In this third segment, let's look at one more example of hybrid picking and this would be more of a lick based application. Especially, on Acoustic guitar, you want to separate your notes; you don't want extra things ringing and ringing uncontrollably. So, with hybrid picking, you are able to sort of slap your hand down and mute stuff a little bit more but allow it to ring as well and hit note simultaneously.
Let's look at a typical blues lick, I will play it one time with the pick and then we will use it with hybrid picking and see how much more interesting we can make it. So, I am going to slide in here to the seventh fret of the fourth string and then I am going to hit the eighth fret on the second string and on each time I hit another note, I am going to go back to the seventh fret on the fourth string. Now, I will be going down to 8, 7, and 5 on the second string. Then I will hit the seventh fret on the second and third string together and then do the same on the fifth fret and hammer on to the sixth fret of the third string. And then I will hit 7, 5, 7. Then I will go up and hit the fifth fret on the first and second string and then slide from the seventh fret, second and third string to the eighth and back and then go back to the fifth fret, second and third string with the hammer on, on the sixth fret again and then end on the seventh fret fourth string.
So, altogether, play with the pick and it sounds like this. That actually sounds fairly uninteresting especially on an Acoustic guitar. So, I am not getting a whole lot of tone and attack out of that. So, if I start just hitting the lower notes with the pick and using the fingers, especially my middle finger to sort of pluck those upper notes because we have a little bit more of a slap effect, a lot of times you will 'claw' the notes, you will get the fingernail underneath the string and sort of let it bounce back against the fret board which will give you a little bit more percussive of an attack.
So, I am going to use my middle finger to hit these upper notes, the pick to hit the lower notes and then when I go up to hit the fifth fret on the first and second string, I will use the middle finger and ring finger together and then when I come down to do the slide on the second and third string, I will use the thumb and middle finger together to get a little bit of a pinch kind of sound.
So, here we go with that same lick. So, you can hear that's a lot more expressive, a little bit punchier using that hybrid picking technique and especially, when I am coming down to this one top line on the second string, I am letting those notes ring together but I am also doing that 'claw' thing that I mentioned on the second string. So, I get that interaction between those chords but I am also able to slap those fingers down quickly to mute those notes to get a little bit more of a quick mute when I go to these double stops on the second and third string.
So, good luck learning these licks and have fun with your hybrid picking.
So, let's break down what's happening in the intro. We are starting out with the B Major bar chord. So once again, we have got this first finger on the second fret of the fifth string and then this third finger is going across strings 4, 3, and 2 on the fourth fret and we are just letting that chord ring for three beats.
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