How To Play Neo-Classical Guitar Using Speed Picking Tips That Transform You Into A Badass Shredder Part 1
Playing neo-classical guitar licks with speed feels awesome and gives anything you play a unique, shred sound that makes people stop what they’re doing and listen. Good news is, it’s easy to get a neo-classical sound without having advanced shred technique.
By using just a little speed and the right notes, you are able to give yourself a neo-classical style that makes your playing sound unique.
In the first part of this lesson series, you are going to learn some cool neo-classical soloing ideas to integrate with your current speed picking technique.
Practice with these note patterns and speed picking tips to get a badass neo-classical guitar sound:
Give Yourself A Neo-Classical Style Using Intense Sounding Diminished Arpeggios
One of the coolest-sounding ways to add a neo-classical sound to your guitar playing is to use diminished arpeggios. These arpeggios sound very unstable and can be used on their own or to lead from one note to another in a unique way.
This speed picking staple has been used countless times by guitarists such as Yngwie Malmsteen:
Moving this diminished arpeggio pattern up by three frets creates a cool sound that feels intense and out-of-control. Another cool way to use this pattern is to finish the phrase on a fret that is one fret higher than the highest fret (on the e string) of the pattern.
This is one way Classical artists modulated from one key to another and it let’s you use notes out of the key you’re soloing in to add some flavor to your playing before returning to key. The tab above is an example of using diminished arpeggios to lead up to a C# note. This would work great if you were in the key of C# major or minor.
Add A Splash Of Neo-Classical Flair To Your Scales With Harmonic Minor
Using the natural minor scale, pentatonic minor scale and blues scale are all common tools guitarists use in their playing. Using the harmonic minor scale makes your lead guitar phrases sound more neo-classical while giving them an exotic flair.
Here are examples of the harmonic minor scale beginning on the 5th string and 6th string respectively:
A Harmonic Minor Scale Beginning On The 5th String
A Harmonic Minor Scale Beginning On The 6th String
This scale instantly says “Neo-Classical” in the mind of anyone listening to you play. Its pattern is easy to remember as it only has one different note than the natural minor scale: the raised 7th.
Play Killer Speed Guitar Licks Easily With Neo-Classical Pedal Point Licks
This is one of the coolest and easiest ways to give any rock or metal guitar lick a neo-classical feel. Pedal point means continually returning to a single note (while playing other notes in between). This idea can be used with any scale and sounds very cool when used with the harmonic minor scale.
Practice the following pedal point lick to begin integrating the neo-classical style into your guitar playing:
First, practice the lick by itself.
Once you are comfortable with it, try the following practice ideas to start developing your own unique variations:
- Take 10 minutes and think of 5 variations of the lick. You don’t need to completely change everything. Just alter a few notes, add different techniques or use unique note rhythms. Do this every day for one week.
- Improvise with the harmonic minor scale in this article for 5 minutes. Use this pedal point concept within your phrases. Don’t over-use it though!
- Change the scale being used from harmonic minor (what is currently being used) to major. Practice it until you are able to play it smoothly.
Here is another speed picking guitar lick that uses pedal point with two chords:
Note: Neo-classical guitar chord progressions will be discussed more in the next lesson.
In the next neo-classical lesson, there will be more speed picking tips and ideas to help you develop your own soloing style.
In the meantime, check out this article to learn a unique approach for how to increase your guitar speed.