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Hybrid Picking For Guitar: Play Guitar Fast with this Right Hand Technique

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Hybrid picking for guitar is a special way of guitar picking that facilitates speed and fluidity! Learning these guitar picking techniques is the best way to increase your speed in guitar solos and lead licks, especially if you play blues and rock guitar.

What is hybrid picking, exactly? It is a visually discreet yet aurally IMPRESSIVE lead guitar technique, which you can use to increase the SPEED of your notes! Listen to the 20 minute long guitar solo for "Freebird." This solo is CHOCK FULL of hybrid picking in action!

Learning how to use guitar picking techniques such as this one may seem unnatural at first (although to some it comes perfectly naturally), but once you learn it, it will help you play guitar fast, add a boost of speed to your lead licks, and add character to your blues phrases.

There are many different styles of music in which you can hear hybrid picking. Although you will not hear this special guitar picking technique in metal, it can be heard all over the place in styles such as blues, rock, and jazz.

For more guitar solo techniques and tips, go up to Top Guitar Solo Techniques For Lead Guitar: How To Use Flashy Tricks In Your Guitar Solos!

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What Is Hybrid Picking For Guitar?

"Hybrid picking" involves using your guitar pick WITH one of your extra right hand fingers (middle or ring) so that you can pick two separate strings at the same time. Although SOME players use hybrid picking naturally, the vast majority feel awkward at first! This right hand technique does not come naturally to most!

Hybrid Picking Warmups

Let's start with the basics. Learn these hybrid picking warmups before moving on to the guitar solos!

Hybrid Picking In "Sixths"

This first example concentrates on playing "sixths" -- notes that are a "sixth" apart in terms of intervals. Using your pick for the BOTTOM note and hybrid picking finger for the TOP note, execute them at the same time. Your pick should go DOWN, while your extra finger pulls UP.

Click tablature to enlarge:

Blues Warmups

Now let's expand upon hybrid picking for guitar by looking at some more advanced blues-style licks. Use your hybrid picking finger where indicated with 'A' in the tabs!

Click tablature to enlarge:

Using Hybrid Picking to play fast blasts of 16th notes

NeoClassical Style

In this fast phrase, every open 'E' note is hybrid picked. Use your favorite hybrid picking finger on all the open 'E's and your PICK on the other notes!

Click tablature to enlarge:

Blues Style

Playing blues style licks using hybrid picking is easy! In blues, you can repeat a set of four 16th notes over again, thus expanding upon the phrase. Check out the tabs!

Click tablature to enlarge:

Hybrid Picking For Guitar Using Pick, Middle, and Ring Together!

Let's take this whole right hand technique thing one step farther and try using three picking entities at once: pick, middle finger, AND ring finger!

Each group of four 16th notes should be voiced as a CHORD, which means you should hold every group of four notes at once, just like a chord shape. This way, you can apply "let ring" to the phrase.

Click tablature to enlarge:

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