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June 2009 \ Premier Clinic \ Fierce Guitar \ As the Notes Burn

As the Notes Burn

Greg Howe

Greg Howe presents some shred licks, with video demonstrations of how to
play them
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Hey guys, welcome back to the continuing saga of As the Notes Burn. In this episode Greg Howe decides to put into effect the wisdom of a true
mentor and genius by the name of Frank Zappa, whose valuable advice was subtly displayed in text form on the front cover of his 1981 release, Shut Up
n Play Yer Guitar.
What will result from having taken such advice? Guess youll need to stay tuned in order to find out. But heres a clue: this months episode came
awfully close to being entitled Less Blab, More Tab!
Okay, so now that youre finished cheering and celebrating over the implications of that clue, let me briefly preface this stuff by picking up from where I
left off.

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I vowed to present licks and lines that would not only lend themselves to our ability to execute at high speed, but that would also contain a level of
musicality beyond just the delivery of mundane mathematical sequences designed solely for the sake of securing note rapidity.

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Though there are a number of ways to achieve this, Ill be focusing this month on a method that utilizes the musical concept of superimposing, which is
basically the idea of placing one tonality on top of another tonality for the purpose of creating a more complex and colorful new tonality.

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This would be like the soloing equivalent to creating chord extensions by essentially playing two chords simultaneously. For instance, if one guitarist
played an A minor triad chord while another guitarist played (overlaid) an E minor triad chord, the combined chords would create an Am9 chord.
In the same way, we can imply these expanded tonalities within licks and lines even at high speed.
Ive personally found that the easiest way to achieve this is with the use of arpeggios. Simply stated, the arpeggios would, in effect, serve as the
overlaying tonality against whatever chord is being addressed.
The following examples are all designed to work within the framework of those modes, keys, and chords existing as a result of the parent key of G
major.
In other words, all of these examples will work in a Minor context if the key is A (implying a Dorian tonality); or a Major context if the key is C (implying
a Lydian tonality); or a Dominant 7th context if the key is D (implying a Mixolydian tonality).
Note: most of the examples involve the use of 4-note arpeggios that include the 7th as opposed to just triads, and are generally comprised of shapes in
which the root note is located on the 5th string. Youll also find that the examples encourage a very legato-like approach, since the arpeggio shapes
really lend themselves to that texture. Also, some examples illustrate the use of multiple arpeggios, or multiple parts of arpeggios within a single lick or
line.
The idea here isnt so much that were just playing arpeggios up and down in a blatant fashion, but rather were utilizing arpeggio shapes for the sake of
forming the foundation of colorful and musical licks or lines, which can then be used effectively at any speed.
My recommendation would be to first play and hear these licks over an A minor chord, then play and hear these licks over a C major chord, and finally
play and hear them over a D7 chord. This can be a very useful practice, since the context in which these licks are used will completely dictate the tonal
characteristic they take on.
The examples will also technically work with the other modes related to G major, but at the risk of getting into a long and boring harmony discussion,
for now Ill just say theyll work best in the contexts of the above mentioned. Enjoy!

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Click to download printable version of the tab.

Example 1 These are the 7 arpeggio shapes (based off the G major chord scale) from which some of the licks are designed.

Example 2 This example basically utilizes a C major 7th arpeggio.

Example 3 This example utilizes an F#min7b5 arpeggio, which is one of my personal favorites to use.

Example 4 This example demonstrates the use of the exact same long random sequence used in the previous example, now being applied to an E
minor7th arpeggio.

Example 5 This example basically combines parts of examples 2 and 3, thus creating a longer lick that features 2 separate superimposed (overlaid)
tonalities.

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Example 6 This example utilizes both an A minor 7th and a B minor 7th arpeggio.

Example 7 This example utilizes both an A minor 7th arpeggio and a G major 7th arpeggio. If you get comfortable with this lick, you may want to try
attaching example 2 or 4 to the end of it in order to create a much longer lick that would ultimately contain a variety of tonal characteristics.

Greg Howe
Greg Howe has enjoyed a successful recording career since bursting onto the scene in 1988, and his talents have been sought after by some of the
biggest names in the music entertainment industry, such as Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, and Enrique Iglesias.

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Comments

(14 comments)

display by

Fernando69
on 03/01/2010

Hey Greg, whats up? As usual, your lessons are amusing, cool sounding exercises that are hard enough to learn
(at least for me...) to produce a great feeling of achievement once I master them. And the curious fact is that the
licks & arpeggios sounds very nice at any speed even at low bpms.
Thanks Greg for keep us players on the track of improvement and creativity.
Best Regards from Argentina.

JBrook
on 06/24/2009

Awesome content Greg! Loved it guys!

Francesco
on 06/16/2009

Greg Howe is absolutely genius and amazing. I've done a few webcam lessons with him and he is by far one of
the best teachers I've ever had. I recommend everyone try at least one lesson out with the maestro.

Greg Battle
on 05/28/2009

One last note: Also, if you use the below technique I described, you can then come down the same arpeggio
down the six string (or vice-versa), which can come in handy when getting around the neck. This is much trickier
when you always play the root with your pinky on the first string.

Greg Battle
on 05/28/2009

The interesting thing about Greg Howe's arpeggio technique is where he decides to pivot and with which fingers.
I do all the same arpeggios from the 5th string but I shift up position on the 3rd string, play four notes and end
up only playing two notes with my strong fingers on the 1st string. I find this works better as I'm not mashing
fingers but using one distinct finger for each note. By following this approach, you can get a lot more clarity for
each note of the arpeggio (which you can also do with Greg Howe's if you use all 4 fingers on the 1st string
instead of sliding). Just my $.02.

Axeman
on 05/23/2009

I've taken a handful of lessons with Greg recently and they are very similar to this. Very inspiring and just plain
stellar! He's a true Master!

Vince
on 05/22/2009

No player in existence today combines the textures of funk, rock and jazz the way Greg does. He's been my
favorite guitarist for well over a decade for just those reasons. I studied with him for a few days when he lived in
Pensylvania. I couldn't get enough of him. I'll be doing web lessons with him soon.

SGMAN
on 05/22/2009

this is the best thing online. Greg and Rusty taking turns, laying down the law on shred? Am I dreaming? thanks,
guys.

PS: Can you tell us amps & stompox settings to help us to achieve your tone?

RAWK ONGoss

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DiegoGodoy
on 05/22/2009

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2009/Jun/As_the_Notes...

Awesome lessong MAETRO!

Greets from Spain

Geo
on 05/22/2009

Well done good sir, It's always top notch information coming from your end Greg. Unfortunately there's no way
to get all of it at once :P I'ma get back to sawing those arpeggios :]
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