Last week, I outlined the beginnings of a method I used to get my legato really cooking. The relatively simple (but not so easy to master) exercise I showed you really does goes a long way. The reason for that will become clearer as we once again get to work on our legato.

This week, I’m going to show you a technique I call the Note Flurry Effect to make your playing sound like improvisation instead of connected patterns.

For years, I’d been listening to Allan Holdsworth, who plays impossibly long, fast legato runs. I couldn’t quite figure out how he did it. It wasn’t until I’d figured out how to move efficiently from string to string in interesting ways that I began to produce the “flurry of notes” sound I was looking for. Disclaimer: Allan Holdsworth does things that are far more complex than what we’re doing here. But that’s okay. Even he started somewhere.

The Note Flurry Effect is conceptually similar to animation. Animation is a kind of optical illusion. When we see animation, we don’t see individual frames. We see and believe in the constant movement. These licks are no different. When you play them fast enough and vary them enough, listeners (including you, the player) stop hearing patterns. The result? The Note Flurry Effect, of course!

So let’s get started. There are only a couple of ways to move sequentially from one string to another, and you’ve already learned them. Remember last week’s exercise?

Ascending:

E|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
B|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
G|-----------------|-----------------|-----------4-----|
D|-----------------|---------4-------|-----4-5-7---7-5-|
A|-------3---------|---3-5-7---7-5-3-|-5-7-------------|
E|-3-5-7---7-5-3-5-|-7---------------|-----------------|

E|-----------------|---------------5-|-----------5-7-8-|
B|-------------5---|---------5-7-8---|-8-7-5-7-8-------|
G|-------4-5-7---7-|-5-4-5-7---------|-----------------|
D|-4-5-7-----------|-----------------|-----------------|
A|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
E|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|

Descending:

E|-8-7-5---5-7-8-7-|-5---------------|-----------------|
B|-------8---------|---8-7-5---5-7-8-|-7-5-------------|
G|-----------------|---------7-------|-----7-5-4---4-5-|
D|-----------------|-----------------|-----------7-----|
A|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
E|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|

E|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
B|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
G|-7-5-4-----------|-----------------|-----------------|
D|-------7-5-4---4-|-5-7-5-4---------|-----------------|
A|-------------7---|---------7-5-3---|-3-5-7-5-3-------|
E|-----------------|---------------7-|-----------7-5-3-|

When you stop to think about it, you’re really only performing 4 basic movements. Here they are, demonstrated on the B and E strings:

1.

E|-8-7-5-5-7-8---------|-----------------|-----------------|
B|------8--------------|-----------------|-----------------|
G|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
D|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
A|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
E|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|

2.

E|------5--------------|-----------------|-----------------|
B|-5-7-8-8-7-5---------|-----------------|-----------------|
G|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
D|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
A|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
E|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|

3.

E|-8-7-5---------------|-----------------|-----------------|
B|------8-7-5----------|-----------------|-----------------|
G|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
D|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
A|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
E|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|

4.

E|------5-7-8----------|-----------------|-----------------|
B|-5-7-8---------------|-----------------|-----------------|
G|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
D|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
A|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
E|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|

The strings and fingerings change, but that’s how you’re moving from string to string both in upward and downward motion using last week’s exercise.

So what about your picking hand? Ideally, like last week’s exercise, you don’t want to pick at all. Only pick when it’s impossible (or difficult) to get the note to sound by hammering on. For example, I generally pick notes played by my first (index) finger because it’s hard to get those notes to sound otherwise. I also pick the first note in a run to get me started. It’s easier than you think once you get the hang of it.

Here’s what those movements they sound like:

Now, using these simple patterns, I wrote this long legato lick (I don’t expect you to learn this now, just listen):

E|-7-8-7-5-5-7-8-7-5---------5|---------------------------|
B|--------8---------8-7-5-7-8-|-8-7-5-5-7-8-7-5-----------|
G|----------------------------|------7---------7-5-4------|
D|----------------------------|---------------------7-5-4-|
A|----------------------------|--------------------------7|
E|----------------------------|---------------------------|

E|----------------------------|---------------------------|
B|----------------------------|---------------------------|
G|----------------------------|----------------4---------4|
D|-4-5-7-5-4------------------|-----------4-5-7-7-5-4-5-7-|
A|----------7-5-3---------3---|------3-5-7----------------|
E|---------------7-5-3-5-7-7-5|-3-5-7---------------------|

E|--------------------5-7-8-7--|
B|---------------5-7-8---------|
G|----------4-5-7--------------|
D|-7-5-4-5-7-------------------|
A|-----------------------------|
E|-----------------------------|

Here it is very slow:

Here it is a little faster:

Now, I really speed things up. Here, I’m playing along with a MIDI electric guitar. Notice what happens the second time around:

Harmony! All I did was play the exact same lick using pattern 3 (Phrygian). The fingering is slightly different, of course, but it’s super easy to transpose using these patterns. And that illustrates why it’s important to learn all 7 patterns!

And finally, here’s that same lick in a more musical context:

You can learn that lick if you want to, but I wouldn’t bother. I just used it to illustrate a point. You want to begin to improvise by stringing these patterns together on your own. Start simply. Repeat the patterns over and over to get used to them. Then, gradually experiment by joining them together.

Long linear runs are a nice music spice, but like I said, they get boring quickly. To really make things interesting, next week I’ll show you how to add right-hand tapping, string skipping, and wide stretches. All of these make a nice alternative to sweep-picked arpeggios (and sound better in my opinion).

Have fun practicing!