Martone Zone

"Ok, if you saw the video clip you know that this one's pretty difficult. However, upon closer examination this lick is just the same simple A blues/pentatonic scale repeated up 3 octaves...that's the good news. The 'not so good' news is that there is a lot of fast left and right hand motion, and that can get a little confusing. I would say that this lick would be a accurate representation of my soloing style, so I feel very comfortable discussing this technique with you.

At the beginning of the video, I demonstrate this phrase at a slow speed so you can see the intricacies involved. In a soloing style that uses a lot of tapping, you almost always start off by hammering down the first note with your left hand....no pick here...followed up by another 'hammer-on' with a different finger, and then by the right hand 'tap.' This assumes that we're playing 3 notes per string. Anyway, this same type of rhythmic pattern is repeated through the scale. In descending motion, you would tap the note first (right hand), then pull-off to the 2nd note (left hand) and then pull-off again to the 3rd note (left hand). This sounds more difficult than it really is, so watching the video to understand what the hell I'm talking about would be a good 'thang!'

Another important technique used is right hand control/anchor. By lightly grasping the edge of the neck with your right hand thumb, 3rd finger and 4th finger, you can control your hand motion with ease. Without this, the right hand would have no base thus making it very difficult for you to 'lock-in' and synchronize with your left. It will also sound real sloppy as you will pick up 'undertones' and feedback from the other strings. Which leads me to say that this technique also acts as an all-important string dampener.

Once you've got this lick down (slow), you're now ready to take part in extreme self-indulgence at a quicker tempo! Kinda like I did....well, I gotta show off a little."
Note: This lick in context can be heard in the 1st verse of the song, 'Swamp Juice' on the CD, 'Music has Evolved', availible from Guitar Nine Records.

What happenn' GuitarChef Readers !!!How's everyone doin' lately ?Good i hope !Been practicing?Let's hope so!I have included in this tab the main melody line for the chorus of "Custer's Last Groove".You can see how i also use the A note in two different octaves as passing tones to go between arpeggio's.Hope this helps you to venture into unknown arpeggio territory ... C-YA !!! For contact and other things this is my official web site www.overthetop.com .

Hello Chef readers. Dave Martone here. I have been asked to write a little column on modes. I must start off by saying that there are no rules and nothing is right or wrong. It is just different in how we perceive things with our ears. Unfortunately, we have been trained throughout the centuries to rely heavily on diatonic harmony. This is great but everything starts to sound the same after a while as I am sure you will agree ! I am going to talk about a mode that I hated and never thought was useful until my ears grew up. I am talking about melodic minor or 1,2,b3,4,5,6,7 . All it is, is a major scale with a b3rd. I have a few ideas on how to use it and make it cool. Let us first just use the chord F#7 for example.

The chord tones this gives us in relation to the chord F#7 are 1,2,3,#4,5,6,b7. Or in other words the lydian b7 scale.

Last but not first, let us think about the chord Bb-7b5 and F#9. The Bb or first chord tone of Bb-7b5 is the 3^rd of F#, the Db or second chord tone of Bb-7b5 is the 5^th of F#. The E or third chord tone of Bb-7b5 is the b7 of F#, and the Ab or fourth chord tone of Bb-7b5 is the 9^th of F#. Basically they are the same chord but called differently due to the bass note. Thus let us build a minor7th flat5 scale starting of course on Bb.

If we look closely at each scale we realize that it is the same scale starting from a different degree. Basically if we start with C# melodic minor as the first, The F#Lydian b7 scale is the 4^th mode of melodic minor; as the Bb-7b5 scale is the 6^th mode of melodic minor. Basically we have looked at the 1^st, 4^th and 6^th mode of melodic minor and worked them over a dominant chord . A great way to remember it is to substitute a Lydian b7 scale starting on the root of the chord. So if the chord is E7 we would play E Lydian b7 over it. Another way is to start from the 5^th of the chord, (B is the 5^th of the chord E7) and play a melodic minor from this note. So we would play B melodic minor over E7. Another way is to start from the 3^rd of the chord, (G# is the 3^rd of the chord E7)and play a minor7 b5 scale from this note. So we would play G#-7b5 scale over E7 . This lesson should help out to obtain a change of color over dominant chords . It made me appreciate the sound much more than before! Contact me at davemartone@hotmail.com .

E rieccomi a rompervi le scatelo con gli arpeggi ! Questa volta li affronteremo da un altro punto di vista . Il metodo che sto per presentarvi consiste in una tecnica molto cara ai chitarristi Neoclassici quali Malmsteen , Cacophony etc ... Il primo esercizio che vi propongo si tratta di un arpeggio di LAm eseguito in tre modi diversi , la difficolta' principale sta nei continui String Skipping e nel coordinare bene le plettrate . L'effetto che si ottiene e' abbastanza particolare , infatti se si e' precisi nell'esecuzione si ottiene come un "rimbalzo di note" (non ho trovato termini migliori ma provate per capire !?) .

Questo secondo esempio riprende il concetto del precedente associandolo pero' all'accordo maggiore quindi ancora occhio alle pennate e alla precisione . Fate particolare attenzione a non toccare le corde sbagliate !!! Comunque potete visitare il mio sito ufficiale a http://fabiomontorzi.tripod.com .