Nick Jennison's Guitar Essentials: Legato
Lessons Included in this Course
Course Content Overview
This course provides a structured, in-depth exploration of the essential techniques that form the foundation of legato playing. Each module is designed to build your skills progressively, ensuring you develop both technical proficiency and musical understanding.
- Hammer-Ons: Discover how to execute clean, powerful hammer-ons, a cornerstone of the legato style. Nick Jennison breaks down the mechanics of this technique, providing exercises to build your finger strength and accuracy. You’ll learn how to use hammer-ons to play faster and more efficiently, reducing your reliance on picking and creating a smoother sound.
- Pull-Offs: Master the art of the pull-off to create seamless descending lines and add a new dimension to your phrasing. This section focuses on achieving consistent tone and volume, a common challenge for many guitarists. With targeted drills, you’ll develop the control needed to execute flawless pull-offs in any musical context.
- Slides: Learn to use slides to connect notes with grace and precision, adding a lyrical quality to your playing. The course covers various types of slides and demonstrates how to integrate them into your solos for a more dynamic and expressive performance. You’ll understand how to control the speed and articulation of your slides to achieve the perfect feel.
- Combining Techniques for Musical Phrasing: The true power of legato is revealed when you combine hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides into fluid, musical phrases. Nick Jennison provides a wealth of licks, runs, and patterns that will help you develop your own unique voice on the guitar. You’ll learn how to think melodically and use legato to craft solos that are both technically impressive and emotionally resonant.
- Advanced Legato Concepts: For those looking to push their skills to the next level, this course delves into advanced concepts such as cascading runs, multi-string legato patterns, and dynamic articulation. These techniques will open up new creative possibilities and allow you to navigate the fretboard with complete freedom.
This Course is Ideal for Players Who...
This course is perfect for guitarists who are ready to take their playing beyond the basics and develop a truly professional sound. It is ideal for those who want to:
- Increase their speed and fluidity on the fretboard, allowing them to play faster and more complex musical passages with ease.
- Enhance their musical expression and develop a more vocal-like, lyrical playing style that connects with listeners on an emotional level.
- Build their finger strength and independence, leading to greater overall technical control and precision in their playing.
- Break free from rigid, box-pattern playing and learn to navigate the entire fretboard with confidence and creativity.
- Learn the techniques of legendary players like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, and understand how to incorporate their influence into their own playing.
What will I achieve from completing this course?
Nick Jennison’s Guitar Essentials: Legato is more than just a collection of video lessons; it’s a complete system for mastering one of the most sought-after techniques in modern guitar playing. The course is effective because it is built on a foundation of expert instruction, a structured curriculum, and a focus on real-world musical application. Nick Jennison’s clear, engaging teaching style makes even the most complex concepts easy to understand and apply. The course’s progressive structure ensures that you build a solid foundation before moving on to more advanced techniques, preventing frustration and ensuring steady progress. By focusing on musical phrasing and creativity, this course goes beyond mere technical exercises, empowering you to become a more expressive and versatile musician. With LickLibrary’s high-quality video production and multiple camera angles, you won’t miss a single detail of Nick’s masterful playing. This is your opportunity to learn from one of the best and unlock your full potential as a guitarist.
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Nick Jennison's Guitar Essentials: Legato
Nick Jennison’s Guitar Essentials: Legato is a masterclass in one of the most expressive and fluid guitar techniques. Designed for players of all skill levels, this course offers a deep dive into the intricacies of legato, breaking down its mechanics, applications, and benefits. Whether you’re looking to improve your speed, fluidity, or musical expression, this course equips you with everything you need to master the art of seamless playing.
What is Legato?
Legato is a technique where notes are connected smoothly, creating a flowing and uninterrupted sound. Instead of picking every note, legato relies on techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides to transition between notes. The result is a sound that’s fluid, expressive, and often described as “vocal-like.” Mastering legato can transform your solos and melodic lines, giving them a polished and professional feel.
Techniques Covered in the Course
Hammer-Ons
Hammer-ons are a fundamental aspect of legato playing. By striking a string with your fretting hand without picking, you can create a clean and sustained note. Nick’s lessons on hammer-ons focus on building finger strength and precision, enabling you to execute them effortlessly across different fretboard positions. Incorporating hammer-ons into your playing allows you to achieve faster, smoother runs with less effort.
Pull-Offs
Pull-offs are the counterpart to hammer-ons and are essential for achieving the cascading sound associated with legato. By pulling your finger off the string while maintaining pressure, you produce a resonant and clear note. Nick provides exercises to refine your pull-off technique, ensuring consistency and clarity in your playing. This skill is particularly useful for executing descending scales and arpeggios.
Slides
Slides are integral to legato phrasing, enabling you to transition between notes seamlessly. By sliding your finger along the string to a new fret, you can connect notes with a smooth, gliding motion. Nick demonstrates how to use slides effectively to add a lyrical quality to your playing, creating phrases that feel natural and musical.
Combining Legato Techniques
The real magic of legato lies in combining these individual techniques—hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides—into cohesive phrases. Nick breaks down how to integrate these elements, providing exercises and examples that help you achieve a fluid and expressive playing style. Through his guidance, you’ll learn to navigate the fretboard effortlessly, connecting notes in a way that feels intuitive and natural.
Benefits of Learning Legato
- Improved Speed and Efficiency: By reducing the reliance on picking, legato allows you to play faster passages with less physical effort.
- Enhanced Musical Expression: Legato playing mimics the smooth, connected quality of a singer’s voice, making your solos more emotive and engaging.
- Greater Finger Independence: Mastering legato requires precise control of your fretting hand, improving your overall technique and dexterity.
- Seamless Phrasing: With legato, you can connect notes in a way that feels effortless, resulting in solos and melodies that flow beautifully.
About Nick Jennison
Nick Jennison is an accomplished guitarist and educator known for his fluid technique and expressive playing style. Drawing inspiration from guitar legends like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, Nick combines technical mastery with a deep understanding of musicality. His teaching approach is clear, practical, and engaging, making complex techniques accessible to players of all levels.
Guitarists Who Exemplify Legato
Legato is a hallmark of many legendary guitarists, including Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Allan Holdsworth. These players are known for their seamless phrasing and ability to craft intricate, melodic solos. Their influence is evident throughout the course, as Nick draws from their techniques to teach the principles of legato. By learning from these masters, you’ll gain insight into how legato can elevate your playing to new heights.
Techniques List
Explore the world of legato with Nick Jennison’s Guitar Essentials and unlock the potential for smooth, expressive, and dynamic playing.
About The Tutor
Tutor Profile
Nick Jennison
I’m Nick Jennison, a guitarist, vocalist, producer and educator from the North East of England. It’s pretty cold up here, which seems like the perfect excuse to stay inside and make a bunch of great guitar-related videos for your viewing pleasure. I’ll be covering topics from technique, tone and musicality,...