10-minute lick bag: how to play a funky auto-wah lick

This lick could feature as the hook of a pop funk song it's so memorable! It's two short 2-bar phrases, with the first bar being the same and bars 2/4 different. It's largely based in A minor pentatonic (A C D E G) but the last bar uses A Blues scale (A minor pentatonic with D#/Eb added) for a little more bluesy funk grit.

While this would sound great clean or distorted, it's made more sonically appealing by using an auto-wah/filter pedal (pickup selection to taste). There are numerous pedals on the market from Electro Harmonix's Enigma Q Balls and Boss's AW-3 to Xotic's Robotalk 2. Set the pedal so that it opens fully when you really dig in, opening partially with medium dynamics. This will be achievable via the controls sensitivity, decay, Q and attack (or less if the pedal doesn't feature some of these).

To best follow the animated tab video select HD and full-screen mode.

If you want more great guitar lessons subscribe to Guitar Techniques