Fretboard Mechanics & Beyond

Fretboard Mechanics & Beyond: A Guide to Alternate Picking, Part 1

Posted 10/25/2012 at 11:52am | by Geoff Unger

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I've received numerous requests for lessons on picking. People often ask me, "How can I improve my picking?" What they usually mean by this is, "How can I increase my picking speed?" This is a very tough and touchy subject. While picking speed is an important aspect of playing, another trick in your bag of tricks, so to speak, it is in no way a be-all-to-end-all in a musician's repertoire. See the change of words? Guitar player vs. musician.

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Fretboard Mechanics & Beyond: Adding Some Mixolydian Flavor to Pentatonics

Posted 10/09/2012 at 12:41pm | by Geoff Unger

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While I feel the pentatonic scale is extremely useful and great in its most basic form, sometimes those five notes aren't enough to make the statement I wanted to make in my phrase. The idea of these examples is to help re-grab the listeners' attention and make them say, "What was that!? That wasn't what I was expecting!"

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Fretboard Mechanics & Beyond: Tips on Improving Your Vibrato

Posted 09/28/2012 at 10:47am | by Geoff Unger

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Vibrato seems so simple, yet I feel it is taken for granted by many people. In turn, it is usually something that is never touched on in a practice regimen. The good news is, even if you've been playing for years, it's never too late to be aware of — and to start fixing — your vibrato, if you feel it could improve.

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Fretboard Mechanics & Beyond: Two-Note-Per-String Major/Minor 7 String Skipping

Posted 09/17/2012 at 10:23am | by Geoff Unger

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I'd like to show some non tapping sequences I use in my own playing. I've found that the concept of these two-note per-string major and minor 7ths can lead to some musical and melodic ideas, so it translates well into a phrase in a solo or run or as part of a rhythm.

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Fretboard Mechanics & Beyond: Warming Up Is Important!

Posted 09/04/2012 at 12:34pm | by Geoff Unger

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Several years back, when I was at music school, I had the bad habit of not taking the time to warm up. In turn, because of my, for lack of a better word, stupidity, I obtained a very painful ganglion cyst in my left wrist. It got to a point where it really began to hinder my playing. My finger stretch became very limited, and eventually my pinky finger was pretty much useless and nearly immobile. I continued without resting it.

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