In this Monster Lick, I'm using the E-diminished-seven arpeggio and finishing with the pentatonic.
This particular combination works incredibly well for heavy rock or a more progressive style of soloing.
I tend to use this sort of lick to transition between the scales. Because I predominantly use the pentatonic, I find the diminished seven arpeggio is the perfect ingredient to add some ferociousness into the tonality.
The Lick:
The techniques used in this lick are legato, tapping and sweep arpeggios, combined with wide stretches to add to the intensity.
The very start of the lick, I'm using a diminished-seven run that utilizes string skipping and moves up the neck in fourths. If the stretch is too much for you, start the idea from the ninth fret of the G string, for example. As the lick is in the diminished scale, it is always the same pattern or fingering, so it easily can be moved up or down the scale.
There's a lot to take in here, so just work through the lick in parts if necessary. The important thing is to understand the ideas and techniques behind the lick. There's no need to play it exactly as I do or at the same speed; your goal should be to understand the techniques and adapt them to your own soloing ideas.
Whenever I learn anything new, the only way I can retain the idea is if I adapt it in my own way to my own style. This enables me to draw from all styles of players in all kinds of genres.
Ideas don’t necessarily have to come from guitar players. I constantly see musicians doing things I think would be cool to adapt to the guitar. A lot of my ideas come from drummers, bass players, etc. I'm open to being inspired by anything and everything. I suggest you do the same; open yourself up to the amazing musicianship that's out there. If you keep looking for inspiration from the same place, you'll inevitably run out of creativity.
Australia's Glenn Proudfoot has played and toured with major signed bands and artists in Europe and Australia, including progressive rockers Prazsky Vyber. Glenn released his first instrumental solo album, Lick Em, in 2010. It's available on iTunes and at glennproudfoot.com. His brand-new instrumental album — Ineffable — is out now and is available through glennproudfoot.com and iTunes.
