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GMC Forum _ PRACTICE ROOM _ My Brain Collapses When I Look At This

Posted by: Murloc May 31 2009, 02:19 AM

Hey guys

I got a friend that plays the intro of "one last breath" (by Creed) all the time and thinks he is so much better than me. I wanna show that jerk by learning the song. It all goes well until 3h5p3p2h3 pops up and I am like huh?! The main problem I think is that I dont fully understand how to do a pull-off (Do I have to mention that I am a beginner?). All you high and mighty guitar guys can laugh as much as you want!

Edited for language by MickeM on behalf of the moderating team

Posted by: DeepRoots May 31 2009, 02:38 AM

No need for laughs, we were all beginners at some point. In fact, i didn't do pull-offs correctly for aaaaages.

This kind of lick will eventually be a kind of reflex for you if you practise it for a while- its quite a common little pattern.

Use the index finger for the 2, middle finger for the 3 and your pinky for the 5 (thats fingers 1 2 and 4 if you like to look at it that way).

Start with your fingers in that position^^, while fretting with your middle finger- pick your first note then make the next note sound with your pinky without picking. (this wont take too much finger pressure to sound accurately, especially if you keep your left hand in a "good" legato playing position*). Next, to get from the 5 to the 3 you need to "pull off" the note to sound the pre-fretted 3**. The pull off is not just the opposite of a hammer on, simply lifting it up wont make the 3 sound well enough- when releasing the 5 give it a slight pull towards the ground before releasing (this will make the 3 sound much better).
Next from 3 to 2 you need to perform the same pull off towards the ground *** this time from your middle to index finger, then your final 3 is hammered on, again use enough pressure to make it sound but a good hand position will help alot here.

*a good hand position would be to have the thumb in the middle of the back of the neck, Pavel has a great example of hand positioning http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/legato-etude-lesson/

**your middle finger should still have been fretting the 3!

***the pull towards the ground shouldnt be too much that it makes a change in pitch (due to the bending of the string) and should be the same tonw/volume as your hammer-ons

Hope that is of some help!

Posted by: Marek Rojewski May 31 2009, 09:47 AM

Murloc I had a friend that was doing exactly the same thing! But I learned the Bard's Song, and that in the eyes of the audience was more awesome than One Last Breath:P

Posted by: Oxac May 31 2009, 10:17 AM

Murloc, you know what would really kick his butt? If you harmonized it and when he starts showing off, you play another part. This will take some work but if it's so important for you to make him shut up this is the way to go. That way you will learn some theory and scales in the meanwhile.

Posted by: Oxac May 31 2009, 11:27 AM

I just tabbed down a counterpart, pm me if you'd like it

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 31 2009, 03:47 PM

Try to rehearse only this part with the metronome, and slowly build the pull off technique. The thing with pull off is that is not that audible on slow tempos, but don't worry about that, just focus to pull off from the string precisely in tempo. When you speed it up the sound will become more stable and audible.