Advanced lick one: King Crimson lines
This Robert Fripp style etude uses the A whole tone scale (A, B, C#, D#, F, G, A) and is a great alternate picking exercise. The line moves up a tone in the 3rd and 4th bars ensuring that the whole tone scale is quoted in its entirety. Relax the picking hand and work gradually up to 144bpm over a period of time using a clean in-between pickup tone with a bit of 1980s Crimson approved chorus effect.
Advanced lick two: Dream Theater meltdown
Here's a John Petrucci style prog-metal scorchfest! These are groups of nine notes in the space of one beat using the E Aeolian mode (E, F#, G, A, B, C, D, E). Observe the consecutive upstrokes of the pick between the 6th and 7th notes of each pattern when crossing strings, as this will ensure that you start with a downstroke at the beginning of every phrase. Start slowly to get the patterns established in the fretting hand before venturing beyond 60bpm.
“I can’t play jigs or reels or any of that traditional Irish stuff, but I have got a good ear for blues, the tonality of it”: 3 ways to supercharge your lead guitar playing like Rory Gallagher
“A well-crafted sequence is successful wherever you may wish to use it”: Use these tried and tested chord progressions to build an engaging song
“I can’t play jigs or reels or any of that traditional Irish stuff, but I have got a good ear for blues, the tonality of it”: 3 ways to supercharge your lead guitar playing like Rory Gallagher
“A well-crafted sequence is successful wherever you may wish to use it”: Use these tried and tested chord progressions to build an engaging song
