ractice routinces basen rutsOUTSIDE THE BOX Minhas) TOINSPIRATION EOSIN Ecco ded ena Ted ‘eve Vi frst outlined echnical exercises; the secondo scales, 4-1-2-3. The alternating ide LY Bis practise rostin and the third to some “chord thi Tso be played onasinglesting 3), ia 15 years ago, to Tal He'd repeat these areas three times imiatpoies rere: haha the 10th hour wil be included in Pare in position shift tied 7 Two, p48). The exercises were divided The next steps to exhaust all cher Sa magazine Guitar World. Never t ‘had a guitarist given such an in-depth into three categories: lin permutations of the 4-3-2-1, 4- 1, baer ny—ynwhy—tel explanstion oftheir prac Sey cer a nee ae ther Fournou tethers planation oftheir practice regime stretching and sngul TS-hee oanytber Felt lelored It became a must-have for guitarists; ‘combination you find awkward Olina nr ona’ ‘many of the players interviewed in TG practise them in a similar manner. Ce eased have cited it ean inflance on thei Te we applied Steve's pragmatic Serre ists, We thou approach to three-note pe ting Poa it would be cool to give you the chance To develop a strong, fluent picking combinations, for example, 1-3-4, the Lait ger srl to experience the workout and to I technique, Steve reco ds it would be the three exercises Lreergecearaned le recommends practising Fesul wo ‘ Seas Some ofthe things Vai has done to thacare rechnically awkward, shown in Example +6, Ofcourse, vo Maan develop his awesome chops 3,40, thre tong nserscoukl:ko ie ENR For example, dors he have any rule oF four nots per string, or anythin linear picking exercises eter of thumb he could pass along to his ‘containing difficult string skipping and 8). The exercise in Example 7 tat any guitar fans? “Tcan sichere and tell manoeuvres. Begin slowly andusea willbe beneficial to those of you who geet pis Wad thst ny eoalees lar © Gerronane, Concenare ora tnay have problems switching si prpsup ge lea’ of ‘Rule of thumb: think melo.” relaxed execution. Once ou fal hehecame Gaues Roll your esing Ae a But I really don think there are an comfortable playing a certain pattern, finger over the stings youswitch UREA rales of thumb,” says Vai setthe metronome alte faster Keep from one to the next to Keep the notes SSR co do something that doing thi and, eventually after several from bleeding’ into each other. n order Naaman preteens says isa rule of thumb, months you're just wailing " content’ reat ate The first example ofthis type o fist knackle ss you shift the fist finger Raat udgement. Most ofthe time, innovation linear exercise Steve shows uss based pressure over to the next string Perna happens when people break the rales. ‘oman ascending pattern that we wil jected IFT had to give a rule of thum simply cll 1-2-3-¥, as this refers tothe heerontecy ‘would be: never take what anybody tells order in which the left-hand finger Perper was the bible. ¥" know, ike, “Tiss placed on each string (Ex). He a hat itshould be.” Music isan at form, _ played an alternating variation (E * exercises sh peer ae it an expression of yourself and you The fingering pattern (represented Examples 9 and 10 ae play pretroremtr tarTod have todo it the way you do it. 'm not numerically follows the repeatin lik note per string pick perience , oats eee aying don’ listen to what anybody else sequence [-2-3-4, 2-3-4-1, 34-12, exercises, but now the idea is says, ether, because its very helpfal perro to hear about what other people hav Porter) red. Its very helpful to build you Lc hoatnrsphalind but you shouldn't get carried away wid what or anyone else u'll start sounding like me or the next and lose sight of your own identity. T could tell you, Play from the rt’ But what the hell does that mean? Its hard thing to understand When you say, But what is in your own hear know your heart, you have to know back on his pre-vireoso years he said he would always document what did and would 2 day! The first hour was devoted tSTE tds TY Pegerag tty OYA hanger Ponca GUITARS, AMPS, ETC ae ens Poet ay Parte permet Scr par inees “The ick withthe inn oe eins eee ore re sree Pues jBiaeefaat ruse cavern Pee ety Poorer pace toate ey ponte str re Petre) ee ira oycer han Ea coro Se es eee ree reo Pepeee ane Parents gradually increase the span of your fretting hand. Example 9 stretches each adjacent finger pair (and 2,2 and 3, and 3 and 4). Ifyou find ie difficult co play any ofthese stretches inthe first position, begin higher up the neck and work your way down so that your fingers become more limber and theit range and motion increases, Example 10 works the 1 and 3 and 2 and finger pis. In addition to these two exercises, tny reaching four or five frets with the first and fourth fingers. As befor, begin higher up the neck until your Rand becomes more flexible Hand position is crit all these ‘exercises, Vai emphasizes. “Your thumb should not be hooked aver the top of the neck, a this wil greatly decrease your stretching ability: Keep it centred ‘bchind the neck and your fingers aligned parallel o the frets before you even attempt a stretch.” “Angular exercises improve your string-crossing chops," continues Va “Sweep/economy picking is one of the ‘most efficient techniques to use when crossing strings.” Example 11 exemplifies whar angular ‘exercises are all about. The general idea {sto tke a finger pattern, in this ease "ey to kup your fretting hand fingers 5 close 2 possible to the agebvard You shuld keep your esti move your st nger across tothe est string. Mistsa great uncomplicated exeself you ves noveeteae toe ge onthe str 'untilyour fourth ger makes contact, at which pat = SS Sate teedinot be hooked over the syour stretching ability” 4 2-1, and work it across the strings, assigning one finger per string. Since there are only three groups of four adjacent strings (first-fourth, second fifth and third-sisth), the entire patern doesn't manifest itself until is played ‘on one ofthese three string groups. You fingering the frst sv a of the your first finger ‘complete 4-3 1 pattern ‘other fingers (4-3-2) on the imaginary strings, Therefore, only your first finger is being used. As the pattern across the strings, ll four fingers are ikewise, ‘eventually brought into ply as you run out of strings in h fingers, except the fourth, move off the ay find it helpful to visualise three “imaginary strings’ on either si ‘of the neck, to give you a reference for Alas six notes ercise, With thi approach, the progression of notes seems very natural When playing the frse note (F) with think in tems ofthe neck onto the imaginary’ strings. Example 12 shows a 1-2-3-4 applied to an angular exercise. Use the imaginary strings approach to make it litle easier to the corresponding exercises for other finger patterns. For example, an angular ‘exercise based om a 1-2-3-4 pattern would begin 4, 2-4, 3 2-4 (Example 13). CHORD STUDIES Here, Steve outlines his three one-hour study sessions. “For the frst hour, Pd study charts id take The Real Bok [an anthology ofjarz and fasion standards used by the Berklee School OF Music in Boston] and play stuff ike... [plays melody to Last Tame I Sie Paris, Oscar Hammerstein IV Jerome Ker]. Td chen dedicate an entire hour to experimenting with unusual chords and voicings. For the third hour, [would jus jam on a rhythm like... [Plays a funky Emil chord groove), until esablshed a serious groove. would then recor! ‘onto tape and solo. I would also invert like Gina)? [Example 14)" Tnversion isa technique where you voice a chord so chat any of its notes, other than the root, isthe lowest note. In example 14, Gmai7 (GB FA)is voiced first withthe root fon the bottom (bar 1), then the 3, § and 7 asthe bottom (lowest note), sition involves playing the notes chord consecutively, as opposed. ‘simultaneously. Other common four-note chords, such as the major sixth, dominant seventh, minor seventh and minor sixth, are given the same ‘treatment in Examples 15 to 18. and arpeggiate different types of chords, aU Ag ans oes pees Pipa eve reneret ay pa ee pe een Leber eed eer comes rom you at Peers eee ae pare Pacrnet ee enhenaer st eterna Perens Precunrenier i Poorer as erro eran erat Pecan tees pepmereiatreny cron ter aire Pears Pkt eat Esenteertentoey Pari eee toes Erineeerin ake sure you wee alternate picking (own and upstroke) Hvoughot, as there relly leno Benefit in playing these eercies with poor echrique beeper tte Tobe iti YE pie # poet at pt ee A t 5 ee ee = =: yg ¥ & 3 "hiss another eerie that a novice guitarist woul benefit from. Ifyou fn it tough a fist practise bar 1 ons own uti you fel eady to progres.10 HOUR WORKOUT lt STEVE VAI Desi the atrardstethes tre cea wet adalah ots feng ahr big penn al spa eat ‘hs aru per bust oat carn wep te, pe i eT pe ath pate pth rts, apa Snands = 20 |r curaR| sane sci‘STEVE VAI i 10 HOUR WORKOUT Earn Read the instructions carefully wile ying these ‘angular exercises, There was communal hea-scrathing inthe T ffi over these, but he age wil become clear with Kime. ‘et te not patterns down before atempting the inceated sweep picking. Em uw This is atough one. Your main oa should be to ply the eerie evenly, aving no gaps between notes you willbe wasting your practice time you do!10 HOUR WORKOUT it STEVE VAI SOE ‘om emai ‘Although the net fw exercises are based on chord shapes, the rates shouldnt bleed nto cach other. o on on or = —" — eee J ; = re = = ‘Tyta ae the oir cord shapes or agments of them) a ou more rough hese ness east suai the G7 Barve Chord shape In Ba and an shape are Adding the 6h to chord or rpegio can realy pce wp your sound. zz players have wed this tick or yearsFEVE V Oa DIFFERENT Siar AN ‘SEX AND ciae te) S Fastierepeay pect 1 with llth foe own C Ex 23-28), According eatery Y penePee) TSC Uh LOPE ONE NOW! Piven Poe reen pore cerry eee 13] is probab 7, with he th and ninth, and Tean play these notes [plays the notes D, Aand E in descend fa he irst-third strings in the ninth position Ie much easier to ‘say’ something to ‘What happens then i that you pert ctrnay Make sre you are alr wth this sale shape before moving on tothe flowing examples. This ia sale bat anode gular holaww | | 6S eeeere ‘Tis san exelent way to improve yourco-rcnation ad help you soi straight alc paired ayig = SS ee‘of mind will be dictated by the ehythm, able ro focus and concentrate on om Ie tricky, and requires discipline, bucitS instrument among many. You can do After noting some examples of the recording in mono, using phase 1 g for ‘al tar’ in Vais discography, such cancellation to hear certain things, ADOUL AMOUF, © SelTieDeagren Kabeewik Penk Spying te channca ore [ere > Zappa eetocieliscrign Teal the peter wiceg or wadphco then move on’ etree teresa rea ye epee al eae hereon ved sagt Pega Va toed elise Maecenas Tal llg/alfcoging thing ccd to “Lenin things thalf ocd do. lemade me raise that cerythinghebpsuemendosly led Feiesteyidaped inten seminaries lk eet ear peel as speed that you never thoughe were on FRR Inetonometoitand stop dieupeon — dekwillehange thesound wo. You very sable, youl find hat cere ae might find one deck beer for poling OA ‘notes to everything you say. the bot yt and the other berter for | akihagalealae ai Sets pares is orl a) Tween 1 Wei a ag tro pa TRANSCRIBING it sends you into nother woe, Whe parecae ae ges cel berl ix Catt oa cea lh echo kv eas sounds atone time, You have to be possible." EE (stop See os ee ‘The wide intervals make this a technica challenge. You wl ned to workslowy to master he string skips. ZY ssa re ca | sor gussentgs ea 3 + tal peje a __ 5 1s very useful when using these mee t W playing the rot wat (Gin thes examples). This way you can really heb the mood each one creates Without he oot ‘ote tarefer tothe rai wil jst pickup onthe major Scales that make up the mode,R. HOUR WORKOUT it STEVE VAL SSE | fi 4 4 3 408. 1 a) se Seg a hn as), s ‘Tiss on of Vas favourite scales. The fourth note inthis pater gives the han mode its since sound. You can ty his pttern witha rend playing aG chord nda shoul notice a dette va sound. ‘STEVE VAI: Example 26:G mixolydian fn thirds " a waten out fr the ih ogerog in bars 3 a4 Remember: o not play trough ary puna yu may cae sting damage ooo pedous igs SSE a ree T es y eee 8 ‘Wiss anther sae hat al guitarists shoul know Novice players wl eed to wach out forthe wie sch inbara SSE SSS ses mH See eee es A ——— a eee | ene neces tain ein made a ompet See's aby sieve at vaabewdiegregee _ ‘effective to spend thelr practice time elsewhere. ~ ‘scale that’s rarely used in rock and pop ‘music. Therefore, novice guitarists will find it more STEVE VAl: Example 29: Finding your own path | (eet A ——= | & a el ee ae ‘esthav gre tour own fopero rth one =Ies ova amr oo ‘moving you frst nger Hania fom note to ote wil be Wemed vbeaEi ee se ee ae ‘STEVE VAI lt 10 HOUR WORKOUT mac? oma? me"? emote? ma"? * ps = —— rw ae See ose aad yh ight 3rd venti plc, ee kt 9 erp inte. Mer wong raphe, pt the Backing track on repeat and award yoursel some well-earned sveding tne