EXAMPLES LATERAL USE OF MIXOLYDIAN TRIADS

CD TRACK 76

example 5 Here, effectively, we have the reverse equivalent of the fournote 16th-note motif featured in example 4 (the note order now going from lowest through to highest). In bar 17, the motif is shifted up the neck and is modified to encompass the various inversions encountered along the way. Finally, although a down-sweep is shown in the transcription for the first three notes of each four-note motif (as used on the recording), you may either want to use alternate picking (down, up, down, up) or a combination that adheres strictly to economy picking (up, down, down, up: where the pick always travels directly to each new string).

example 6 This example features a combination of the two different fournote motifs from the previous two examples. We start with the descending motif from example 4, and this then alternates with the ascending motif from example 5. apart from taking this scheme down the neck as well as up, you should also try reversing the trend so that you start with the ascending fournote motif first.

example 7 This time we’re playing down and up each shape in order to produce a 16th-note triplet motif that, again, is typical of that used by Yngwie Malmsteen (listen to demon driver from his fifth album, eclipse).

example 8 In this final three-string triad example, we see the reverse of the motif used in example 7. This time, we’re playing up and down each shape before finishing with a bluesy phrase within CaGed shape #1 (another one that features a shift from C natural to a C#).

example 9 This is the first of two examples featuring four-string triad shapes. Here, we’re travelling down and back up each shape/inversion to create an eight-note motif that lends itself very well to a 16th-note count (it takes two beats to complete).