For some reason, while I'm waiting for my next student (at GIT) to show up, I often start playing my Strat using only my fingers—“palming” my pick with my right hand's index finger and “plucking” the strings using my thumb (i.e., “p”) and middle (i.e., “m”) fingers. Here's the type of thing that always seems to come out. It's played in open position, and revolves around E minor pentatonic pitches (E-G-A-B-D) and the E Mixolydian scale (E-F#-G#-A-B-C#-D), the latter of which is “spiced up” with the occasional chromatic passing tone. (Note: The specific “plucking” fingers used are indicated between the notation and TAB staves.)

Notice how the “plucking” action creates all sorts of snappy accents, mostly the result of the right hand's middle finger being used to pull on the string, then release it, forcing it to “snap” back against the fret board.

This lick kind of blurs the edges between country and blues styles. Probably works reasonably well in either one. It also sounds pretty cool on acoustic. Enjoy!

(*You can hear the lick FAST by clicking HERE*)

(*You can hear the lick SLOW by clicking HERE*)

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