Questions and Answers

Arpeggios without picking?

Question: With your arpeggio videos you seem to play the arpeggios without even
picking.. how do you do this?

Answer: The key behind this technique is very hard hammer-ons!

The reason I am holding my right hand on the fret board is to dampen the strings, and to illustrate that no picking is necessary ( and to impress, of course ;)).

Equpipment?

Question: What equipment are you using?

Answer: The clean sound is achieved with a Marshall jcm800 simulation, with the gain turn way down to get a dynamic and warm tone. For the distorted sound you should make sure you don't have more gain than you need, to much distortion distorts tone.

A short stereo delay is used on both clean and distorted.
For the video I plugged a Behringer V-amp directly into the mixer (note: Kristofer now uses a POD 2.0).

Guitars: Parker Nitefly, Ibanez RG770

Best technique?

Question: You speak of a lot of different techniques on freelicks, but which one is the best to learn, picking, tapping or legato?
Isn't it best to practise just one technique to get good quickly?

Answer: Only you can decide which technique is the best for you. Listen to different guitarists and decide which techniques you like the sound of, then try to learn them.

Personally I like to learn as many different techniques as possible, but this is, of course, more time-consuming than focusing all you energy on just one technique.

The advantages of knowing many techniques are many, chances of becoming an original guitarist definitely increase. Also learning many techniques will open up for loads of new licks... So you can learn all the different licks on freelicks. ;)

What is an Arpeggio?

Question: Hi there, I am a beginner and I really love your site. I have never fully grasped the concept of arpeggios. Are they like scales? I’ve heard they are notes of a chord but I don’t really understand that, sometimes i see more than one note per string so how could that be a chord? This is what I’m talking about: http://www.guitarstuff.com/lessons/arpeggios/sweep/major.html

Also, how do you play them? Do you have to sweep or can you do alternate picking, because to sweep your left hand needs to be really fast and I cant do it. Perhaps i have the wrong technique.

Answer: If you count the notes in your standard chords (Em, C, Am etc), you will see there are only 3 different notes in the chords (In the Em chord the note E appears three times). Read more about this in the "Hints" section, or click this link:

http://www.freelicks.net/Impr_thought_process.htm

Any configuration of these three notes is an arpeggio. If you strum all the notes at the same time, like you do with chords, the notes "become" a chord. If you play the notes separately they "become" an arpeggio.

The easiest way of playing arpeggios is sweep picking, since you hit several notes with one single pick stroke (more about this in the "Introduction" section).

How to practice Sweeping?

Question: When you sweep pick, do all of your finers have to be down before you start? Or do you just fret them as you go along. Also, is it okay to start off slowly and build up speed?

Answer: All your fingers should NOT be down in the start, this will result in a very muddy and sloppy technique when the arpeggio is played with distortion.

Starting off slowly and eventually building up speed is the only way to do it!

How long have I been playing..

Question: How long have you been playing? I think your amazing... I've been playing for 4 months and I must guess you've been around for at least 7 years and probably more.

Answer: Thank you very much for your kind words, I have been playing for 13 years, but I started practicing intensively at the age of 16 (I am 23 now).

I think if you practice your ass off you will probably beat me in approx. 5 years... ;)

Problems with hammer-ons and pull-offs..

Question: On my electric guitar its not a real problem doing hammer-ons and pull-offs, on my acoustic i have trouble especially with pull-offs. Is there a different approach to doing them on acoustic?

Answer: The approach is the same, it's just that acoustic guitars tend to be a lot harder to play in general (different strings, string height etc). So the solution to you problem is...HIT ‘EM HARDER! :D

Note that it is almost impossible to get as much sound out of an acoustic guitar with legato, as you would with a distorted electric guitar.

How to practice Vibrato?

Question: I've read different techniques online for doing a vibrato, but I'm not sure what is the best/correct way to do it. The way you do it sounds good, so I was wondering if you could tell me your method.

Answer: You should practice vibrato just as seriously sa you would practice technique. One good way of doing it (I did it this way ) is just bending slowly up and down a hole/half step. Make sure you are bending in pitch. This exercise will help you develop vibrato strength.

Vibrato out of pitch..

Question: I like to do some wide vibrato à la Zakk Wylde. But to some notes it would sound out of tune. Or is it because I am subconsciously bending the note too much? Do you have any other exercise or any sort of idea to practice vibrato?

Answer: If a wide vibrato sounds out of tune it's usually because you are not bending i equal increments. In other words you are not bending evenly up and down ( sometimes a little to much and sometimes not enough).

Try slowing down the vibrato speed when practicing, to make sure you are bending in tune and evenly all the time...

GRRR..

Question: GRRR! I see these solos and i get very jealous. I was wondering what scales, mode's, and other things are a must know and a must practice? Know of any sites where I can find these scales laid out plain and simple?

Answer: No need to get angry, you can do it too!

No special scales are required except for the pentatonic, and some arpeggios, see hints 'n tricks section.
You need to work with licks, vibrato, technique and improvisation (=jam!! ). Put a few years in it and YOU will be the master...

Crazy Exercises..

Question: I recently found a page who's called 'technique from hell'.
I believe this exercises will give you an awesome technique, but will not give you any fruitfull musical influences at all I think.

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Lessons/LSN-22.txt

Check it out and leave a comment if you think it's something that's worth spending hours on.

Answer: These kind of exercises can make your hands do new patterns which you wouldn't normally do, which sure can give you inspiration.

So I agree, the exercises sure can be great technical exercises! You would however need other stuff to get more musical phrasing ideas..

But they definitely are worth checking out...

Hardened skin..

Question: Does good hammer-on technique have anything to do with the hardened skin on the fingertips?
I mean, would a person with rookie fingertips and a technique like yours play as good as you?

Answer: No it does not, that person would probably be in pain for a week or two, and then get thick-skinned.
The key is rather precision and strength, which of course takes much more time to acquire then hardened skin.

Practice Routine..

Question: I'd like to know about your practice routine. Do you make any schedule for your practice or you just randomly play? And how would you suggest a good practice schedule?

Answer: When I started practicing seriously (long ago..) I definitely had a routine. Nowadays I have a looser routine, I just try to cover the topics that are most important for me right now: left hand strength, picking (not speedpicking, just getting freer with "normal" picking), improvisation + I try to get some time to write songs for my band Artifex. But the actual exercises in each topic may vary from day to day, it's a bit more pleasant that way.

You should try make up your own routines with the techniques you like the sound of, this is the best way to develop originality...

How to practice improvisation..

Question: I like your improvisation videos. It sounds jazzy with some bluesy feels. Improvisation is what I lack of the most. When I improvise with friend play some rhythm. It always sounds like a set of 'scales pattern' and 'technical' instead of musical thing. I'm aware of this problem. But I just couldn't resist it. How do I overcome it?

Answer: Improvisation is without a doubt the hardest thing: That's when all your skills (technique, feel, rhythm, scales, originality etc.) need be combined to create something.

You could say that Freelicks.net is trying to answer your question, because you need loads and loads of licks to improve your improvisational skills. You could also transcribe other people's solos to get licks and rhythmic ideas (more about this in the hint section of freelicks).

Besides this you also need technique and theoretical knowledge...

In other words: Practice your ass off (I always come to that conclusion... ;D ).

You should however spend most of your practicing time just improvising (over backing tracks etc) if that's what you want to improve.

More problems with hammer-ons and pull-offs..

Question: I am having trouble with pull-offs, they just don't seem to not come out clearly, it sounds almost as if I muted the string.

Answer: Pull 'em off harder, the key to this is not necessarily more strength, but a downward movement ( your left hand finger should "pull" towards the floor).

If the string sounds muted the problem could also be the note you're pulling of to, usually the index finger, so make sure you're pressing hard enough with the index finger..

Should I start with electric or acoustic guitar?

Question: I struggle with hammer-ons and pull-offs as well, i also play acoustic. Ill give that downward movement a try with the pull-offs.

I’ve only ever played acoustic guitar , is there that much of a difficulty difference between acoustic and electric guitar? For example at the moment i cannot reach F, are chords easier on electric guitar?

My mates tell me that its better to learn on acoustic guitar before moving to electric because it makes you pronunciate your notes more than using an electric.

Answer: Barré chords like F are usually easier to play on the electric guitar because you can get away with a little less left hand pressure.

I don't think anyone can say something general about which instrument (electric or acoustic guitar) you should begin with: The technique will come either way, as long as you practice seriously. As an example, why should you start on the acoustic if you only listen to deathmetal , it will surely not be as inspiring..