Legato Techniques For Absolute Beginners

Welcome to "Legato Techniques For Absolute Beginners" at Licklibrary.com, your comprehensive source for mastering the art of legato on the guitar. This detailed course by Tom Quayle, is meticulously crafted to guide beginner guitarists through the essential legato techniques, ensuring a fluid and expressive playing style that is fundamental for every guitarist. Let’s explore what this course includes:

Techniques Covered in "Legato Techniques for Absolute Beginners"

Left Hand Position and Shape

This segment focuses on the correct positioning and shaping of the left hand, which is vital for legato technique. Proper hand placement facilitates smoother transitions between notes and minimizes strain during long playing sessions.

Benefits

• Improves ease of playing intricate passages
• Minimizes hand fatigue and prevents injuries
• Increases accuracy in playing

Right Hand Position and Shape

The right hand plays a significant role in legato technique. This lesson concentrates on the right hand’s positioning and motion for smooth string transitions and dynamic control.

Benefits

• Enables precise string picking and effective muting
• Helps in maintaining consistent sound quality
• Improves control over volume and expression

Hammer-Ons

A key legato technique, hammer-ons are thoroughly covered in this lesson. You'll learn how to effectively 'hammer' your finger onto the fretboard to sound a note, crucial for a fluid playing style.

Benefits

• Ensures smoother, more connected transitions between notes
• Allows for quicker and more efficient playing styles
• Reduces workload on the right hand

Pull-Offs

Pull-offs, the counterparts to hammer-ons, involve flicking the string with a left-hand finger. This lesson aims to perfect this technique for seamless note transitions.

Benefits

• Facilitates quick and fluid note changes
• Increases expressiveness in playing styles
• Complements hammer-ons for varied legato sounds

Combination Trills and Exercises

Trills, combining hammer-ons and pull-offs, are excellent for practicing legato. This part of the course offers exercises for building endurance and fluidity in trills.

Benefits

• Boosts finger agility and strength
• Increases musical expressiveness
• Develops coordination between both hands

Moving Between Strings

Effortless string transitions are crucial for legato style. This lesson focuses on techniques for moving across strings smoothly while maintaining legato phrasing.

Benefits

• Ensures fluidity across strings
• Increases precision in string transitions
• Builds confidence in complex legato phrases

Using Pick and Fingers

This lesson introduces hybrid picking, combining pick and fingers, for a distinctive sound. Explore how to merge these techniques effectively.

Benefits

• Expands tonal variety
• Offers more versatility in playing
• Enhances precision and control

Three Note Per String Shapes

Learn to play three notes per string efficiently, a common legato pattern, to improve fretboard navigation.

Benefits

• Facilitates fluid scale runs
• Increases speed and smoothness
• Enhances fretboard knowledge

Playing Scale Runs – Horizontal and Vertical Movement

Mastering horizontal and vertical scale runs on the neck is vital for legato. This section guides through these movements for agility and smoothness.

Benefits

• Increases versatility in scale playing
• Improves navigation skills on the fretboard
• Builds speed and hand coordination

Working on Weaknesses

Identifying and improving your weaker areas in legato playing is crucial. This lesson offers strategies for targeted improvement.

Benefits

• Leads to a more balanced skill set
• Focuses on personal development
• Enhances overall playing ability

Playing Over a Backing Track

Using a backing track for practice is highly effective for legato development. It aids in understanding the application of these techniques in musical contexts, enhancing timing and feel.

Benefits

• Simulates a live playing environment
• Improves sense of rhythm and timing
• Boosts musicality and expressiveness

Techniques Utilized in This Course

By the end of this course, you will have mastered numerous techniques crucial for legato playing. Below is a list of these techniques with relevant links for further exploration:

• Left Hand Position
• Right Hand Position
• Hammer-Ons
• Pull-Offs
• Trills
• Hybrid Picking
• Scale Runs
• Fretboard Navigation