All Posts by Jonathan Boettcher

This is a great hybrid picking pattern to get started with, if you've never tried hybrid picking before. One of the biggest benefits of hybrid picking, in my mind at least, is that you gain the ability to pick multiple places at once - something you simply cannot do with just a pick. 

Your pick is always limited to being in one place at one time, and if you want more than one string at once, you need to strum them. Sometimes, you simply can't strum the strings, like with these widespread double stops that we're playing today. 

Our pattern starts out by playing the root note at the exact same time as the second string. I love the effect this produces - it gives a lot of depth and space to the sound which is really nice. 

In the second bar we're going to change the pattern just a bit - starting off with a double stop on the root plus the first string instead. The reason for this is I wanted that note to hit right away, so your ear registers the change from the sus4 to the major. You can try playing it both ways, and let me know which one you prefer!

I've called this the Ping Pong picking pattern, because it has a lot of bouncing back and forth, and because it sounds cool! Whenever you're picking, it's really important to know where the root notes are for the chords you're playing. Root notes set the character and direction for the rest of the chord, and it really helps to start your picking pattern on the root note. Here's our pattern: 

Try applying this ping pong pattern to different chord progressions - you will find it's very versatile and sounds great all over the place! 

In this lesson we're going to learn two simple little guitar licks. These licks are great if you're just getting started soloing, and even if you've got a bit of experience, perhaps they'll give you some fresh inspiration.

Don't get hung up too much on the mechanics of these riffs. The most important thing is to make sure you have the correct notes, but beyond that, let the music guide you in how to play those notes!  

When you learn a new lick, if you don't use it, you'll lose it. 

That's why when I learn new licks that I want to retain, I make sure to work with them for a while over top of a jam track. I do my best to "break" the lick, dissecting it into smaller pieces, and working with all the chunks. I try playing the lick in a bunch of different tracks, over different rhythms and styles of music. By the time you go through this process, you won't even have to work on remembering the lick - your fingers will do that work for you! 

Here's the basic tab for the lick we're working with in today's lesson, however notice that in the video I rarely ever played it this way. That's the whole point - take the basic lick idea, then find new ways to play with it. This really works the creative side of your brain, and it is terrific practice for soloing!

If having lots of options leads to indecision or confusion in the middle of a solo, then why not strip away every other option and simply focus on a handful of notes, and making them sound good?

That's what we're doing today - give it a shot and let me know how it went in the comments below!

Adding the flatted fifth to the pentatonic minor scale produces the famous blues scale. This is a really awesome scale for learning to solo - so awesome that we really don't need to go anywhere else to create some great music! 

Here's a diagram of what it looks like on the fretboard:

The numbers on the dots indicate the musical distance from the root note, R. 

Is this scale familiar to you? On a scale of 1 to 5 how would you rate your confidence in using it to create guitar solos? Let me know in the comments below!