INTENSEGUITAR
Hybrid Hey Day
Hey there Premier Guitarist, what’s going
on? I hope you enjoyed last month’s guest
column with Bruce Bouillet because he’s
back! Bruce was kind enough to “sit in” for
another column this month. Remember that
if you want me to go over something specifically, or if you have questions about something, I can always be reached at toshi@ toshiiseda.com, intseguitr@aol.com or for
those on MySpace, myspace.com/toshiiseda.
Bruce, you once more have the floor!
Alright folks, Bruce Bouillet here. Grab
your favorite git-fiddle and hang on to your
shorts because this hybrid picked sequence
is a real barnburner. For those of you just
getting into the hybrid picking style, let me
break it down.
Hybrid picking is a phrase used to describe
a style of picking that incorporates one or
more fingers of the pick hand working in
combination with a pick. In other words, it’s
like fingerpicking and regular picking combined all on one hand. The advantages to
this are wider interval phrases, less stress on
the pick to do all of the work, a cool sonic
texture combining the attack of the pick
and the pluck of the finger, and the taming
of difficult to pick phrases, which will make
your playing time easier and more enjoyable.
Starting with the notes of the E natural
minor scale (E Aeolian), we use the notes E,
F#, G, A, B, C and D. Let’s look at two simple phrases you can start hybrid picking on.
Phrase 1
Start with your index finger on the low E at
the 7th fret and picking it, then hammering
at the 8th fret with your middle finger. Then,
with the index finger on the A string at the
7th fret, pluck the string with the middle finger of your pick hand and use your pinky to
hammer down on to the 10th fret.
Phrase 2
In this phrase, start with your middle finger
on the low E at the 8th fret. Pick the string,
place your index finger on the A string at
the 7th fret and pluck with your middle
finger. Hammer down on the 10th fret with
your pinky. Place your ring finger on the
9th fret of the D string and pick. Repeat
this sequence in the next two positions of E
natural minor.
Using these two phrases back to back creates a unique ascending phrase; once you’ve
got those short phrases under your fingers,
have a go at the final passage – it really
sounds like you’re doing a lot once it’s up
to speed. Even though it is diatonic in form,
it sounds like you’re playing a lot of adult
notes – definitely a little bit of Shawn Lane’s
influence shining through. You can actually
hear examples of these riffs in action on my
new solo CD, Interventions and on my first
solo album, Unspoken. Until next time, we’ll
see you on the road!
Toshi Iseda
Toshi Iseda is an Alumnus of the prestigeous Berklee
College of Music and the American Conservatory of Music.
He has been featured in Guitar Player, Guitar World and
Guitar/Guitar One magazines, and is a former instructor at
the National Guitar Workshop and former instructor at the
American Institute of Guitar. He is considered the #1
instructor in Central Tennessee.
toshi@toshiiseda.com intseguitr@aol.com
toshiiseda.com myspace.com/toshiiseda
