Jack here, jbf music and guitar lessons, back with some more musical goodness for you, in
the form of these Marty Friedman style dominant 7 flat arpeggios- don’t be put off by the
fancy name, it’s really just a way of categorising a specific type of sound.
In this licks to impress we’re looking at 7 Marty Friedman arpeggios in E; some based
on his style, some adapted and other just transposed; they are all over the fretboard,
so you won’t get trapped in one area of the neck- for more on overcoming that check
out the video with the little I up there. Now my ear is nowhere near as good as Marty’s
so by all means adapt these licks as you see fit!
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Alright, I don’t want to derail this with too much music theory, but let’s cover the
basics. A dominant 7 flat 9 is sort of a mash up between a beatles sounding dominant 7 type
thing and a more dissonant Yngwie J Malmsteen diminished sound . For a deeper dive on that
application check out the little I up there. And when we combine those, you get that distinctive
sound which Marty often uses in a more exotic way; more on that with the I in the corner.
Ok, diving in a little bit deeper A dominant seven flat nine is made of a Root, third,
fifth, flat seventh and flat ninth. Those intervals, turn in to these notes when using
E as the Root: E, G sharp, B, D, F. F is the flat 9th, you can think of it a 2nd an octave
higher. Being a semitone higher than the Root, you get a lot of edgy dissonance
from it.
So throughout the following licks we’ll only be using those 5 notes: E, G#, B, D and
F. If you want to know more about the Phrygian dominant scale – the chord from which this
is derived give the little I up there a click for a whole tutorial on that. I’ve tried
to put these licks in ascending difficulty, but they’re all quite tricky, so jump about
as needed via the chapters or timestamps.
Ok, the main takeaway here is the use of slides and hammer to get a more fluid sound. We’re
going up an E dominant 7 sweeping through the; Root, 3rd, 5th hammer on the b7th, sweep
some more- Root, slide; 3rd, 5th, 3rd. The spice comes in on the way down, sweeping up
now we hit that 6th fret on the B string, sweeping which is the flat 9, sliding to the
b7th and wrapping up on the 5th adding in vibrato.
Alrighty, more legato again, also shifting positions, string skipping and treating it
almost like a scale, with those 12th, 14th and 5th frets. Kicking it off on the Root,
3rd, hammer on to the 5th. Legato here: b7th, Root, b9th, Root, b7th, down to the 5th, b7th
hammer the Root, slide to the b9th; this slide gives us a smooth position shift, Trill; 3rd,
5th, 3rd, Root, 3rd hammer to the 5th. A string skip and trill; Root, 3rd, Root. 5th sliding
down to the 3rd. I reckon resolving to the 3rd is the most typical Marty Friedman sound,
probably followed by the Root, b7th, 5th and b9th in that order. A vaguely Chris Poland
sort of sound would maybe finish on the 5th.
Cool main things here are tapping in to the more exotic sounds again legato and the idea
of taking a sequence, but articulating the notes a bit differently; like with the overlay
you can hopefully see this is really the same idea taken down the arpeggio. Only on the
second time we’re bending the 14th fret instead of picking the 15th fret.
3rd, legato here: b9th, 3rd, b9th, slide to the Root, b9th, Root. B7th pull off 5th. 3rd,
5th, Trill: 3rd, 5th, 3rd; Root Bend it to the b9th release pull off to the b7th, 5th
pull of 3rd, Root.
Ok, main idea heres, again legato, bends, bending out notes in to key; more on Friedman-ish
ways of doing that with the little I up there; vibrato and creating a more melodic line rather
than a full on shred arpeggio. Root to b9th slide, 3rd hammer 5th, trill; b7th, b9th,
b7th; 5th. Bending an out note here the major 7th up to the root, keep that bend held and
slide up a semi tone so we’ve bend the root up to the b9th. Add in vibrato. And a similar
idea an octave higher- bending the major 7th up a semitone to the Root, this time unbend
and quickly slide up the the Root, bend it to the flat 9th. Rake
through to the 5th and add vibrato.
Ok, using the typical diminished sweep shape here, more legato, shifting position, using
some palm muting to create a bit of a groove and bending and out note in to key. Starting
on the b7th, hammer the b9th, sweeping through the 3rd and 5th, hammer the b7th, slide to
the root; as a side note you could slide to the b9th a semi tone higher, but it will sound
more Yngwie, less Beatles; slide back to the b7th, pull off 5th, sweeping up
through the 3rd, Root, 5th slide down to the 3rd add vibrato. Applying some palm muting
we’re going between the 5thand b7th, 5th, root then the 5th. Repeating the last 4 notes.
Then b7th to Root, trill between those notes. 5th, Root, hammer on the b3rd and bend it
a semi tone to pitch, adding in vibrato.
Alright, usual tricks at play here; sweeping, legato, position shifts. B7th, b9th, 3rd,
5th, b7th hammer b9th slide 3rd, pull off b9th. Sweeping up; b7th, 5th, 3rd, b9th. Sweeping
down again; Root, 3rd hammer 5th, b7th, b9th hammer 3rd, sliding 5th and back to 3rd , pull
off b9th, b7th, b9th hammer 3rd to finish up.
Alright, last one up here, good going if you’ve made it this far and a shout out to the lick
squad elite – you guys rock! Here we’ve got more sweeping, legato, position shifts
vibrato, bends, the typical diminished shape and combing shred with some more melodic ideas.
Sweeping the Root, 3rd, 5th, b7th, slide 3rd hammer 5th, pull off 3rd. Root, 3rd, 5th slide
b7th, sweeping through b9th and 3rd. Hammering on the 5th and b7th, pull off 5th to 3rd.
b9th, 3rd, b9th slide to Root, 3rd slide to root, hammer b9th pull off Root, sweep through
the 5th, 3rd, Root. Slide down to the b7th add vibrato, bend a tone to hit the root,
back to pitch and bend 1 and a ½ tones to target the b9th finish up on the 3rd.
Ok, so hopefully those licks have given some ways in which you can use this arpeggio to
create Marty Friedman style lines, or indeed your own phrases and ideas!
Check out that video for more Marty Friedman licks. This has been guitar licks to impress,
that’s the playlist there. But yeah, hit subscribe to keep up to date with the channel,
leave me a comment, check out the tabs on my Patreon and enable notifications by ringing
that little bell on the side, if you feel so inclined, cheers guys!