Guitar Tricks
July 2006


Welcome to Guitar Tricks. We have over 2500 multimedia guitar lessons. 
367 of them are beginner lessons. Each individual lesson is designed by 
one of over 40 guitar instructors that contribute to our site. 

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This months FREE lessons

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1) Break Free From "Normal"Chords  -  Nick Marchant
Easy rock riff lessons for beginners , blues slide guitar lessons from 
complete beginner to advanced plus a fresh look at chords for acoustic 
players


This piece of music is from the intro to the Sting song "The Shape Of My 
Heart" and is an excellent example of using unusual chord voicings to 
get a stronger sound. 
The chord sequence is a fairly standard minor key descending loop i.e. 
F#m E D C#
( the E and D chords are 6ths and the C# a 7sus4 to7th)
You could just strum or pick these chords and get an approximation of 
the tune - but by using
jazz style 3 note voicings you get a melodic line and the possibility of 
adding vibrato to the chords.

To start try an F#m7 barre chord at the 9th fret then remove the barre 
so your 1st finger just gets the note on the 5th string - see SHAPE 1 
above,then pinch strings 5 and 2 using R/H thumb and 2nd finger- follow 
with R/H finger 1 on the 4th string - back to R/H finger 2 on the 2nd 
string
(this right hand pick carries on through the next two chords)
The first change is the only difficult thing in the piece but with 
practice isn't too bad - the chord is E6 - SHAPE 2 above - with your L/H 
2nd finger at the 7th fret (E).
You then move this shape down two frets so your L/H 2nd finger is at the 
5th fret (D)
Finally you leave your L/H little finger where it is and barre the 4th 
fret to get SHAPE 3 above -
pinch R/H thumb + fingers 1 and 2(C#7sus4) then L/H little finger comes 
off to finger 3 a fret below(C#7) or you can just move your little 
finger down a fret - whatever is easier for you.

With a bit of practice this is fairly easy to play. Set the player to 
loop to play along. I used a nylon string guitar for the soundfile but 
it works fine on steelstring 

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2) Pullin' Off A Major Scale  - J.D. Jarrell 
Flat pick, and fingers method, string poppin' bends, and double stops 
from Nashville,TN.

This trick is a open string descending scale played by using pull offs. 
You can do this in different positions, but you have to have a bar 3 
frets back from where you start, or use a capo.

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3) Speed Lick #1  - David Farmer
Beginner guitar (and bass) licks from G101

Here's a FAST little lick thats based of E nat minor scale. Enjoy...
Don't forget to use ALTERNATE PICKING for this one!!

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4) Sweepin' and Slidin'  -  Russ Lewis (New Instructor)

This is just a little trick I learned after listening to Jason Becker 
(God) for a while. Sometimes instead of just sweeping up an arpeggio and 
coming back down he would throw a little double slide at the top of it.

It's a different sound. When used in context of a run or a riff/lick it 
can sound really cool.

This clip just shows the basic idea of what I'm talking about.

(For the 2nd one I just moved everything up 3 frets.)

The first one is just an A major arpeggio that is swept. Just sweep up 
to the top at the 12th fret, then slide up to 13, back to 12, up to 13, 
then back to 12, all without picking, before you go back down the 
arpeggio. The slides have to be done pretty fast to get the desired 
sound.

You can do this with all sorts of different arpeggios, as well as scale 
shapes. You don't always have to slide up just one fret, either. 
Sometimes I'll slide up 3 or 4 frets. Also, you can slide up 1 fret the 
first time, then maybe 3 frets the second time.

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5) Blues Licks I  -  HPCRAZY
Professional guitarist from Switzerland with speciality " touch 
technique " and some cool and unusual tips, licks and tricks.

Here you find a selection of Licks in A7. Some of the licks are based on 
the A - mixolydian scale. This means that you only can use them when the 
chord A7 is played in a bluesy context or in any other mixolydian 
context. If you want to use the mixolydian licks on any other chord you 
have to move them to the position required.
The bluesy part of the mixolydian licks is the chromatic approach note 
on the triad ( C# ) of A. 

Few licks are played in A minor or A blues pentatonic. These licks you 
can use on any chord in a blues in A. If you play a blues in a other key 
you can transpose them to the new key and use them over the whole blues. 

What I realy do pay attention to is the bendings and the vibratoes used 
here. Only the right vibrato or bending gives the punch which is 
required for are real bluesy feeling !

Here are not more detailed information about the single licks :

Lick 1 : Approach note on the triad. 1/2 bending with vibrato at the 
ending. Mixolydian lick.

Lick 2 : This one is very fast. A standard blues lick. If it is too fast 
you can play it half time as well. Mixolydian lick.

Lick 3 : Pay attention to the phrasing and the sound which is created on 
the bending of the 7 . Pentatonic lick.

Lick 4 : The slide to the 10 is a very typical movement in blues. 
Pentatonic lick.

Lick 5 : Cool double stop lick. Mixolydian lick.

Lick 6 : A other double stop lick with a slide at the beginning. 
Mixolydian lick.

Lick 7 : A one other double stop lick. Mixolydian lick.

Lick 8 : This lick is quite related to the A major pentatonic. Pay 
attention to the double chromatic approach to the triad. Mixolydian lick.

Lick 9 : Kind of a reverse lick from the lick 7. Mixolydian lick.

Lick 10 : I guess the most famous blues lick ever. Mixolydian lick.

Lick 11 : The counter point to Lick 9. You can make a cool layer with 
these licks. Mixolydian lick.

Lick 12 : A cool Lick which moves up the fretboard till 14. Mixolydian 
lick.

Lick 13 : Kind of the opposit of lick 11.

Lick 14 : Here the bendings and vibratos are important. Check out the 
cool gimick with the open string. Mixolydian lick.

Lick 15 : This is a quite agressiv double stop lick. Mixolydian lick.

Lick 16 : A typical lick which a cool ending. Check out the timing. This 
is very important here. 

Lick 17 : Cool mixolydian Lick to change positions.

Lick 18 : A other cool lick which changes positions.

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6) Splicing Together a Solo