In this section of our player study we will be looking at 4 awesome techniques and licks that EVH uses in his 'trick bag'! At the end of this section Jay will demonstrate how to use all these ideas in your own improvising.
Our first trick is all about moving your tapping patterns across the fretboard chromatically. There is no insane theory level going on here, this is simply EVH moving patterns across the neck because it sounds cool! So we kick off in the A minor pentatonic and then move the pattern down one fret at a time. We end up on the root note of A so it resolves.
This very quick bluesy rock lick is all just in the A blues scale and involves a lot of legato playing, so can be a real challenge to get sounding clear. The scale is shown in the fretboard diagram.
This is an extremely common lick you'll see EVH using, and it's a great one for our trick bag. We are combining bending with tapping, which gives you a really vocal sound. Once again we are using the A minor pentatonic shape 1, but also tapping a variety of other notes in A minor across the neck. Once again, it is important to know your scale shapes in a variety of keys to ensure you can move this lick into any key. Check out the tab to see the full example.
There are 3 awesome little tricks that you can use with harmonics that EVH is guilty of using a lot in the '80s! Jay takes you through each type in the video above as we walk through the lick. The artificial tapped harmonics are extremely difficult to perform, so pay close attention to Jay walking you through it! Check out the tab as well to start getting familiar with how these different harmonics are shown on the guitar tab.
For the final part of this section, Jay will demonstrate how you can apply these cool ideas to your own improvising of rock tracks. Jay kicks off in the key of A minor but also moves into other keys to demonstrate how to transpose the ideas too. Watch Jay, try to get some inspiration and then try it for yourself over the backing tracks. Have fun and good luck!
+
We have incredible tutors to provide you with feedback each month as part of your subscription.
Connect & chat with like-minded students & your mentors via our wonderful community.
Find the structure you desperately need to progress and take the next steps in your playing.
Get feedback every month from our YGA mentors by submitting a video of you playing.
You'll have every single backing track and jam track for every single course.
Our mentors go live once a week to chat to you, and discuss fun guitar topics!
Tab that moves along with the music! Slow down, loop and speed change with this interface.
No more YouTube ads or selling segments. Just the core content for the course.