So I wrote a little lesson...

[Caevan O’Shite]

"String Skipping" isn't just for lead-work; it's great for chords 'n' "rhythm playing", too. I'll go over some string-skipping two-note "chords"- intervals, to be more accurate- that imply harmony if you stick to notes within the given key, thus dictating whether some suggest either Major or minor tonalities..

 

Muting and damping with either hand is important here; if you're a beginner or even intermediate player it can seem hard at first, but in time becomes second-nature to the point that you will literally hardly ever think about it, it'll just autopilot for you! Seriously!

 

And if you work up some pick-and-finger or pick-less fingerstyle technique to pluck the two strings, you've got yet another way to play 'em; choose from a number of approaches to find what best suits the given piece of music.

 

Wes Montgomery burned through serious runs of octaves picking with his thumb, mostly in downstrokes; he usually did this working his thumb and fingers in an almost pinching, crab-claw motion, with his fingers resting on the guitar's top. He created his own bold new sound playing runs of octaves with that picking technique that everyone's copying to this day, and in the process wore a heart-shaped hole in his favorite guitar where his picking-hand's index and middle finger-tips rubbed against the top (later covered with a little heart-shaped pearl plate). (See below for some octave fingerings.)

 

That's just one example of technique and approach giving a particular sound and feel; try that, try plucking them simultaneously with fingers and/or nails, try down and/or upstrokes with a pick, try pick-and-fingers... one way will be best for one sound, and another way for yet another sound, etc....

 

 

And so, as well as octaves like-

 --------------------             --------3--5--7--10-  
 -----------------8--             --3--5--------------  
 --------5--7--9-----             --------------------  
 --5--7-----------5--    and      --------5--7--9--12-  
 --------3--5--7-----             --5--7--------------  
 --3--5--------------             --------------------

- you can play other sliding 'chord fragment' intervals that skip a string or two to imply (ENFORCE!) harmony, some of which will need to shift one note up or down by a half-step to fit the given key as you motorvate up and down the fretboard with 'em.

 

For example:

 

Sliding 6ths (which can imply the 5th and 3rd of a chord, or simply be a melodic-line on top, harmonized by the note underneath)

 ----------4-------
 -4--5--8-----4----
 ----------4-------
 -5--6--8-----5----
 ------------------
 ------------------

 

 

Take a run of "double-stop" 3rds, harmonized accordingly in both minor and Major flavors, ending with a 4th / root-5th-root "power chord"-

 -13--12--10----------------------------------------------
 -15--13--11---13--11--10---------------------------------
 --------------14--12--10---12--10---9---5--3--2---2-2-2--
 ---------------------------14--12--10---7--5--3---2-2-2--
 ----------------------------------------------------0-0--
 ---------------------------------------------------------

- but then drop the lower-note of each double-stop down one octave, skipping two strings in between-

 -13--12--10----------------------------------------------
 --------------13--11--10---------------------------------
 ---------------------------12--10---9---5--3--2---2-2-2--
 -12--10---8---------------------------------------2-2-2--
 --------------12--10---8------------------------------0--
 ---------------------------12--10---8---5--3--1-----0-0--

- and you've got sliding 10ths- both m10ths and Maj10ths- which are an interval of an octave plus a m3 or Maj3 from the low-note to the high-note.

 

These sliding two-note grips sound great either briskly strummed with a down-stroke so that the muted strings "click" rhythmically in between the sounded notes, or plucked with thumb and finger or pick-and-fingers in a syncopated rhythm (like "b'DAT b'dat b'dat, b'DAT b'dat b'dat", and so on), and really jump out and kick with a fat but toothy heavy distortion, maybe with some flanger or phaser action; think early Van Halen rhythm-guitar tone on steroids; try the neck-pickup, too. They absolutely KILL with a Foxrox Octron or Octavia-style octave-fuzz going into a cranked Marshally distortion!

[LeftyBlues]

Nice job Caev, I'm just getting into learning some finger picking so this is perfect. I've never been very good with a pick so hoping fingering works out better for me. I love learning new things, helps avoid the dreaded "rut" we often fall into, and lord knows there's lots to learn. My teacher is helping me with inversions, different chord structures, lots of cool stuff. I'll print this puppy out and see if I can keep up with you pros!

L.B.

[Caevan O’Shite]

I know that I was pretty general and even vague at times, so please feel free to ask questions about any details!

[desertbluesman]

Looks complicated. I did take lessons, but I decided to go on ahead and just do what I do best, play pentatonic and full scales (and the modes), and play full chords or part chords as I go, without any analyzing or forethought. Works for me.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Looks complicated. I did take lessons, but I decided to go on ahead and just do what I do best, play pentatonic and full scales (and the modes), and play full chords or part chords as I go, without any analyzing or forethought. Works for me.

 

These are essentially two-note "chords", if you will, that leave a string or two unused in-between the fingered ones, that you can shift and slide up and down the neck.

 

The given fret-numbers line-up vertically, two notes at a time. (The six segmented lines represent the six strings, bottom-to-top being low-to-high 6th through 1st strings.)

 

I'm sure you've played octaves (like those fingerings shown above), right? These are like those, only not octaves, but other, different intervals.

 

Think of Steve Cropper's intro and signature-part in "Soul Man", for an excellent example.

 

These "sliding 6ths" (so named because if you count the scale-steps from the low-note to the high-note, it's an interval of a 6th) fingerings are like that sort of thing:

 

 ---    ---    ---    -4-    ------
 -4-    -5-    -8-    ---    -4----
 ---    ---    ---    -4-    ------
 -5-    -6-    -8-    ---    -5----
 ---    ---    ---    ---    ------
 ---    ---    ---    ---    ------

 

Or (but not 6ths):

 

13-  -12-  -10- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- --- --- --- --- --- -- -
---  ----  ---- -13- -11- -10- ---- ---- --- --- --- --- --- -- -
---  ----  ---- ---- ---- ---- -12- -10- -9- -5- -3- -2- -2- 2- 2
12-  -10-  --8- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- --- --- --- --- -2- 2- 2
---  ----  ---- -12- -10- --8- ---- ---- --- --- --- --- --- -- 0
---  ----  ---- ---- ---- ---- -12- -10- -8- -5- -3- -1- --- 0- 0

 

Comprendes?

 

These are examples of fingerings, intended to show you some of the directions they can move in; they are NOT necessarily examples of pieces of music; think of them as examples of fingerings that you can use and rearrange in any order, to expand your vocabulary for making your own music.

 

You can play these with a pick, your thumb, pick-and-fingers, or no pick at all, fingerstyle. Probably with a drumstick or a chicken wing if you wanted to!

 

Just try some of the tabbed-out fingerings, one two-note grip at a time, just like you would with a string of tabbed-out chords. They sound good, especially with some nice, fat distortion.

[desertbluesman]

Oh I see, I did not get the pattern on my quick first look. Looking at it again, it looks neat. I see a lot of guys using similar things, and I do also.

 

I do a lot of two note stuff myself, and some of that stuff looks familiar, I have to mess with it amigo,

 

Neat.

 

Thanks

[Caevan O’Shite]

Yeah, typed up this way things tend to blur together, overwhelming the eye; sorry!

 

If I had an easier way to present it, I'd have included little numbers next to the fret-numbers to indicate specific fingers, and letters for specifics of fingerpicking, pick-and-fingers, or a pick.

 

The "code" brackets keep size and font codes, etc., from working; but if I don't use the "code" brackets to put the tablature in those boxes, the tabs drift out of alignment when displayed, no matter how precisely I've typed things. So, for now, that's the best I can present things like this.

[Gifthorse]

Nice lesson Caveman. I played through the whole thing.

 

You are right, combined with palm muting on electric, this is a very useful tool to embellish or use in improvisation through a power tubey tone with some ballz!!

 

I am interested in your positions because mine are different. I tend to use as much as I can in the first position regarding that stuff.

 

Dunno how you make those little tab charts.

[J J]

Nice lesson Caevan.

 

One example I could add to this technique is from the song "Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin. In the Chorus ("Ramble on...nows the time the time is now") Page plays a standard E5 power chord to a D5 and follows it up with:

 

E-------------------------------------------------------------

B---5-5-5----5-3----3-3-3--3--3-3--5--------------------------

G-------------------------------------------------------------

D---7-7-7----7-5----5-5-4--4--5-5--7--------------------------

A-------------------------------------------------------------

E-------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

It's essentually this. He does mix it up though and will pick the strings separately but the timing remains the same of course. I guess the end result is it sounding way more complex than it really is!

 

[d halfnote]

That's a really cool use of the forum, Captain C. !

[Larryz]

+1 on sharing your licks...

[d halfnote]

I think you should develop this a bit more & try to get it printed in one of the mags. (PM me, I've got some offline comments in that regard).

 

FWIW, here's some other practical examples of some of the ideas in use.

Feel free to incorporate them in any further development, gratis.

 

[abbreviated tabs, top 3 strings; brackets indicate measure lines; actual keys may be different]

 

Classic country blues line ala "Takes A Lot To Laugh, Takes A Train To Cry"

 

(double stops).............(triplets)...........(double stops)

E....2 ] [ 3...5...3...5...] [..9...9...9...8....7...2]

B......................................................... etc.

G....2 ] [4...5...4...5...] [9...9...9...8...8..7...2]

 

 

Wicked Wilson Pickett's "634-5789"

 

E.....[3...5...3...5...] [7...3...5...3...]

B...........................................

G.....[4...5...4...5...] [7...4...5...4...]

 

 

Cat Steven's "Peace Train"

 

E....[3...5...7.7.5.4.] [8...10...12..........]

B..................................................

E....[4...5...7.7.5.4.] [9...10...12..........]

 

"Smug" /Youngbloods

A really cool country rock tune full of this stuff, featuring the great Lowell Levinger (aka "Banana") on geetar. On their one appearance on American Bandstand, Banana, who had a head of super-overgrown curls was asked by Dick Clark, "Is that your real hair or a wig ?" His reply was, "Oh, it's real...wanna feel it ?"

 

intro:

(alternating single notes)

E...[...10....9.....8....7] [rpt.] [rpt.] [...3....5...7.....8.....9]

B......................................................................

G...[11...10....9....7...] [rpt.] [rpt.] [4....5....7....9..10.....]

 

Sorry I couldn't figure a good way to put note values in.

I gotta find a program for this stuff !