Lesson Topic












Teacher: Hi. Thanks for tuning in the second part of our developing speed techniques lesson.

Teacher: To recap last week's lesson, we are trying to develop a concept of speed of groups of notes rather than individual notes played fast. We covered some exercises for coordinating the hands and paid particular attention to our right hand position.

Teacher: Remember to practice all tonight's examples with the same hand position you achieved through the last lesson and this week's practice.

Teacher: We left off with some 'speed increment' building exercises. Realizing most speed runs utilize a pattern of similar right and left hand movements from string to string

Teacher: Tonight we will incorporate that into scale runs and riffs.

Descending Speed Lick


Teacher: The riff uses a six note increment

Teacher: Practice this using alternating down and up strokes. To remind yourself of the 'feel' this should have, alternate with your tremolo.

Descending Increment


Teacher: The next piece of the puzzle involves learning to play scale speed runs using the basic finger motions in the previous lesson (see last lick).

Jerry: that first lick is not a real scale right?

Teacher: More of a simple shape to work on coordination and picking.

Teacher: A good place to start as they don't involve a lot of mental energy and can quickly fine tune your coordination.

Teacher: Almost any fingering pattern which is easy to visualize will work fine.

Teacher: Now instead of looking at the notes as if they were exactly frets 5, 6, and 7...

Teacher: Think of them as the lowest, middle and highest on the string in a three note per string pattern.

Teacher: That way you can make changes to fit any of the actual scale patterns I am sending now.

3 Note Per String Patterns 1-4-7


Teacher: Here are three different '3 note per string' patterns. I tried to keep the number of tabs down so I grouped 3 in this first. When playing the tab you should see the notes highlight to seperate the patterns. Make sure you have the guitar neck up when you play back the notation and you will see the notes highlighted

Teacher: The circles were necessary to highlight those notes so the patterns didn't all blob. Nothing more special about those notes unless you like the pattern more, I guess.

Teacher: Here is an example of taking the 'shape' run at the beginning of the lesson and putting to a 3 note per string scale shape.

Speed Lick 2 - Pattern 6


Teacher: More three note patterns on the way.

3 Note Per String Patterns 3 + 6


Teacher: Here comes the corresponding pattern to the lick. It is in 'pattern 6'.

Teacher: The number of each patterns merely indicates which note of the major scale is the lowest note of that pattern.

Teacher: These patterns can be moved around the neck. In this case the patterns are noted relating to the key of 'C'.

Teacher: The way that the patterns are diagramed here represent how they inter-relate to play the same set of notes in seven different patterns.

3 Note Per String Patterns 2-5-1


Teacher: Another example from last week taken through 'pattern 1'. Now in the key of 'G'.

Speed Lick 1 Through Pattern 1


Teacher: The pattern varies at the end. Look for the speed increment, again, built into the lick. Practice that first and really be able to nail it before moving forward.

Teacher: Always practice through and including the first note of the next increment. Then add it.

Teacher: Here is the same run taken through 'pattern 6' starting on the fifth fret.

Speed Lick 1 - Pattern 6


Teacher: The run is a C major run, named by the third note you play. Because, the run starts on the sixth note of the major scale it will sound more like the related minor scale, an 'A minor' run.

Teacher: Try to use the fingering suggested to start out. Fingerings are always up to debate so find what works for you, but at least try the fingerings suggested which stay pretty true to the seven patterns presented

Teacher: You can invent your own increment and then apply it string after string to create a personalized speed lick. Here is a suggestion

Speed Lick 3


Teacher: then I will take it through 'pattern 6'.

Speed Lick 3 - Pattern 6


Teacher: The next run is interesting because it shows how a run which can sound to you like a three or four note repeating pattern actually turns out to be a much longer increment before your fingering starts to repeat on the next string.

More Speed Increments Run 1


Teacher: Notice that the full increment is actually 'nine notes'. You may want to divide this increment up into smaller sections to master it.

Teacher: The riff comes from pattern number '3'.

Teacher: Also, notice the picking ( D=down U=up)

Teacher: The increment has a pull-off in the picking so that each increment starts with the same stroke. Simile means repeat the previous picking pattern.

Teacher: Lets look at some two note per string patterns tonight.

Pentatonic Patterns 6 + 2


Teacher: The trick to using these 'pentatonic' patterns comes from the fact that they have two notes per string. Therefore, any increment that you invent will have no difficulty repeating.

Teacher: I am naming the patterns from their '3 note per string' "sibling" shapes. Some may know these already, perhaps named differently.

Pentatonic Patterns 5-1-3


Teacher: Here is one 'pentatonic', or two note per string, increment idea.

Pentatonic Increment 1


Teacher: The first bar shows the increment. Then alternating a tremolo with the increment. See last week's lesson to cover this idea in more detail

Pentatonic Increment 1 Across Neck


Teacher: Then connect the increments across the neck.

Increment 1 in Pentatonic Pattern 6


Teacher: Then apply it to a scale shape. In this case I changed the fingering from the pattern to reflect how I chose to play the resulting lick.

Teacher: These are in 'Pattern 6' Pentatonic. Your standard 'box' pentatonic pattern. But, again, I started with a coordinating 'geometric' pattern to get the speed up.

Teacher: Another pentatonic increment.

Pentatonic Increment 2


Teacher: This is a six note increment.

Pentatonic Increment 2


Teacher: All alternate picking. If you chose to add pull-off or hammer-ons, make sure to find the repeating 'increment' pattern.

Teacher: And one more...

Pentatonic Increment 3


Teacher: Another six note pattern but demonstrating a different pattern across the strings.

Teacher: Well, I hope there is something to keep you busy. Soon to come more 'fret hand' stuff and some 'sweep' picking.

Teacher: Thanks for tuning in.