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Skipping
Guitar String Skipping
String
skip around your scales
This lesson will introduce you to the string skipping technique on
guitar. This is just as important to add to your repetoire as any other
lead technique and it will really help you navigate scales in a more
interesting way.
First, make sure you're confident with alternate picking, as we're going
to be using this in all the exercises below.
String
skipping basics
String skipping, as the name suggests, involves skipping over a string
in a given lick pattern. For example, you may jump from a note on the D
string to the B string, skipping the G string. This gives the
effect of a wider interval movement and makes your solos sound more
kinetic.
The difficulty at first is negotiating that vertical jump, as you'll
most likely be used to playing through scales in a more linear form,
from one string to the next.
Start with some 4-5 fret wide boxed patterns of the scales you know and
try simple string skipping phrases like below. Skip up and down. Use
strict alternate picking...
Remember to get all your fingers involved in the skipping, including
your pinky!
So you can use this technique with any scale pattern you learn. Don't
just use it randomnly though, think about which tones in the scale you
want to highlight in your soloing phrase and target those tones through
your string skips. It has to be a natural movement for the harmony you
want to create.
Wide
fret interval string skipping exercises
As you move further up the guitar neck, the fret spacings get narrower,
so you can apply much wider interval patterns to your soloing phrases.
Let's try incorporating string skips into some wide fret interval
movements...
Or we could use a more repetitive, arpeggiated phrase...
Arpeggio
string skipping exercises
Arpeggios are great for applying string skipping and should definitely
have a place in your solos.
Here's a major 7th arpeggio, which makes use of the basic major scale
boxed pattern. The tones in a maj7 arpeggio are 1 3 5 7. Simply
identify these tones in the major scale and build a phrase around it,
like below in the key of D...
There's a double string skip in there which should be a bit more
challenging! Remember - strict alternate picking.
And here's a minor arpeggio higher up the fretboard to finish off
with...
Time for a breather...
For every guitar scale you learn, you should experiment with skipping around the patterns they form. It goes hand in
hand with knowing how scale tones interact with chords.
It's also important to understand that string skipping should be used
along side other lead techniques such as bending, hammer-ons and
sliding. Keep your playing options open and give your solos as much
variation as you can.
Keep practicing! For a library of string skipping exercises (and other lead techniques) get yourself a finger trainer.
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