Lick of the Day: B.B. King-Style Intro

Today's free Lick of the Day comes courtesy of Tomo Fujita, who shows you a B.B. King-style phrase that makes for a great introduction to a song or guitar solo. It features string bending, vibrato and hybrid picking techniques.

Tomo explains: "When bending the B♭ note (B string, 11th fret) in bars 2 and 4, I use two fingers, the ring supported by the middle, because it gives me greater control over the bend's intonation (pitch) and keeps the string from slipping out from under my ring finger. This extra finger support is especially helpful when adding vibrato to a bent note, as I do in beat three in each of these bars.

"When playing the double-stops on the middle two strings in the first half of bars 3 and 5, I pluck both notes together with my pick-hand middle and ring fingers (as opposed to using the pick for one or both notes). This hybrid picking (pick-and-fingers) approach produces a mellower, softer-sounding attack than if I had simply strummed the strings with the pick."

Be sure to check out Lick of the Day, a free download for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch available at the App Store.