(instrumental music)
- The next technique is called hybrid picking
and this means that you are combining
the pick with the fingers.
So one thing that I use hybrid picking for
is when I have to play a large interval
that will be difficult to play
with standard alternate picking.
So for example, I might be playing
(guitar playing)
on a D, and I have to go up to a B,
at certain tempos that might be difficult to grab
with your pick.
So when you're using hybrid picking,
you could just grab that with the finger.
(guitar playing)
You get a great smooth sound with that.
So again back to the interval scales,
these are great to practice with hybrid picking.
So let's take for example the F major scale again
and let's try this with hybrid picking.
When you're playing the scale straight up and down,
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or playing the scale in thirds,
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hybrid picking is not necessarily the best choice.
But once you get into larger intervals
like fourths and fifths,
it's very helpful to get the sounds to be smooth.
So here's an example of playing fourths
with hybrid picking.
So basically, what I'm going to do is
I'm going to play the lower note with a pick
then when it goes up to the higher note,
I will use my middle finger to grab that note.
So for example,
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so I did pick finger.
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then pick finger.
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Pick finger,
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and so on.
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And sixth.
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And sevenths.
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Hybrid picking has become a very very popular picking style
for guitarists,
because it combines finger style and picking styles.
So when you're holding the pick
and you have the option of using the finger,
you can get to a lot of intervals
that might be otherwise be difficult to play.
That was an example of playing scales with hybrid picking.
But you may have a passage
that requires you to arpeggiate chords.
So for example, if I had a chord progression
that had spread triads going up like this.
(guitar playing)
And I had to arpeggiate those chords,
we can use hybrid picking to do this
and we can use two of the fingers instead of one.
So for example, I would play the lowest note with my pick,
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play the next note with my middle finger
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and the next note with my third finger.
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And we would get this.
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Now you could do that with alternate picking.
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But it's more efficient with hybrid picking.
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With hybrid picking,
you have the option of having no nails or nails.
I personally use nails
because I like the way that the nails sound
along with the pick.
The nails almost turn into another pick.
I also use a combination of the nails and the flesh.
So when I hit the string,
you're actually hearing a little bit of both.
If you only heard the nail, it would sound like this.
(guitar playing) It's a very thin sound.
But with a combination of the flesh and the nail,
(guitar playing) it's a bit fatter tone.
(guitar playing)
And here's just the nail
(guitar playing) thin
(guitar playing) that's with both.
(guitar playing)
that's a chord.
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If I played it with just the nails, it would sound like this
(guitar playing) kinda thin.
(guitar playing) a much different tone.
(acoustic music)
So I recommend with passages like that
to play them as chords all together
with hybrid picking and arpeggiate it.
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