Here are Brooks Betts' tips for today's Lick of the Day:
Today's lick is the verse riff from the song "When You See My Friends," off the self-titled album by my band, May Day Parade. It's a laid-back chord melody figure that incorporates the use of hybrid picking (pick and fingers) and hammer-on and pull-off techniques. My guitar is in drop-D tuning, tuned down one half step (low to high, C♯ G♯ C♯ F♯ A♯ D♯).
I start out using hybrid picking and down-pick the low B note on the sixth string's ninth fret while simultaneously plucking the high D (G string, seventh fret) with my middle finger. I use hybrid picking for several other chords in this lick, as I find incorporating the softer-sounding attack of a finger pluck helps lend a mellow, earthy feel to the chord progression. You can study my picking method up close by watching the half-speed version of the video lesson, as well as following the picking prompts in the notation.
When fretting notes for this lick, I find it's very important to stand my fingers up on their tips so as to help prevent them from inadvertently muting any of the adjacent open strings, which should ring out.
The tempo is 88 beats per minute, 60 for slow practice.
Check out Lick of the Day, a free download for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch available at the App Store.
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