Guitar Lesson Nine - Technique
Right Hand:
As I've said before, triplets are one of the most difficult things for the right hand to play well on the guitar, especially when the triplet falls across more than one string. The time you spend getting it right will pay big dividends down the road.
With this in mind, here's another triplet exercise utilizing the major and minor scales on the E, A and D-strings.
Pay particular attention to these points:
- I have included TAB with this exercise for the sole purpose of illustrating how the melody is played up and down a single string. The presence of TAB is not an excuse for you to neglect reading the music. Pay attention to how the key signature shifts as the scale being used shifts.
- This entire exercise consists of one string acting as a PEDAL TONE while the melody is played on the adjacent string. A pedal tone is a note that is sustained while other notes or chords are played over the top of and independent to the sustained tone. This technique is derived from organ playing, where the feet sustain notes via foot pedals while the hands play harmonic and melodic structures over the sustained note. The pedal tone effect is best achieved if you allow the droning string to ring throughout while keeping the melody notes crisp, clean and short. The pedal tone shifts between the E and A-strings, so you will have to stop the pedal from ringing when it is time to switch strings. Use the heel of your picking hand to dampen the pedal string while your fretting hand sustains the quarter note that ends each phrase.
- The Ritard direction in the second to last measure means to gradually slow down. You will run into this direction most often at the end of a piece of music, but you may also find the direction at the end of a phrase or section within a piece of music.
Listen to it here. (572kb MP3)
Work this up to speed slowly and cleanly.
This lesson is divided into five parts
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