How to Play Fast: 2 String Riffs and String Bending

These multistring exercises use the alternate picking technique as well as showing you how your fret hand placement can make a difference. You will also notice a few bends. When you bend a string, you want to bend it to where it sounds like the note 2 frets higher than the one you are bending. It's easier if you use more than one finger to push the string.

Example: In Figure 1, the very last note is a bent 17 on the high E string. To bend this string, put your ring finger on the 17th fret, your middle finger on the 16th fret and your index finger on the 15th fret. Now push the string toward the B string until it sounds like a straight high E on the 19th fret.

Key:

Figure 1

You can pick all of the notes like I have shown below or you can do a double hammer-on to get a smoother sound. Try both. 

E-------5-7-8--------7-8-10---------8-10-12----------10-12-14-
B-5-7-8-------7-8-10--------8-10-12---------10-12-13----------
G-------------------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------
  D U D U D U D U D  U D U  D U  D  U D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U
  I R P I R P I M P  I M P  I R  P  I R  P  I  R  P  I  R  P

                                       b
E----------12-14-15----------14-15-17-17-
B-12-13-15----------13-15-17-------------
G----------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------
  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D
  I  M  P  I  R  P  I  R  P  M  R  P  R

Figure 2

After you get this pattern down, try it again muting the strings. To mute a string, place your picking hand on the strings where the strings meet the bridge. 

E-8-5-----8-5-----8-5-----8-5-----
B-----8-5-----8-5-----8-5-----8-5-
G---------------------------------
D---------------------------------
A---------------------------------
E---------------------------------
  D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U
  p i p i p i p i p i p i p i p i

Figure 3


E-8-5-----10-8------12-10-------15-12-------17-15-------
B-----8-5------10-8-------13-10-------15-13-------17-15-
G-------------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------
  D U D U D  U D  U D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U
  p i p i r  i r  i r  i  p  i  p  i  p  m  r  i  r  i

                                      b
E-15-12-------12-10-------15-12-------15-
B-------15-13-------13-10-------15-13----
G----------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------
  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D
  p  i  p  m  r  i  p  i  p  i  p  m  r

Figure 4


E-12-10------9-7-----6-4-----9-7-----12-10------
B-------11-9-----8-6-----5-3-----8-6-------11-9-
G-----------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------
  D  U  D  U D U D U D U D U D U D U D  U  D  U
  p  m  r  i p m r i p m r i p m r i p  m  r  i

E-15-13-------18-16-------15-13-------12-
B-------14-12-------17-15-------14-12----
G----------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------
  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D  U  D
  p  m  r  i  p  m  r  i  p  m  r  i  i

Figure 5


  
E-b -12-------b -12-------b -12-------b -12-------b -
B-15----15-12-15----15-12-15----15-12-15----15-12-15-
G----------------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------
  r  i  r  i  r  i  r  i  r  i  r  i  r  i  r  i  r

Figure 6


  b              b              b              b              b  b
E-17-17-15-------17-17-15-------17-17-15-------17-17-15-------17-17-
B----------17-15----------17-15----------17-15----------17-15-------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------
  r  r  i  r  i  r  r  i  r  i  r  r  i  r  i  r  r  i  r  i  r  r


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