Speed Slurring and Tapping

Hi everyone. I'd like to share a really fast slurred lick today from my epic tune "Over Age". This lick chimes in as part of the third chorus when I wanted the song to stay hot after a "smoking gun" solo section.

I chose to share this particular lick with you because it's not an alternate picked lick, but slurred.

Slurred simply means playing the notes primarily with your left hand using hammer-ons and pull-offs.

Also, I'm thinking that you may be in the same boat I was before my alternate picking matured, in that I was really good at slurring notes with my left hand so I might as well show it off!

This lick will challenge your accuracy high up on the neck as well as give you practice playing sextuplets at a high rate of speed. Remember sextuplets are just triplets played twice as fast.

This lick also has an added twist to it that facilitates speed; and that is that the moving melody notes are tapped with your right hand!

So we have three things to learn about here:
1. Slurring Accuracy
2. Tapping Accuracy
3. Blazing speed

This part of the tune is in 4/4 time and I have indicated the downbeats on top of the tablature.

To play this type of lick, I hold my pick normally between my thumb and index finger; and do the tapping with my middle finger. Pretty standard stuff there.

For those of you who have the CD and want to follow along, this lick appears in the song around the 4:46 timemark.

Need more help reading tablature?

Basic legend:
v = downstroke
^ = upstroke
T = right hand tap
ho = hammer-on
po = pull-off
DB = downbeat

DB                DB                DB                DB
v  ho ho v  ho ho T  po po po ^  po po ho ho v  ho ho T
---------14-15-17-19-17-15-14----------------14-15-17-21--
14-15-17----------------------17-15-14-15-17--------------
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               DB                DB                DB
po po po ^  po po ho ho v  ho ho T  po po po ^  po po
17-15-14----------------14-15-17-22-17-15-14--------------
---------17-15-14-15-17----------------------17-15-14-----
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ho po ho
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15-14-----------------------------------------------------
------16--------------------------------------------------
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by Will Landrum
www.guitarconsultant.com