Legato Speed Playing

Aim:

To develop “shred” type speed licks using legato technique (hammer-ons, pull-offs & slides).

Scale used:

All examples use the G major scale (G A B C D E F#). This scale will work over the following chords: G Am Bm C D Em & F#m7b5 (or any combination thereof). Some fingerings for the scale are included at the end of this lesson.

Fingering:

Unless otherwise stated, each exercise should be played with a “one-finger-per-fret” approach, using all four left hand fingers. Your thumb should be central at the back of the neck, roughly behind your 2^nd finger.

To hear the examples being demonstrated, click on the relevant tab.

Example 1.

This is a simple exercise using the notes B C & D. You should aim for an even “fluent” sound gradually building up speed over a period of time – it’s easier to correct mistakes at a slow tempo than when playing at “fret-melting” speed.

Example 2.

This example builds on the first by incorporating a slide down to the 5^th fret & back up to the 7^th again.

Example 3.

Another way in which the first example can be expanded is by the inclusion of a note on another string. In this example the note on the B string should be played with the 4^th finger, using a technique best described as a “hammer-on from nowhere”. Be careful to mute the open B string so as to avoid unwanted overtones.

Example 4.

Once you’re comfortable with sliding up & down a string as well as moving to a new string, you can start to move around the scale in anyway you want. Here’s an example of a descending run in the style of Joe Satriani:

Example 5.

Here’s a similar lick to the previous one. This time though, it ascends the scale & finishes on a 2 semitone bend from D to E.

That’s pretty much all there is to it. Once you’re OK with all of these examples, you should try applying the techniques you’ve learned to the other G major scale fingerings shown below. After that, simply transpose into all eleven other keys & you’re done.

Click here to listen to some of these licks being used in context over a backing track. To download a jam track, click here.

G major scale fingerings:

N.B. Where there is a 2 fret gap between the 1^st two notes on a string, this should be spanned using the 1^st & 2^nd fingers – not the 1^st & 3^rd.