Speedy DBX Gilbert syle lick to shred all the way up the neck! Tabs included

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#1

Hey again everyone!

A wild ELECTRIC GUITAR appeared! :joy:
I’m no @Troy when it comes to video editing so if you wanna skip my cheesy intro the playing starts at around 0:25.

Here’s a quick “Intense Rock” inspired lick that uses one pretty easy 10 note pattern to rip all the way up the fretboard in that sweet, sweet natural minor scale. Straight alternate picking all the way through so you can work on your DSX and USX motions - but the string pickstroke changes remain the same during each chunk so it keeps things nice and simple for the right hand. Give it a whirl and let me know how it goes!

Clip is an old video back from when I was playing 8’s, kinda miss 'em tbh :sweat_smile:

Made an attempt to play the same lick on my strat with 13’s on it here:

Still manageable :joy: To be fair they’re not a standard set of 13’s - tried to use the same gauges as SRV (13, 15, 19p, 28w, 38w, 58w) but I have a 52 for the low E and tuned to Eb they’re really not as scary as all the YouTube videos make it out to be, lol.

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#2

Awesome playing, as always! I just tried ripping through it without any thought to the picking escapes and found I’m fastest when I swipe the first change in the pattern…so, USX.

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#3

I’m trying it now in my stream practice but I keep wanting to play a different pattern lol

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#4

I’m watching it rn lol, nice man!!! I think the key for this one is really to just floor it, crank the gain up and hope for the best :clown_face:

Kudos for actually using your pinky. My classical guitar teacher would be rolling over in his grave if he saw how I was fretting this lick :rofl:

@joebegly there’s probably some swiping going on for me too! I don’t have REALLY have a preference for DSX or USX when it comes to ascending lines but I very heavily favour USX when descending… it’s a problem :dizzy_face:

#5

@Philausopher thanks, definitely try to just let autopilot take over and hope it’s good lol.

I rely heavily on my pinky since I don’t like to stretch my fingers much at all!

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#6

Great lick and great playing :slight_smile: \m/

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#7

Actually, if you are playing the lick comfortably this way and it sounds good (spoiler: it does!), then your fretting technique must be correct.

So much of the “conventional wisdom” about guitar technique (use classical posture at all times, always do 1 finger per fret, “blues thumb is bad”, “don’t curl the pinky” etc.) is just wrong and potentially harmful.

@Tom_Gilroy has written some very helpful and detailed posts on this subject - and I hope I am not misrepresenting his advice :slight_smile:

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#8

First, nice playing @Philausopher!

Indeed. Sticking to the (1 2 3) combination throughout this lick has the benefit of simplifying the fretting sequence, and results in the bent note being fretted with the ring finger, which is usually more comfortable than trying to bend with the pinky.

What @Pepepicks66 was doing to fret the lick isn’t wrong either. It just offers different advantages and different disadvantages.

EDIT: Interesting little point @Philausopher. You’re not actually fretting the exact sequence of notes you’ve tabbed. Watch the slow footage. The 2nd last note on the A string is an F#. You’re probably playing the F# because it fits your fretting posture more comfortably.

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#9

Wow good catch @Tom_Gilroy! Definitely didn’t notice that :clown_face:

Great explanation from both you and @tommo. It’s not like I needed more reasons not to use my pinky but now I’ll add those to the list :joy: I can play the lick about the same speed and cleanliness using my pinky but it just doesn’t feel as comfortable. I tried to force myself to use the little finger for years and “strengthen it” when I was really likely just forcing it in situations where it wasn’t economical or necessary to use it. I was classically trained from an RCM instructor for a few years as a kid and he always stressed that I had to use my pinky for the classic box pentatonic shape. That was engrained in my playing for years until I saw the EJ videos on the CtC YouTube channel and was totally aghast at how Eric pretty much never uses his - as soon as I started using the same kind of fingerings he was for the cascading pentatonic licks it made them feel so much more natural and comfortable.

I find it a lot easier to hammer on/pull off notes with my pinky so if I played the lick as a legato line I’d probably instinctively change the fingering - I guess it’s all about context.

#10

@Tom_Gilroy not to hijack the thread, but what disadvantage does using the pinky have? Around the 15th position and above I have to stop using it, as the frets are too narrow to have all 4 fingers “claim” their own.

#11

The primary advantage of using the pinky here is that (1 2 4) more naturally accomodates the half/whole shape on the lower strings, where it can be difficult to align a whole step between the 2nd and 3rd fingers. For playing the lick as tabbed by @Philausopher (which is not exactly what he plays, as noted above), this would probably be more comfortable for the vast majority of people.

A relatively slight disadvantage is that incluing the pinky involves changing between (1 2 4) and (1 3 4) combinations during the repeating sequence. This slightly complexifies the fretting sequence. Shorter, simpler repeating sequences are usually more amenable to chunking.

Crowding might be an issue at the end of the lick for players with larger hands, but I think the biggest issue with using the pinky is the last note. @Philausopher ends the phrase confidently with a very nice bend with vibrato. For most players, it’s more difficult to bend a note fretted with the 4th finger. Controlled bending and bend vibrato requires that the fretting finger be reinforced by the lower fingers. The relative difference between the 4th and 3rd fingers makes this difficult for notes fretted with by the pinky. The longer 1st, 2nd and 3rd fingers need to be more curled than is ideal, which reduces range of motion on the bend. The difference in flexion between the longer fingers and the pinky reduces the ability of the fingers to maintain a position while the power of the bend comes from the wrist and forearm.

You can certainly learn to bend note fretted by the 4th finger, but it’s worth asking why we don’t often see it.

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