Legato Techniques For Absolute Beginners
Lessons Included in this Course
Course Content Overview
This course is a complete and structured program for developing your legato technique. You will learn the essential building blocks of legato playing, from the correct hand positioning to the subtle nuances of phrasing and dynamics. The lessons are designed to be progressive, allowing you to build your skills logically and effectively.
Here’s a breakdown of the lesson contents:
- Left and Right-Hand Positioning: Learn the optimal hand positions for clean and efficient legato playing, minimizing strain and maximizing control.
- Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs: Master the core mechanics of legato with targeted exercises for developing strength, accuracy, and evenness of tone.
- Trills and Combinations: Develop your finger independence and stamina with a series of challenging trill exercises and melodic patterns.
- Moving Between Strings: Learn to navigate the fretboard with seamless string-to-string legato, a crucial skill for playing scales and arpeggios smoothly.
- Hybrid Picking and Legato: Discover how to integrate hybrid picking with your legato playing to create unique and dynamic phrases.
- Three-Note-Per-String Shapes: Explore the most common and versatile scale shapes for legato playing, opening up the entire fretboard.
- Scale Runs and Fretboard Navigation: Learn to connect scale shapes and move effortlessly across the neck, both horizontally and vertically.
This Course is Ideal for Players Who...
This course is ideal for beginner to intermediate guitarists who are new to legato or want to solidify their foundational skills. It’s particularly beneficial for those who want to:
- Develop a clean, smooth, and professional-sounding legato technique.
- Increase their playing speed and fluidity.
- Improve their finger strength and independence.
- Understand the mechanics of modern legato playing.
- Build a solid foundation for more advanced rock and fusion guitar techniques.
What will I achieve from completing this course?
Legato Techniques for Absolute Beginners offers a clear, concise, and highly effective method for learning legato. Tom Quayle is a world-renowned expert in this technique, and his teaching approach is both methodical and inspiring. The course is structured to ensure you build your skills progressively, with a focus on developing good habits from the very beginning. With high-quality video lessons, close-up shots of Tom’s hands, and a wealth of practical exercises, you’ll have all the tools you need to master the art of legato. This course will empower you to play with a new level of fluidity and expression, unlocking your potential to play the music you love with confidence and skill.
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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 Utilised 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:
About The Tutor
Tutor Profile
Tom Quayle
Tom Quayle needs no introduction on the guitar scene after shooting to attention when he made it to the finals of Guitar Idol back in 2008. Before that he was a graduate of Leeds College of Music where he did a degree in jazz then hit the local jazz scene....