Hi people, I'm new to PB lessons, and I have a doubt regarding the way to play consecutives notes on the same string going up the board, and by going up I mean playing lower pitch notes.

I'm ok with the all the exercise on the chromatic scale, I can go up (by putting all 4 fingers at the same time and lifting them as I play the note) and down by leaving the fingers in the same position as I play the notes.

But does it always have to be played that way? I need years of practice but I think I may be slower playing it this way for example while practicing other scales or soloing. And I don't see Mr Brown doing it always this way either.

So the question is, to play 4 consecutives notes going up on the thread by not doing it like in the Chromatic Scale #1 excersice is wrong?
I hope I maid my self clear.

I am a little confused by your question, are you asking whether you should always play guitar the way you practice? If so, then the chromatic scale has many uses (Pebber posted a video recently demonstrating how it can be integrated into music and soloing) but it is also a fantastic way to improve general technique.

It is important that you practice it extensively, it will feel awkward for a while but you will be able to play better in the long run, and faster as well. So if you are a learning a song, scale, solo etc then you should use the same technique. You will not always need to do this for everything you do, I play alot of rock music and find myself omitting the pinky finger for bending strings quite often, so it is not necessarily wrong to stray from using 4 fingers. But I still can use the pinky to bend, and I do use classical form as much as possible when I play guitar because it is the basis for everything I can play on guitar. Remember, you have 4 fingers and a thumb on your left/right hand, you want to train them all equally.

Four fingers, 1 finger per fret, tips of the fingers on the fretboard with a flat wrist. It may feel uncomfortable but you should not be in pain, and at first you will be slower but speed will come in time. Practice this so that it becomes part of your playing as it is the very bedrock of your technique and it will allow you to play different types of music, you will not be a limited guitar playing in this sense.

Sorry if this does not answer your question, someone else should post soon enough.

I think you mean if you should always leave other fingers on the fretboard when lifting off.

When you are playing the Chromatic Scale Excercises 4,3,2,1. Yes. Pebber was very specific on his videos, telling us not to be retards and not to lift the middle finger when lifting up the pinky.

However if you are crossing stringswith the gain turned up you should unfret immediately after moving to another note, (unless you want them both to sound) otherwise you will sound really dirty.. (keep them really relaxed, curved and close to the fretboard though) the same applies to scale.


Hope that was your question..

thanks to both.

I practice it both ways with and without gain..
pardon my noobinesh but is there something wrong in practicing it with high gain to work on muting?

Thanks Pebber, I totally agree of a good technique by practicing the way it must be practice, which is what I try to do on every day.

My doubt was for example, If I also have to use the same technique for if a practice the pentatonic scale. When I move from string 1 to string 2, before I pick on the 2dn string, do I have to wait to have both 1st and 4th fingers placed on the threads, or do I do it like in the ladder excercises and pick them as I place my finger on the threads?

Roger that,
Thanks.