Writings In The Sand: Lick My Pick #7

Lick My Pick #7

1 Comments Published by Kevin Broken Scar on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at 10:56 PM.

Please pardon the quality of this video as I did not record it with the usual set up. I was playing my old Ibanez RG470 through a tiny Fender Frontman practice amp. The RG really feels like a shred guitar and I feel I'm playing a little better already. The reach for the upper register is a lot easier due to its deeper cutaway and the 24 fret neck.

I've always admired how Paul Gilbert incorporates different techniques into his licks and playing, making the licks come alive with great melody. This lick incorporates hammer-ons, pull-offs, tapping and slides. The best part is I don't even need a pick for it! If you're a Paul Gilbert or Mr. Big fan, you'd know that this lick is inspire by their song, Green Tinted Sixties Mind.

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--t12--p7--p5--h7--t12--s14--s12--p7--p5--h7--t12--7b9--(t12)-----
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t = tap
p = pull-off
h = hammer-on
s = slide

Okay, I hope the video, the tab and my explanation will do this lick some justice. The letters in front of the numbers indicate whether it is a tap, pull-off, hammer-on or slide into the notes.

You can either tap with your index finger or your middle finger. Whichever works best. If I play this lick with a pick already in my hand, I would use my middle finger to tap the notes.

I think the first note is pretty straight forward. I tap it and then move on to do standard pull-offs and hammer-ons with my left hand. The only bit that is different here would be the sliding done with the tapping finger from 12 to 14 and back to 12, as you can see in the video.

The other bit that is difficult to describe in tab form as my tabbing skills are limited, (Az, care to correct me here?) is the last note where I tap 12th fret. While holding down the 12th fret with my tapping finger, I bend the 7th fret towards the 9th fret. An alternative to this would be to simply slide the 12th fret to the 14th with my tapping finger but I think by doing it this way, it creates a bit of tension. It was really fun playing this lick! Enjoy!