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THE GUITAR PLAYERS COMMUNITY

Stunt Guitar Part 1 - The Woody

Oh yes! It’s time for something a bit special. We’re kicking off with a mini series of articles called “Stunt Guitar” provided by Mr Ben Eggleston. These are video articles that demonstrate a cool lick or riff and then give you the tab and an explanation on how to play it. Sometimes it’s just about having some fun, as you will see in this first video.

This is a technique I call "The Woody". It’s what I use to practice mixing sweep picking with alternate picking and I thought it could benefit you guys as well.

You’ll notice from the video that the first 4 notes are swept and then an alternate technique takes over for the rest. Watch the video carefully and try to copy as closely as possible my right hand movement.

Here is the tab for the riff:

If you are new to sweeping then a short 4 note run is a good place to start. It’s also helpful to learn how to mix the techniques as it will eliminate the "cut and paste" feel from your playing. You’ll notice that some guitarists have a clear pause between changes in technique which can make them sound fairly wooden. The better players out there (Steve Vai being a prime example) have a fluid motion and in my opinion sound a lot cleaner and less forced.

When practicing this lick, try to break it down into its component parts i.e. first get comfortable with the sweeping and the alternate sections then put them together. I also found it easier to learn this kind of thing with a clean tone as that highlighted any errors that needed to be worked on.

As with all Stunt Guitar lessons, I encourage interpretation and you should swap things around and find your own way.