Lesson time: (3min 23sec)
James Barratt uses the riff from Bryan Adams' 'Run to You' to build your picking-hand technique, adding some left-hand position shifts along the way.
This lesson is part of the course Foundations of Rock Guitar Technique
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Overview
Today, we're going to look at an excerpt from another song, really briefly. You may know this one, this is the riff from Run to You by Bryan Adams. It's another excellent exercise for your right hand, and we will also ask a little more of our left hand with some position shifts. We'll be slowly advancing what we're doing with our hands and what we're asking of them.
I'm going to briefly play you the riff. The original key for that is actually slightly higher. If you want to play along with the song, all you need to do is grab a capo, strap it across the second fret, and play exactly what I just played. For now, we don't need to have a capo; we can just practice it.
First Finger Placement
Take your first finger and place it on the second fret of the A string.
Riff Strings
This entire riff is based on the E, A, and D strings with our right hand, so we can kind of forget about the top three strings, we're not dealing with them at all.
Count in 4/4
That's bar number one. We're back in 4/4 here:
Adding the Second Finger
For the start of the next bar, we're going to add our second finger. We kind of build the top half of a G chord there. We'll pick straight down the E, A, and D strings.
Moving Up the Fretboard
Next, we will take that shape and move it up two frets, so we are on five and four on the E and A strings now. We'll pick that pattern:
Repeating the Pattern
Then we'll repeat it down. Use this string as a rail for your first finger, it never needs to leave the string. You can release the pressure off the fretboard for the position shifts, but it shouldn't actually come off the string. This is more efficient movement for your hands.
Let's take a closer look at the picking pattern. We have this:
This pattern is mostly dictated by the direction of the next string that we're coming to. That's why we've chosen this picking pattern for that section.
Good luck practicing that! Remember all the things we've talked about:
Good luck with those, and I'll see you in the next lesson!
James has enjoyed a successful career as a full-time musician since graduating from the Academy of Contemporary Music in 2007. He has gone on to work with artists and producers from Stereophonics, Ronnie Dunn, Scissor Sisters and many more. He also composes music for television and film, such as Sony Walkman's 'Music Pieces' television commercial and the Albatross film trailer. He refers to himself as something of a purist, a musicians' musician if you will, and this approach to his artistry has sparked attention from big corporations and TV producers. James can be heard during shows such as 'Geordie Shore' and even in adverts for the British Heart Foundation, thanks to his natural versatility as an artist. As he puts it: "The best, and most frequent, compliment I get when on sessions for clients is that I play what's 'right' for the music. Often it's all down to simplicity." "James is the real deal. Great player, killer tone, and I wouldn't hesitate for a second recommending him for any project. Rock on James!" - Joey Sykes (Meredith Brooks / Will Champlin / The Babys) In Foundations of Rock Guitar Technique, James passes on exactly that philosophy, showing you how to build solid, musical rock guitar technique and play what's 'right' for the song. read more
