"Jimmy Page lick" for metal

Playing Technique
#1

Hey all,

Hoping to get some advice on a seemingly simple topic that I can’t find articulated well anywhere online. The very basic shred lick used everywhere in Kill Em All and in the first solo in Bonded by Blood is referred to as the “Jimmy Page lick” by Gary Holt in his instructional video “A Lesson in Guitar Violence.” He and others get this simple 4 note pattern up to high speeds without sweeping to maintain the percussive sound. I can’t figure out how to do this efficiently because the string switching doesn’t appear to rely on a single motion. Would appreciate any advice on this - thanks!

Cheers,

Brian

#2

Here’s the video, for anyone curious.

Anyway, the trick here is… don’t actually pick all the notes. As Gary speeds up, the lick becomes downstroke pull-off downstroke upstroke, repeating. This super simplifies it, making it a single escape lick (DSX, in particular).

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#3

Thanks for the quick response! I am glad I joined the community :slight_smile:

I am already using the pull off but having trouble getting above the lower string after that quickly and without wrist tension. Also it looks like his hand is slightly supinated, suggesting USX? (Which would make getting over the low string easier, but then getting under the high string for the upstroke pull off becomes difficult)

#4

No problem, this is a great place!

There are plenty of DSX (or mostly DSX) players who are supinated, and the way he’s playing the lick is definitely DSX. While the shot on the picking hand isn’t perfect, I don’t see anything weird going on that makes it look like DSX isn’t the natural escape. But, that’s for Gary… for you:

The typical approach here is to find out which motion works best for you right now, and then find material to play that matches that motion. Do you naturally have a DSX motion? If you don’t, playing it Gary’s way will be tricky - a natural USX player would use a sweep: upstroke pull-off downstroke downstroke. Yngwie does this sort of thing all the time, like in Rising Force, for example.

If you are uncertain of what your motion is, you can always post a video playing the lick.

#5

This lick and others like it (three notes on one string, one on another, outside picking) are pretty easy to get going with a swipe IME. I think of it as the “Needled lick”:

#6

Thanks! I actually can do it with the sweep at first but it doesn’t give me the percussive sound I want. I use mostly USX but some DSX as well. Would the answer be a double escape stroke? Ive watched the videos on that but haven’t been able to get the mechanics right.

#7

Probably not - while DBX is a valid technique for some things, it’s speed-limited, like string-hopping that’s been made as efficient as possible. The Jimmy Page lick with a pull-off is a single escape lick, however you slice it.

If you have a USX tremolo (when you push single string speed the natural escape is USX), really your only options here are to sweep it, or use a swipe like @eric_divers suggested.

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