School of Shred. Paul Gilbert on the Art and Science of Playing Lead Guitar

7/21/2019 School of Shred. Paul Gilbert on the Art and Science of Playing Lead Guitar

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School of Shred: Paul Gilbert on the Art

and Science of Playing Lead Guitar

Posted 04/28/2014 at 12:55pm | byPaul Gilbert and Guitar World Staff

Paul Gilbert

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'Sred !lert' "#": $et Paul Gilbert %ea& ou (o) to Sred

"ear Guitar (ero: Paul Gilbert "is&usses Strin* S+ippin*, (is Pi&+in* !tta&+,

-on Petru&&i and .ore

nterie): Guitarist Paul Gilbert "is&usses (is e) nline 3o&+ Guitar S&ool

&lusie 6(armonies in Pentatoni&6 $esson )it Paul Gilbert

Wen it &omes to sred, fe) *uitarists &an rip li+e Paul Gilbert7 !s te driin* for&e

beind sredpro*enitors 3a&er 9 and te &arttoppin* latei*ties outfit .r7 i*,

Gilbert da;;led )it is unuman fretboard ran*e tat in&luded )ide stret&es and

interalli& leaps7

ut e )as a relu&tant *uitar ero7

Wen e )ent solo in 1


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!n arti&ulate and effe&tie tea&er, Gilbert presents an insi*tful multipart lesson in

)i& e brea+s do)n te me&ani&s of is arious playin* te&ni?ues and is

&on&eptual approa&es to te instrument7

Rhythmic Ideas

!s Gilbert eplains in tis first se&tion of te lesson, a *reat )ay to *enerate ideas for

melodi& and rytmi&ally *rooin* solo li&+s is to play a simple rytmi& amp made

up of a fe) notes and some Bs&rat&C strums, ten use it as a sprin*board for

improisin* melodi& ideas7 %is is easier said tan done, espe&ially for sredders )o

are used to tearin* up and do)n te fretboard )it little &onsideration for rytm and

playin* Bin te po&+et7C

Gilbert su**ests startin* out )it simple ideas tat are rytmi&ally interestin* but donAt

ae a lot of notes, su& as te fun+y ! minor pentatoni&based amp so)n in

FIGURE 7 y tin+in* li+e a drummer and fo&usin* on playin* sometin* tat really

*rooes, youAll pay more attention to playin* )it feelin* and soul7 Wen playin* tisamp, pi&+ a**ressiely and try to *et te most out of ea& note, and be sure to tap your

foot in steady ?uarter notes to really *et into te *rooe7

n&e you *et used to tis approa&, you &an start to introdu&e more notes, and tatAs

)ere te fun really be*ins7 !s Gilbert demonstrates, you &an use a simple amp as a

laun& pad for improisin* more ambitious, notein&lusie li&+s and fills, li+e tose

so)n in FIGURES ! to "7 Gilbert adises tat itAs ery elpful to tin+ of ea& of

tese prases as bein* played as a drum solo, sometin* tat inspires im &reatiely and

elps im remember ideas7

%e fretbyfret &romati& moement in FIGURE !souldnAt be too diffi&ult to master7

Wen playin* it, use )ateer fin*erin* you li+eD ma+e sure to mute te lo)er strin*s to

suppress un)anted noise and to &ount and perform te rytms &orre&tly7

FIGURE #, )ile based on te armoni&ally strai*tfor)ard ! minor pentatoni& s&ale,

is a more &allen*in* fill, as it inoles some strin* s+ippin*7 !s )en learnin* any

ne) pie&e of musi&, start out slo)ly and *radually in&rease te tempo )ilestreamlinin* and e&onomi;in* your moements7

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%e li&+ in FIGURE "doesnAt follo) a set pattern but uses ideas similar to tose in te

tree preious eamples7 %e muted notes )ill elp you maintain your *rooe

trou*out, so &on&entrate on ma+in* te pi&+ and &omfortable before tar*etin* all te

notes7

$Re%erse& String 'ends

FIGURE (is an eample of a sli&+, &ountry pedalsteelstyle bendin* te&ni?ue Gilbert

demonstrates )ereby e pi&+s a fretted note on te strin*, bends te strin* )it is

rin* fin*er Esupported by te middle fin*erF and simultaneously bends te G strin* at

te same fret )it te tips of te same fin*ers7 pon &ompletin* te strin* bend, e

pi&+s te G strin* for te first time and releases te bend, &reatin* a drop in pit& on tatstrin* Efrom b to "F7 %is &oolsoundin* moe is often &alled a Bprebend and releaseC

or a Breerse bend7C

.ost of your pra&ti&e sould be &entered on ee&utin* te alfstep bends in tune7 ou

&an referen&e te tar*et pit&es of te bends by playin* te unbent notes one fret i*er7

n&e you *et te te&ni?ues under your fin*ers, moe te li&+ around te ne&+ in

different positions and +eys7 %e te&ni?ue also )or+s ?uite )ell on te first and se&ond

strin*s7

n true Gilbert style, our maestro demonstrates te li&+ in a fast blues &ontet at te end

of a bla;in* run in ! Esee FIGURE )F7

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Fast* Re+eating 'lues Lic,s

Gilbert plays many note patterns tat are familiar to most ro&+ *uitarists, but tere is

al)ays more tan meets te eye )en one attempts to play any of is li&+s7 %e

resour&eful *uitarist often be*ins a fast run )it an upstro+e7

%is may seem unusual, but it allo)s Gilbert to maintain an outside pi&+in* motion as

e moes from te se&ond strin* to te tird, as e demonstrates )it te repeatin* !

minor blues s&ale li&+ so)n in FIGURE -7 %is +ind of e&onomi&al pi&+in*

moement be&omes een more important )en strin* s+ippin*, as te *uitarist *oes on

to demonstrate in FIGURES . and /7

n FIGURE 0, Gilbert performs a double pulloff on te tird strin*, &an*in* te

rytm from tree note *roups to fournote *roups7 Wen playin* all four of tese

eamples, +eep your fretand inde fin*er barred at te fift fret7

'la1ing Pentatonics

.any of GilbertAs li&+s are based on patterns tat e moes around te fretboard, as e

demonstrates )it te &limbin* ! minor pentatoni& le*ato run in FIGURE 7 %e

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initial melodi& pattern is ei*t notes lon* and is repeated )it different notes a&ross te

remainin* strin*s7

!ltou* Gilbert as lon* fin*ers, e uses is fretand pin+ie a lot7 tAs a point )ort

notin*, be&ause you mi*t tin+ tat e )ould rely on is etended rea& and not use

is pin+ie mu& at all7 Gilbert adises students )it similarly endo)ed ands to deelopte use if teir pin+ie be&ause it )ill pay off in te lon* run7

%e earlier you build its stren*t, te sooner it &an be&ome useful7 e sure to use te

pin+ie to fin*er all te ei*tfret notes in FIGURE 7

Wen playin* tis eample, itAs easy to start tin+in* in triplets, as te *roupin* of te

first tree notes su**ests7 Heep in mind tat youAre playin* 1=t notesD tappin* your

foot, or at least noddin* your ead on ea& do)nbeat as Gilbert does in te ideo, )ill

elp you feel te 1=tnote subdiision7

FIGURE ! is a des&endin*, pattern based ! minor pentatoni& li&+ tat Gilbert

demonstrates, tis one in&orporatin* more ammerons tan pulloffs7 oti&e te )ide

interal Iump bet)een te fift and sit notes EJ do)n to F7 Gilbert be*ins tis li&+

)it a do)nstro+e and alternate pi&+s te notes tat arenAt slurred, aoidin* te use oft)o &onse&utie do)nstro+es or upstro+es, )i& in tis &ase )ould slo) im do)n7

%ry moin* tis li&+ to oter areas of te ne&+ and repeatin* it in different o&taes, as

Gilbert often does7

2atural 3armonics

n FIGURE #, Gilbert demonstrates o) a s&ale, in tis &ase J maIor, may be played

melodi&ally in diatoni& tirds7 %e pattern is Bdo)n one note, up t)o notes,C and it stays

)itin te s&ale7 Gilbert does sometin* similar in FIGURE "7 (ere, e uses a

symmetri&al fin*erin* pattern a&ross te strin*s, but te notes donAt &omprise any

parti&ular s&ale7

Players li+e ddie #an (alen and "imeba* "arrell ae used symmetri&al patterns li+etis in teir lead playin*7 e sure to &on&entrate on te fin*erin* pattern used in tis

eample and noti&e o) itAs similar to te first eample, in terms of &ontour7

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Gilbert ten ta+es te same fin*erin* pattern from FIGURE " and plays natural

armoni&s E7(7F instead of fretted notes, &reatin* a ery &ool and unusual note

se?uen&e )it lots of )ide interals7 Wen ee&utin* ea& natural armoni&, be sure to

li*tly tou& te strin* )it te fretand fin*er dire&tly oer te fret rater tan press

te strin* do)n to te ne&+ beind te fret7 %e armoni&s at te fourt fret are a little

more &allen*in* to nail and must be performed a&&urately7 ter)ise youAll Iust

produ&e a dull mute7

Piano4Style Lic,s

FIGURE )is a &ool pianostyle li&+ tat Gilbert plays, and itAs a pointed eample of

is effi&ient pi&+in* te&ni?ue7 !s in FIGURES - to 0, te *uitarist be*ins )it anupstro+e to e&onomi;e te moement from te i* strin* to te lo)er strin*s7

! lot of GilbertAs superfast alternate pi&+in* is based around tis prin&iple7 Wen

playin* tis eample, +eep te alternatin* notes on te i* and strin*s separate so

tat tey donAt bleed into ea& oter7 ou &an do tis by releasin* ea& frettin* fin*erAs

pressure a*ainst te strin* immediately after te note is pi&+ed7 !lso, aoid moin*

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%e *eneral prin&ipal beind te taps &an be a little bit &onfusin* at first, be&ause

Gilbert doesnAt ?uite do ea&tly )at e tin+s e doesD een tou* e starts of by

tappin* te note at te " strin*As nint fret on te ideo, )en te li&+ is in full s)in*

e be*ins taps te note at te same fret on te G strin* instead7 Wen e moes to

oter positions and strin*s, e ten alternates te tappin* bet)een te t)o strin*s, but

for our main li&+, sti&+ to tappin* te nint fret on te G strin*7

%is tap )ill sere as your BpulseC as you ramp te li&+ up to speed7 Paul demonstrates

tis on te ideo, alternatin* bet)een te ori*inal le*ato li&+ and te tapped li&+7 $istenfor te rytmi& a&&ents of ea& tap in te li&+7 %is is te +ey to )or+in* )it te odd

set of notes and ma+in* te li&+ flo)7

We &an see )y tis li&+ as neer been trans&ribed before, but itAs reassurin* to see

tat een a player as pre&ise and te&ni&ally a&&omplised as Gilbert finds te li&+ so

intuitie tat itAs ard to eplain7

ne of te tri&+iest parts of playin* FIGURE /is ee&utin* te fretand tap )it te

pin+ie7 %is needs to be done ?ui&+ly and firmly in order to *enerate suffi&ient olume

for te note to be eard in balan&e )it te oter notes7 %ry pra&ti&in* te first ei*tnotes as a separate li&+, aimin* for een olume and tone bet)een te notes7 %is )ill

elp )it te transition bet)een te tird and fourt strin*s7

5a++ing Lic,s

Gilbert prefers to use is inde fin*er to tap, faorin* an up)ard fli&+ to produ&e te

initial pulloff7 periment )it your inde or middle fin*er, usin* eiter an up)ard or

do)n)ard fli&+7 our tappin* and )ill eperien&e more upanddo)n moement tan

usual, so try to aoid loo+in* at your frettin* and at all, if possible7

FIGURE !0 is a tappin* li&+ tat in&orporates bot an as&endin* and des&endin*arpe**io sape7 n FIGURE !, te *uitarist introdu&es is uni?ue BGilbertismC of

tappin* and ammerin* on at te same fret, in tis &ase te fourt7 %e effe&t &reated in

tis eample is a double effe&t on te note7 Gilbert uses tis te&ni?ue to *reat effe&t

in many of is bla;in* solos7 !s e brea+s it do)n in te ideo, you &an see tat itAs

more a matter of &oordination tan and speed7

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oti&e in bot fi*ures tat Gilbert uses te same pattern on ea& treenote sape7 ou

sould see te potential of usin* tis idea on different strin*s and s&ales7 n FIGURE

!!, Gilbert ta+es tis idea up te ne&+ on te G strin*, stayin* )itin te ! natural

minor s&ale E! J " L GF7 %e main diffi&ulty ere is *ettin* te tappin* fin*er out

of te )ay of te fret andAs tird fin*er as bot ands moe up te strin*7 Stran*ely,

you may find tis li&+ sli*tly easier to &oordinate tan te preious one, een tou* it

loo+s more diffi&ultM

n FIGURE !#, Gilbert applies te same idea to te ! minor pentatoni& sale to ma+e it

sound more Bro&+7C Sin&e te sapes are bi**er, )it te notes bein* spread furter

apart, tere )ill be more moement bet)een bot ands, so start off by learnin* t)o or

tree sapes at a time and at a slo)er speed, ten &onne&t tem and &ran+ up te tempo7ouAll find it elpful to first *et a&?uainted )it te fretand sapes before addin* te

tapped notes7 %is )ill ma+e it easier to )or+ out te most &omfortable fin*erin*

patterns for ea&7 %ry moin* tis idea onto oter strin*s, and introdu&e ne) s&ales for

ariety7


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%o ma+e your fretand sifts easy, use your inde fin*er to slide to te note you ae

Iust a&ated7 ou sould be able to see tis from te side )itout loo+in* a)ay fromyour tappin* fin*er7 Similarly, your frettin* and doesnAt moe as soon as you &an*e

sapeD it simply taps te same fret as te i*est note in te preious sape7

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School of Shred. Paul Gilbert on the Art and Science of Playing Lead Guitar

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