PHIL HILBORNE’S ONE-MINUTE LICK

Alternate Picked Penatonic Lick

TWO-NOTES-PER-STRING Pentatonic lines are commonly played using a combination of picking and legato. The number of notes played before each string change is a big factor when attempting to play them with alternate picking only. If you play straight up or down a CAGED Pentatonic shape you will GT need 326 to pick two notes before ONE each MINUTE string change. LICK - Phil This Hilborne ‘string hopping’ happens every two notes and requires a lot of coordination between your hands if you are to play accurately and cleanly at rapid tempos. This Alternate four-bar idea Picked has every Pentatonic note picked Lick and as such should offer a nice workout in using this approach. Start slowly and build up to speed. As you practise, pay particular attention to how cleanly you are playing and also to how even the overall dynamics are. I find that a downward pick-slanting angle with a bit of a forward slicing motion works best for me. Experiment with lots of different pick grips and angles to find out what you prefer. Lastly, in bar 4 there is one ‘mini sweep’ using two consecutive down strokes. This is a common way of navigating picked Pentatonic ideas and is something I will definitely expand upon in the future.