learn to shred part 4 : legato

 Legato

The word legato translated literally means smoothly. Legato on the electric guitar involves three techniques: hammering on, pulling off and slides

hammer-ons are played by hitting a fret with the tip of your finger without using any picking

pull-offs are executed by pulling a finger off from a fretted note creating another note either an open string or a lower note on the same string


Legato will probably be your most used technique on stage when improvising solos
because it is genneally easier to play than alternate picking when nervous



Legato Development

to have fluid and fast legato licks you will need to build stamina in your left hand

Building stamina

practice the legato lick below slowly and evenly and after a while you will feel a slight cramp or
"burning sensation" in your hand play for 5 seconds after you feel the burn and then stop.
Do not play more than 5 seconds after the burn as you may injure yourself play this lick twice a day using the 5 second burn method and in a few days it will take 5 seconds longer before you start to feel the burn. Repeat this and you will gradually be able to play for longer and longer periods of time and you will also get faster


l------5h6p5h7p5h8p5h9p5-------------
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legato licks

lick 1:

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l-------5h7h8p7p5------5h7h8p7p5------
l--------------------8---------------------
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lick 2:

l-------------12h14h15p14p12-----------
l--12h14h15--------------------15p14---
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lick 3

l---8p5h7h8p7p5-------------------------
l-------------------8p5h7h8p7p5---------
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