Quick licks: advanced #1

This lick is based on the C minor pentatonic scale (C Eb F G Bb) and is reminiscent of John McLaughlin's 'Mahavishnu' era. Here we would suggest that you alternate using your third and second fingers so that your fretting hand won't tire. The picking is mostly alternate, although you could use consecutive upstrokes when crossing strings. Neck or bridge pickup with a moderate overdrive would work well here.

Based loosely on G Mixolydian (G A B C D E F), this one features bending, stinging vibrato, chromaticism and some 6ths typical of Steve Morse. In the last bar, we suggest that you use your first finger to start each group of triplets making the line easier to manage and phrase properly. Consider slight palm muting when picking and using the neck pickup when high up the fretboard (plugged into a distorted valve amp).