Check out Lick of the Day, a free download for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch available at the App Store http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/guitar-world-lick-of-the-day/id371728474?mt=8 Today's lick is from my song "You Won't Let Anybody Down," off of my album, "Ally." It's an arpeggiated chordal riff played in drop-D tuning (low to high, D A D G B E). I begin with a uniquely voiced open D major chord, constructed with the bottom two open strings and my ring and middle fingers fretting the notes F♯ (D string, fourth fret) and D (B string, third fret). I pick across the strings from low to high in an even 16th-note rhythm, setting up a rhythmic pattern, which I repeat for each chord (see picking prompts in the notation). In the first three beats, I create a little melodic variation for the D chord in the following way: on beat two, I add my index finger to A on the G string's second fret on the fourth 16th note in the picking sequence; then, at the end of beat three, I replace the fretted note with the open G string. The big, open sound of this lick is produced largely by allowing all the chord tones to ring together for as long as possible, as indicated in the notation by the directive "let ring." One way to ensure that strings ring for as long as possible is to position your fret hand so that notes are fretted with the very tips of your fingers. This reduces the chance that the fingers will inadvertently touch and mute any adjacent strings. In the video, you can observe how I do this by dropping my wrist so that my fret hand can more easily wrap around the neck and have my fingertips come straight down onto the fretboard. You can also maximize chord note sustain by employing common fingerings among chords whenever possible. For example, in the first three beats of bar 1, I keep my ring finger solidly planted on the fourth string's fourth fret throughout each chord change, allowing the F♯ note to ring continuously along with the bottom two open strings. For the chords in bar 2, my index finger provides the connecting thread, remaining in place on the A string's first fret during the transition from the B♭6 to B♭6/9 chords. To form the Fadd9 shape on the last beat of bar 2, I use my thumb to fret the low F note on the sixth string's third fret. If you're not comfortable using your thumb in this manner, an alternative fingering would be to have your middle finger fret this low F note instead and use your ring finger, pinkie and index finger, respectively, to fret the remaining notes. The tempo is 50 beats per minute, 40 for slow practice.

• published: 17 Jun 2011
• views: 6181