Find Out How To Make Your Guitar Speed More Melodic

Find Out How To Make Your Guitar Speed More Melodic

 

By Tom Hess

 

Ever listened to a guitarist who had great technical chops, but little ability to make their soloing sound melodic and memorable?

 

…while other guitar players are able to play just as fast or with even more speed and their playing sounds amazing?

 

How can this be?

 

I used to be part of the former group of guitar players and spent many years trying to figure out what was wrong with my playing.

 

Eventually I found a great guitar teacher and he helped me understand what was going on. Then I discovered the missing element in my playing that was needed to make a big impact.

 

Since those days I've become a guitar teacher and now show my students how to play amazing guitar solos with fast speed and great melody.

 

So, what was the secret?

 

Find out now by watching this free video demonstration:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UrHcYqpdaY

 

Ok, so how can you quickly master everything shown in the video?

 

Here is how:

 

Schedule five minutes each day to practice the most important guitar solo phrasing techniques. These techniques make your guitar playing sound great even if you don't play super fast.

 

The following techniques are critical for you to practice and master:

 

Vibrato Technique – this is the technique you ought to master to make your playing sound incredibly expressive. Mastering vibrato makes everything else you play sound awesome.

 

Full stop.

 

Question: “Tom Hess, how should I hold my fretting hand to apply vibrato?”

 

Answer: Wrap your thumb over the neck while using the webbing between your index finger and the thumb as the anchoring point.

 

With this in mind:

 

Get a great sound to your vibrato first then worry about the hand position later. A lot of guitar players do this in the wrong order.

 

They don't pay enough attention to how their vibrato sounds.

 

What happens then?

 

They get out of control vibrato that sounds like an annoying fly buzzing in your ear.

 

Make your vibrato sound amazing by eliminating the problem as shown in this video:

 

https://tomhess.net/HowToMasterVibratoOnGuitar

 

 

Slide Technique – Slides make your playing sound really slick and expressive, especially when combined with vibrato.

 

There are a few sliding approaches to try:

 

- ascending slides (slide to the note you want to play from below)

 

- descending slides (slide to the note you want to play from above)

 

- backslides (slide up the fretboard from the note you want to play, then slide back to that same note again).

 

Check out this video to see a demonstration of killer sliding technique:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v_yjzco8Bw&feature=emb_title

 

- re-articulation slides (play a note, then slide to it from above or below to re-articulate the note).

 

Practice all these slide variations by integrating them into your soloing, licks and exercises.

 

String Bending Technique – I’m sure you know about bending. But how many different ways do you know of to bend a string?

 

Only know a few? No problem! You're about to find out how to make your bending technique and lead guitar playing much more creative.

 

Watch this bending demonstration to learn my favorite string bending approaches and start using them in your own solos:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynah7OVMa9I&feature=emb_title

 

Double Stops – A lot of guitar players only think of double stops as “unison bends”. In other words: you play 2 notes a whole step apart, then bend one of them until they match in pitch.

 

For example:

 

Fretting the 5th fret of the B string and 7th fret of the G string, then bending the note of the G string until it matches the note of the B string.

 

These are very effective for creating interesting bending licks.

 

However, this is not the only thing you can do with bending and double stops… by far!

 

Watch this video to learn some other cool double stop and bending ideas:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBkYMlZX3HA&feature=emb_title

 

Pinch Harmonics – ever heard of someone who doesn’t like the sound of harmonics on guitar?

Yeah, I didn’t think so!

Pinch harmonics sound awesome and they are a lot of fun to play.

A lot of guitar players have a difficult time with this technique because they don't know ho to properly practice it.

This creates a lot of unneeded frustration!

Watch this pinch harmonics video to learn how to easily master it for yourself:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4er5J8akUQ&feature=emb_title

 

Now you understand how to integrate speed together with melody. Now it is time to take action to make your guitar playing feel effortless by mastering finger independence in your fretting hand. How is this done? Study the ideas in this free fretting hand guide & play guitar exactly how you want to with less effort than ever.