlabrat@hotmail.com.