Open-String Legato Arpeggios

by Christopher Sung OK, let's use an open G string to anchor some arpeggios in this lesson. Our licks will be very intensive on our fretting hand, requiring a lot of hammer-ons and pull-offs that are common in metal and hard rock. Using an open G string means that we'll be using triads that always contain a G.

Look at the example below. Our main harmony consists of this: cho|x|x|5|7|6|x|G7|cho cho|x|x|5|6|5|x|A7|cho cho|x|x|5|5|4|x|Cm|cho cho|x|x|5|4|3|x|G|cho |cr| We play each of these chords as a 3 note arpeggio for 2 measures a piece. For our beginning G7, we start by hammering at the 10th fret, pulling off so that our open G string rings, and then hammering with our first finger at the 7th fret. Note that this is all achieved with the left hand. You don't need your picking hand for this lick. Play it slow until it feels good under your fingers and then crank up the tempo. You're want to make sure that each note is clearly heard, and that the timing is even...