L

ADVANCED
E

S ROCK GURU STEVE MORSE

S Adjacent-String Adrenaline
O You can do a lot with just three adjacent bar 2 is a bit of a stretch for your fretting
N strings and a nimble picking attack. Ex. 1 is hand. The last two bars of Ex. 2 shift gears
from “Air on a 6-String,” a solo electric gui- from sixteenth-notes down to eighth-notes
S tar piece from my new album, Major and function as a nice turnaround back
Impacts 2 [Magna Carta], and while the into the top of the lick again.
phrase is only one bar long, it implies a lot When I meet people after gigs and sign
of harmonic motion. Taking place on the autographs and stuff, a lot of people hold
fifth, fourth, and third strings, the riff uses their hands up to mine and they usually
the open A string as a pedal tone. Use a express some surprise—or dismay—when
touch of palm muting on the fatter strings they see that I don’t have giant hands. I
and the low notes won’t steal the show. say to them, “See? You can do the exact
The first four bars of Ex. 2 demonstrate same things I do on the fretboard.” Indeed,
more of this approach and how you can most of it is just persistence. However,
use it to construct an entire section of there is a guy who has unreal fretboard
music. Notice how the notes on the third reach, and that’s Allan Holdsworth. —As
string rise while those on the fourth string told to Jude Gold g
EX. 1 fall? It’s nice counterpoint, but it also
means the F7/A chord in the second half of

Fluidly
ö
ö ö ö ö # ön ö ö ö ö ö bö
= 144 Am F7/A E7/A

4 ö
&4 { ö
============ö ö ö {

³²³²³²³²
.. ..
simile

T 17 20 21 19
A 19 19 19 19 18 18 18 18
B 0 0 0 0

Fluidly
ö = 144 Am A7 D/A F7/A E/A D7/A EX. 2

44 ö ö ö ö ö ö# ö ö ö ö ö # ö ö ö ö ö ö n öb ö ö ö ö ö #ö ö ö ö ö ö ö#ö ö ö ö ö
1

ö
2

==============================
& {ö ö ö 3
ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö
³²³²³²³²
2
1

..
simile

T 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 11 11
A 7 7 7 7 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 6 6 6 6 10 10 10 10
B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

E/A Am Am7 Gm7/D B 6 b E

#ö ö ö ö ö ö ö
ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö bö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö
4

==============================
& ö ö ö # ö {
ö ö ö ö
3 4

let ring - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

T 13 13 14 14 5
5 3
6
3
0
3
0
1 0
1
0
..
A 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 0 3 2
B 0 0 0 0 0

104 A P R I L 2 0 0 4 G U I TA R P L AY E R P H OTO : R A N D I A N G L I N