Lick #11: Rock Sliding Octaves (Guitar Lesson LK-011) How to play

♪

Hi, how you doing?
Justin here.

The lick we're checking out today,
I call the 'Rock Sliding Octaves'.

Very versatile and cool lick
you can use it all over the place,

so let's get to a close-up,
check out how to play it.

Okay, as the name of this lick suggests,
we're using an octave shape.

So we've got here two notes
that are both the note C.

We start with our 1st finger
in the 5th fret of the thinner string.

And we have our little finger in the
8th fret of the thinner string.

These two notes...

are both C and they're an octave apart.

Now the idea of the lick is that
we play the lower note...

the higher note...

and then the lower note...

and slide to another note.

Now the actual lick I showed you there,
or what I'm going to show you,

is using the A minor pentatonic.

A really good thing is just to get
used to the pattern first.

You can do that by just using the
octave shape between the C

and the D.

So you play the lower,

higher,

lower,

slide,

high,

low,

slide,

high.

♪

You don't hold the pattern
down the whole time.

You kind of...

slide.

When I'm putting the little finger down,
my 1st finger is just lifting up.

Not lifting off the guitar,
and not leaving the string, in fact.

It just releases the pressure,
so the note stops.

Otherwise we get...

which is okay, but really we want...

so you really hear the clarity and
the distinction between the octaves.

That's what we're looking for.

That would be the first thing
I'd recommend.

Just bouncing between two notes.

Now the actual lick that
I've showed you here

is using the A minor pentatonic scale.

And the way that I'd recommend
you look at it is

just to think about your 1st finger and
let your little finger find its own way.

Remember, it's on the thinner string
3 frets higher.

So the notes of the
A minor pentatonic scale

on the 3rd string starting on here
on the C, we've got the 5th fret,

the 7th fret, the note D,

9th fret, the note E,

12th fret, the note G,

and the 14th fret is the note A again.

So a good thing to practice first
is just moving, using our shifting octaves

and using this triplet pattern.

1 trip-let

2 trip-let

3 trip-let

4 trip-let

1 trip-let.

♪

You can slide from any one that you like,

as long as they're notes...

in the scale, you're gonna be fine.

So the actual lick I've
showed you is going...

now I'm just talking about
the 1st finger now.

When I describe the fret numbers,
and I'm assuming the little finger, okay?

So we're going 5,

9,

7,

12,

9,

14.

Note finished on the high octave A there.

You can finish on whatever note you like,
or with a bend or whatever.

But that pattern is really interesting
and kinda cool, I think,

because you're starting on one note,

you miss one, go to the next note,

back to the one you missed,

miss one up to the next,

back to the one you missed,

miss one,

and you're there.

That's how you get the...

♪

Remember you don't have to stick to that.
You can...

♪

You can really do however you like,
there's no set pattern.

I'm just trying to show you one
I think kinda works.

So, practice that nice and slow.

♪

And practice it until you've got it
so it's nice and smooth and flowing.

The big trick when you're doing
big jumps, if you're going...

what you wanna do is
while you're here,

my eyes are now looking here.

Before my hands even moved,
my eyes are staring at the 12th fret

so I can see when my finger arrives.

If your eyes follow the finger,
you'll always end up going too far

and coming back, or not going far enough.

Make sure you stare at the
place you're going to.

And then you can slide your
1st finger up to that point.

Here you'd be looking 5th fret,

now I'm already looking at 9th fret,
finger's there.

Now I'm looking at 7th fret.

Now I'm looking at 12th fret.

Now I'm looking at 9th fret,

and 14th.

That's the trick if you're gonna
do the big slides,

is to make sure that you're looking at
the place you want your finger to go to.

Don't watch your finger, watch the place
where you want it to go to.

That's using the 3rd string
and the 1st string.

Course it works just as well
on the 2nd string.

♪

Just then, I was using the
Dorian Mode, G major scale.

You can use any scale, a minor
pentatonic is good to get used to first.

But you can always add in that F# note,
it's a lovely one in A minor.

♪

So, anytime, you know, on any string...

♪

you could be using it on the thicker one.

I don't think it's as effective on
the thicker ones,

but on the 1st and 3rd,
and 2nd and 4th,

it's a very, very cool little trick.

For this kind of lick, I normally
use outside picking,

which means I'd be using a down pick
on the thicker string,

and an up pick on the thinner string.

You don't have to, but that's
the one that works for me.

Let's have a quick look at me
experimenting with this lick.

♪

I hope you have fun playing about
with this sliding octaves lick.

It really is a lot of fun,
really good one,

fairly easy to incorporate, you can adapt
the rhythm to suit the kind of the song.

Doesn't always have to be a triplet,
you can really play around as you see fit.

It's definitely one you should explore
and see what you can get out of it.

Have fun, see you for another
lick very soon.

Take care of yourselves,
bye-bye.