Joined: 25 Jul 2007 United States  Lessons: 12 Licks: 42 Karma: 38  Moderator
| "The Art of Shredding" Part 3by Guitarslinger124
23 Mar 2009 Views: 15086
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THE BASICS
Guten Tag from Germany! This here lesson is over a year in the making, pure laziness in reality, but I hope it will help those trying to light their fretboards up with super fast shredding. This is not a lesson for beginners, so before you read on make sure you have a decent understanding of music theory and fretboard logic.
Ok, lets first go over some basics before we move on. The purpose of these next two diagrams is to help you think about the steps in each scale and to really understand one scales relation to the next.
The Degrees of the Major Scale and its Modes
Here is a diagram showing you all seven modes of a major key up and down one string. Each mode starts on the first fret and I've indicated the degrees of each scale with the numbers in parenthesis.
Nut 1st 3rd 5th 7th 9th 12th
Ionian/Major ||:(1)| |(2)| |(3)|(4)| |(5)| |(6)| |(7)|
Dorian ||:(2)| |(3)|(4)| |(5)| |(6)| |(7)|(1)| |
Phrygian ||:(3)|(4)| |(5)| |(6)| |(7)|(1)| |(2)| |
Lydian ||:(4)| |(5)| |(6)| |(7)|(1)| |(2)| |(3)|
Mixolydian ||:(5)| |(6)| |(7)|(1)| |(2)| |(3)|(4)| |
Aeolian/Natural Minor ||:(6)| |(7)|(1)| |(2)| |(3)|(4)| |(5)| |
Locrian ||:(7)|(1)| |(2)| |(3)|(4)| |(5)| |(6)| |
Sweet Sweet Sevenths
Using the same table as above, I've broken down seventh chords to make them easier to understand. Seven Chords are four note chords made from wierd scale degrees all in one octave. Seventh chords are very useful in creating awesome sounding arpeggios.
Nut 1st 3rd 5th 7th 9th 12th
Major Seven ||:(1)| | | |(3)| | |(5)| | | |(7)|
Dominant Seven (b7th) ||:(1)| | | |(3)| | |(5)| | |(7)| |
Minor Seven (b3rd and b7th) ||:(1)| | |(3)| | | |(5)| | |(7)| |
Minor Seven Flat Five (b3rd, b5th, b7th) ||:(1)| | |(3)| | |(5)| | | |(7)| |
Diminished Seven (b3rd, b5th, bb7th) ||:(1)| | |(3)| | |(5)| | |(7)| | |
Diminished and Augmented Triads
Diminished - Flat 3rd and Flat 5th
Augmented - Sharp 5th/Flat 6th
Ok, now that you know a few basics lets practice some arpeggios using what I've just shown you. For this exercise we are going to play in the key of C major.
Lets first take a look at the notes in C major: C D E F G A B
Now lets make our arpeggios:
Major Triad: C E G
Diminished Triad: C Eb Gb (Flat 3rd and Flat 5th)
Augmented Triad: C E G#/Ab (Sharp 5th/Flat 6th)
Minor 7th: C Eb G Bb (Flat 3rd and Flat 7th)
Minor 7th Flat 5: C Eb Gb Bb (Flat 3rd,Flat 5th and Flat 7th)
Diminished 7th: C Eb Gb A (Flat 3rd, Flat 5th and double Flat 7th)
Here they are:
Maj. Dim. Aug. Min. 7th Min.7 b5 Dim.7th
E:---------------------------11---------11-----------|
B:----8-------7-----9------11---------11----------10-|
G:---9-------8-----9-----12---------11----------11---|
D:-10------10----10----10---------10----------13-----|
A:------------------------------------------15-------|
E:---------------------------------------------------|
Lets go over one more extremely important scale for shredding; the
Harmonic Minor scale.
I'm going to explain the C Harmonic Minor scale:
C Natural Minor: C D D#/Eb F G G#/Ab A#/Bb
C Harmonic Minor: C D D#/Eb F G G#/Ab A
As you can see, to go from the natural minor to the harmonic minor you flat the 7th. The chord proggression for C harmonic minor is usually as follows: Cm-Ddim-D#/Ebaug-Fm-G-G#/Ab-Bdim
Cm Ddim.D#/Ebaug Fm G G#/Ab Bdim.
E:-8-------------------1---3---4-----------|
B:-8--------8----------1---3---4-----------|
G:-8---10---8----------1---4---5------7----|
D:-10--12---9----------3---5---6------9----|
A:-10--11---10---------3---5---6------8----|
E:-8---10---11---------1---3---4------7----|
C Harmonic Minor
E:----------------------------7-8-10-11-|
B:-------------------------8-9----------|
G:-------------------7-8-10-------------|
D:---------------9-10-------------------|
A:--------8-10-11-----------------------|
E:-8-10-11------------------------------|
BREAKING OUT OF THE MOLD
Getting Warmed Up
It is essential to warm your fingers up slowly before shredding. Here are a few excellent ways to warm up using alternate and economy/sweep picking. For these exercises "d" = downstroke and "u" = upstroke.
This can be tricky so play it slow! Play all the 1's with your index finger, all the 2's with
your middle finger, all the 3's with your ring finger and all the 4's with your pinky.
E:----------------2-4-4-2-------------------------------1-3-3-1----------------||
B:-------------1-3-------3-1-------------------------2-4-------4-2-------------||
G:----------2-4-------------4-2-------------------1-3-------------3-1----------||
D:-------1-3-------------------3-1-------------2-4-------------------4-2-------||
A:----2-4-------------------------4-2-------1-3-------------------------3-1----||
E:-1-3-------------------------------3-1-2-4-------------------------------4-2-||
d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u
E:-----------------------------------------------------------||
B:-----------------------------------------------------------||
G:---4---4---------------------4-------4-6---4-------------4-||
D:-7---7----7-6-4-6-7-6-4-6--7---7-6-7-----7---7-6-4---4-7---||
A:---------------------------------------------------7-------||
E:-----------------------------------------------------------||
d>>>u d u u>> d u d>>>> u d u>> d>>>>>> u>> d u>>
E:---------------------------------------------------||
B:---------------------------------------------------||
G:-----------------------5---------------7-5---------||
D:-----4-7-6-4---------6---7-6-4-----4-7-----7-6-4---||
A:---6---------7-6-4-7-----------7-6---------------7-||
E:-7-------------------------------------------------||
Those excerise will definitely help warm you up, but they WILL NOT make you a better player. Becoming a better player and learning to play fast and well is something that takes drive and inspiration. Try to study at least four different things each day such as chord movements, new scales, chord inversions, and scale structure. In order to really excell, study each concept on its own and in as much detail as you possibly can. Anyway, back to my lesson...
Time for a Break: Let's learn some licks!
Having a deep arsenal of licks to dig through is very important for any lead guitar player. Let's first run through some licks just to give your brain some food. ('cause yea I know I haven't shown you anything cool yet.)
E Diminished Lick
E:-24-22-19-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B:---------23-21\18/21-23\18~~-----------18--21-----------------------------18------------
G:----------------------------21\19\16-19--16--19\16-19~~--------------16-19--19-21-19-16-
D:-------------------------------------------------------20-18-15-18-20-------------------
A:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------||
B:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------||
G:---21--19--16--------------16--------------16-------------------------------------------||
D:-20--18--15--15-18-20-18-15--18--18--15--15--18-----------------16----------------------||
A:-------------------------------19--17--14------19-17-14-17-19-17--17---14---------------||
E:---------------------------------------------------------------------18---18-16-13-12~~~||
Here's a quick sweeping lick in Em:
E:-19-15------15-19\15--19\15------------------------------------------15/19~~~||
B:------17--17--------17-----17--------------------------------------17--------||
G:--------16-------------------16------------------------------16--16----------||
D:-------------------------------17--------------------------17--17------------||
A:---------------------------------19-14--------14--14--14-19------------------||
E:--------------------------------------15\12/15--15--15-----------------------||
Back to Work
Ok, break time is over, hope you enjoyed those licks.
String Skipping and Harmonizing
Being capable of skipping strings is important in being fluent on the fretboard. Here are a couple string skipping exercises:
E:----------------------5--------7-8--8----------------------||
B:----------------5------8-5-6-8---------------5---5-6-8/10--||
G:----------5------7-5-7--------5----------5-----------------||
D:----5------7-5-7---------------------7-5------5-7--------9-||
A:-----8-5-8--------------------------------7-8--------------||
E:-5-8------------------------------------8------------------||
Harmonizing guitar lines is a great way to make breakdowns or solos sound sweet. Here are some ideas for harmonizing:
Guitar 1
d u d u d u d u d u d d d d u d u d u d u d u d d d
E:-----------------------------------------------------------||
B:-----------------------------------------------------------||
G:-----------------------------------------------------------||
D:-----------------------------------------------------------||
A:-----------------------------------------------------------||
E:-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--0--0-0-0--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--0--0-0-0--||
Guitar 2
E:--------------------------------------------------------------||
B:----------------------------------------------------12-13-15~~||
G:--------------------------------------------------------------||
D:-------------------------------------------------9~~----------||
A:------------------------------------------7-7-7---------------||
E:-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-8--7--3-3-3--5-5-5-8-8-8---------------------||
Guitar 1
E:----------------------------------------------------------||
B:----------------------------------12-13-15-16-15-17-13\12-||
G:---------------------------9-10-12------------------------||
D:-------------7-9-10-9-10-12-------------------------------||
A:-5-7-8-7-8-10---------------------------------------------||
E:----------------------------------------------------------||
Guitar 2
E:--------------------------5/8/10-12-13-15-16-12~~~--------||
B:-------------------------6--------------------------------||
G:------------------------7---------------------------------||
D:-----------------------7----------------------------------||
A:---------1~-2-3-5-3-5-8-----------------------------------||
E:-0-1-3-5---3----------------------------------------------||
There you go! That about sums up this lesson, I hope you learned something new or at least I hope I've imparted some positive knowledge. Here are a few lick to take with you:
Drop D tuning
E:-----------------10-------------------------|
B:---------------11--11--10-------------------|
G:-------------12------12--11--10-------------|
D:-----1210-12--------------12--11--10--------|
A:---13----------------------------12--11-----|
D:-14------------------------------------12~~~|
E:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B:------------------------------------------------------------------------4-4----
G:-----9-12-9------8-11-8-------11-14-11-----------------9-12-9--------4-5---5---
D:-9-10------10-8-9------9-11-12--------12-11--11-10-9-10------10-9-5-7-------7--
A:-------------------------------------------12----------------------------------
D:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E:----------------54--ph5-5-7-8-10-8-7-5-7-8-10/1312-10-12-13-15-13-12-10-12-13
B:---------------6---6-----------------------------------------------------------
G:----------5-4-7-----5----------------------------------------------------------
D:-3-2-------7-5-----------------------------------------------------------------
A:----5-3/6----------------------------------------------------------------------
D:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E:-15-13-12-------------------------12-17-12-15-12-13-12-14-12-15-12-------------
B:---------13-----------13-12-13--15--------------------------------13---------13
G:-----------14-11/12-14--------14------------------------------------14-----14--
D:----------------------------------------------------------------------15-14----
A:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E:---------------------------------|
B:-12----13-15----14-13----13-10~~~|
G:-----14-------14-------14--------|
D:---14-------14-------14----------|
A:---------------------------------|
D:---------------------------------|
E:----------------------------------------------|
B:-6-8-10-6-8-10-6-8-10-6-8-10-6-8-8-10-10-8-8--|
G:--9-9--9-9-9--9-9-9--9-9-9--9-9-9-9--9--9-9-9-|
D:----------------------------------------------|
A:----------------------------------------------|
D:----------------------------------------------|
E:----------------------------------------------12/1512-----------------||
B:--------------------------------------------13--------13--------------||
G:------12-9-------------------8------------14------------14-12-11-8-/9-||
D:----10----10--9------------10-10---7/12-14----------------------------||
A:--10--------12-10---------9-----9-7-----------------------------------||
D:-9---------------12-10-97---------------------------------------------||
Ok, that's all for now. Rock on!
shredguitar17
