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Online Guitar Lessons – How to instantly improve your lead guitar solos using string skipping
By Mike Hayes | August 9, 2009
Six months ago a guitar player complained to me that his brand new $6,000 Gibson Les Paul guitar did not sound much better than his $150 no-name electric guitar; in fact he suspected it sounded slightly worse!
His solution was to start looking for a new amp.
Actually, I have heard him play both guitars and the most obvious problem is that … he has changed instruments but done nothing about increasing his skill level; and yes a better quality instrument will show up messy playing so he was probably better off with his original guitar. The only thing that has changed is his bank balance.
The moral of the story? … learn more musical skills and it won’t matter
whether you are playing a yellow ukulele in the middle of a pineapple field or a $6,000 Gibson …you will still sound great!
Here’s a neat way to improve your musical skills and add the element of surprise to your solos: string skipping.
Remember the formula for a surprise is … something unexpected at an
unexpected moment, write that down it’s important!
Let’s say we are playing an ascending three note per string scale in the
key of C major beginning on the B note, third string, fourth fret; our scale
would be played like this …
3rd string = B, C, D
2nd string = E, F, G
1st string = A, B, C
That’s what would normally happen, but this time we will play the same
scale starting from the exact same B note and by applying the string
skipping technique which would simply mean skipping over (omitting) the second string to be played like this …
3rd string = B, C, D
1st string = A, B, C
Taking that idea a step further, here’s an example of how you might apply
the string skipping idea to a three note per string, C major scale over the
entire fretboard; played entirely on the third and first string.
3rd string = A, B, C
1st string = G, A, B
then …
3rd string = B, C, D
1st string = A, B, C
next …
string 3 = C, D, E
string 1 = B, C, D
now …
string 3 = D, E, F
string 1 = C, D, E
continue up the neck.
Remember to practice s-l-o-w-l-y, if you find any of the string skips
difficult, try to play notes in the same key that are closer to your initial
fingering.
Like this … suppose you found, 3rd string = B, C, D / 1st string = A, B,
C difficult you could change the notes on the first string to … 1st
string = G, A, B.
Since all these notes belong to the key of C they will all work, we have
simply made it more comfortable for us to play while still retaining the
surprise factor.
I hope you enjoy the string skipping technique, it’s a simple but very
effective concept that will add the element of surprise to your lead solos.
Until next time, enjoy playing your guitar!
And now I’d like to invite you to get free access to my “How To
Remember 1,000 Songs” eCourse. You can download the course for
free at: http://www.guitarcoaching.com
From Mike Hayes – The Guitar Coaching Guy & the Express Guitar
System
http://www.GuitarCoaching.com
http://AdvancingGuitaristProgram.com
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