Jan
E Blues #3 – Hammering-on & Pulling-off, 3 and 4 sound chords
SCHEDULING YOUR WORK: As usual, to begin with, practise the first measure:
- Practise the fingerings of the left hand without the rhythm.
- Introduce the correct picking directions (be careful the strokes are not systematicaly alternated).
- Then, play the whole song with the indicated rhythm.
- Having done this, train yourself to play the pattern in measure #5 (which begins on the A string instead of the E string, but with an identical fingering).
- Then, you only have to connect the first eight measures, which is simple if you followed these recommendations well.
The last four measures will require more practice:
- First practice the fingerings of the left hand (only them!) from measures 9 to 10.
- Introduce the down & up strokes.
- Then, only when everything is clearly understood, start to play with the rhythm (do not hesitate to slow down your tempo). You must always practise slowly and let speed come by itself!
Last stage:
- practise the fingerings of the left hand in measures 10, 11 and 12 without rhythmic rigour (note: the pick plays only down-strokes).
- Then practise it with the rhythm. You will note that, thanks to the rests, you have time to easily connect your chords (you can press your fingers on the fretboard one after the other).
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Once this Blues song is perfectly mastered, replace the first hammering-on by a series of hammering-ons and pulling-offs. Thus you will have to play three notes in the duration of the second shuffle eighth note. This particular “triplet” of notes which replaces the eighth note is called a “sixteenth note triplet”.
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NOTE: if you know how to read musical theory, you will certainly have noticed that the notation of this Blues song has been simplified. But you must play as legato as possible. For example, the low string (here the E one) must sound until you pick it again, thus be careful not to mute it! |
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