Pribek

The phrase “hybrid picking” usually refers to a technique that employs a pick and the second and third fingers of the picking hand.

I’ve got an exercise here that will help establish some hybrid picking and can open up a lot of possibilities later on.

Start with an A7 barre chord on the fifth fret.

What we’re going to do is play a right hand triplet pattern that ascends through the chord…

Play the first note of each triplet with the pick. The second note with the second finger and the third note with the third finger. Get smooth with that and then we will descend through the chord…

Now, here’s the trick; when descending, play the first note of each triplet with the second finger of the picking hand and the remaining two notes with the pick (you can either alternate pick of play them both with an upstroke). It’s a really useful device this pattern. It will allow you to get the same rhythmic feel going both directions.

Let’s take the changes to “Key To The Highway” in E…each chord symbol represents one, four beat measure.

E7 B7 A7 *A7* E7 B7 E7 *B7*

Play your swampiest, funkiest, Jimmy Reedish, triplet feel shuffle. When you get to the *A7* measure, play the ascending hybrid pattern using the barre chord form. When you turn around to *B7*, play the descending pattern. Switch them around the next time through.

Work on getting the hybrid parts to swing the same way your shuffle rhythm does. Also, try to match the volume of your rhythm (switching from chords to single notes without adjusting volume is pretty handy).

Next time around, I will show you some triad stuff using these same two patterns that help to unlock the harmonic potential of the guitar and provide a ton of possibilities.