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Guitar Technique Lesson 3
TECHNIQUE 3

LEGATO EL GATO

Legato - to play smoothly. As opposed to the stilted or choppy playing you usually have as you start to learn single note phrases. A seamless smooth attack is directly related to your general abilities and overall experience. So to broaden your horizons we'll have a look at some nice roly-poly phrases that'll help produce more fluid results in your technique.

Hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides are essential ingredients needed to produce slippery sounding phrases. I'm sure most of you already know the basic mechanics behind these singular techniques so we'll get down to business by applying them in a more interesting fashion.

We have three different phrases to look at using notes relevant to the keys of G Major or E Minor. We'll start with a relatively simple phrase in the context of G Major. Just a few stretchy hammer-ons are all that's needed to execute it. And if your not used to using your little finger you can bet this'll help whip it into shape.

Example 1 in G Major;

Legato Phrase in G Major

For your listening pleasure, we have slow and fast versions in convenient downloadable mp3 format.

Hear It! Hear it! Hear It!
G Major Download Size
Listen Slow
196kb
Listen Fast
104kb

Next we'll have a go at a short phrase in E Minor. The tools needed here are a continuous series of hammer-ons immediately followed up with multiple pull-offs. Sound intimidating? Don't worry, a little coordination goes a long way and that's what practice is for. Start slow and build up your accuracy and speed over time.

Example 2 in E Minor;

Short Legato Phrase in E Minor

Hear It Hear it! Hear It!
E Minor Short Download Size
Listen Slow
104kb
Listen Fast
46kb

Our last phrase is in E Minor again and undoubtedly a bit more of a challenge. Crack your knuckles and get ready for some fingerboard gymnastics. All the elements, hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides, have to be put to good use to make this one sing. It spans from the sixth string open E right through to the first string 12th fret E. That's a full three octaves! Killa!

Example 3 in E Minor;

Long Legato Prase in E Minor - Image 1

Long Legato Phrase in E Minor - Image 2

Hear It! Hear it! Hear It!
E Minor Long Download Size
Listen Slow
392kb
Listen Fast
160kb

Given enough time and practice you should be able to glean a few 'OOOOs' and 'AAAHs' from your buddies if you can pull it off smoothly. Good luck!

Have fun with these examples and remember to take it slow. "Speed is a byproduct of accuracy." After a while you'll find it's pretty atypical technique stuff that'll help make your playing to sound nice and greasy.

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