GET GIG READY!

Looking forward to hitting the stage again after an enforced layoff? Richard Barrett focuses on essential chop maintenance and core playing techniques with a selection of bespoke exercises and two performance payoff pieces.

- Richard Barrett

ABILITY RATING

Info

Key Various

Tempo Various

CD TRACKS 4-15

Moderate/Advanced ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

Will improve your…

• Fretboard fluency

• Gigging stamina

• General timing and feel

Apart from some notable online collaborations (cat-based heavy metal anyone?) there has been a distinct lack of opportunity over the last year or so to get out there and strut our stuff in real time. Be that in a rehearsal room or on stage. Playing or practising while binge-watching TV on the sofa, will no doubt have helped some improve their game. But how relevant will these improvements be when we’re back standing in front of an amp, drumkit and audience? These are the concerns I’ll be addressing in this article.

The areas covered here will also be helpful to those who have decided to go back out into the world and start or join bands. At the risk of stating the obvious; it’s incredibly useful to develop our skills in isolation. But what sounds great at home may not translate to the outside world; and even seasoned pros will need to approach their first day back in the saddle with appropriate caution. The exercises and example pieces that follow, will deal with techniques you may expect, such as alternate picking, string skipping, legato, fast chord changes, position shifts, etc.

TECHNIQUE FOCUS PICK SLANTING