5 Legato Myths (That Are Making Your Technique WORSE!) - Tom Quayle Lesson
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- čas přidán 28. 05. 2024
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00:00 - Introduction and Special Offer
01:57 - Legato Myth 1 - You need a low action!
04:59 - Legato Myth 2 - You need light gauge strings!
07:54 - Legato Myth 3 - You need really strong hands!
12:38 - Legato Myth 4 - Legato requires distortion and/or compression!
14:46 - Legato Myth 5 - People use legato because it's easier than alternate picking!
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Hi Tom! Is the code still good to enroll? 🙏
Wondering the same thing about the discount code? I don’t see anywhere to input it in the checkout
Tom where to put the code sir
I have the same question. I wasn't seeing a place on the Enroll form to put a discount code.
It's mad that we live in a time when players like Tom and Rick Graham are just out there dropping free videos chock full of professional insights. Thanks Tom, your rock.
Aw thanks - my pleasure.
Yeah, Jimmy Page often laments playing full stadiums night after night, rolling around in piles of cash and groupies on the bed in the hotel room afterwards with his manager saying "Sorry Jimmy, I can't get you a gig demoing a compressor pedal" - today's guitarists don't know how lucky they've got it.
@@michael1 99.99% of guitarists in his day didn’t get money or fame either, they also didn’t have a clue how to play legato properly because there wasn’t videos like this one. What a moronic thing to write on a public forum.
@@MartyCMega88You sound like you think Jimmy's career was better somehow? How odd - did you not read my post?
Buy his stuff though, it's well worth it :)
myth 6 legato will get you girls
It does if you use a 4:3 aspect ratio for your videos!
@@tomquayleguitar fact check true
and as a bonus one hand is free 😮
#Facts
The technique makes the girls stay..
Dear Tom, over the years I have really learned a lot from your instruction material! Your teaching has a huge impact on my playing. It's like you actually are my teacher even though we've never met. Thank you so very much for your great work!
I played on 12s for many years and if someone handed me a guitar with 9s on it, it was completely unplayable I thought. But the last five years or so having neurological problems with my hands I’ve had to go very light, down to .008 through .046. There was a period of adjustment of a few months actually where I had to retrain my body to use a very light touch. It actually improved my playing tremendously once I got past the adjustment period. Point being, in my humble opinion, whether light strings or heavy strings are workable is really just a matter of personal preference and what you’re used to.
Leaving this here so I can be reminded to practice this
I remember that old Al Di Meola's instructional video saying that alternate picking is king and everything else is cheating lol. I love Al Di Meola but I really prefer the sound of legato.
Me too!
Best video ever, Tom!! 🔥 we need something about vibrato 🤔 your vibrato is majestic, thank you for sharing your wisdom. Your execution of the subdivisions is tremendous.
Fantastic video Tom, as usual !
May i raise 1 question. When you say low but not ridiculously low action, can we have some rough measurements @ the 12 fret (it will help !)
For me it's 1,25 mm @12 fret both side !
Invaluable lesson towards a technique that we all aspire to… and I’m in the category that needed all 5 myths busted. Thank you again Tom👌
Haha! Thanks Marcus.
I love watching you play acoustic guitar so much, please, please more of it, it sounds so awesome
Can't imagine how much hard work went into developing your amazing technique,
but it's awe-inspiring.
Great video Tom! Also love hearing you on the acoustic, amazing sound🔥
You can't imagine how grateful we are to see you are posting on CZcams regularly like the old days again.
Your instructional videos are second to none. i am working on "Soloing Over Dominant 7th Chords" course right now and really enjoying it.
Thank you very much tom.
Wow, thank you!
🎸Great vid, thanks Tom, I'm really enjoying the videos you have been posting lately, cheers!
man I wish we had this sort of thing when I was a kid. what a great lesson tom!
Lots of very useful information Tom! Especially about the guitar set up, strings etc. Thanks so much🙏
Another amazing video full of great tips and advice, cheers Tom!
Wonderful video! Thanks Tom!
Good to see u at it tom,was very nice talking to u at fibenare booth at namm,as we talked about greg howe one guy that allways gets forgotten to mention is the mighty brett garsed and im sure u agree,cheers:)
Excellent tutorial. I guess I’m somewhere on the border of intermediate and advanced, and have to agree with your final advice about playing three notes per string over 4/4. It’s taken a while … and I still need to regularly practice precisely that. I subscribed : )
i always had trouble with the last point, still do. Great lesson!
Tom Quayle, you're absolutely brilliant! Would like to see a video about the common patterns you use for your legato.
Thanks for the lesson. And I know your working hard so whenever you and David get time... I'm casting another vote for Solo v2 on Android!
Cheers!
Great value content, thx, man!
Thanks for another great video Tom
My pleasure!
Omg Tom. Gotta love your playing. I have no clue how you play that fast.
The way you have your action setup is right about where I like my action. This is very true, a good setup and good fretwork go a very long way and you can still play with a nice soft touch. I also don’t like 9s and 8s either. They’re great for fast playing yes, but the reality is, at least for me, 10s don’t really feel too different from 9s when setup properly and feel more consistent. Likewise, hybrid picking and finger style can feel strange with light strings
With regards to low action, you were talking about the ability to do bends being an issue. What about with a scalloped fretboard?
11:12 - 11:39 Jesus man...this alone is just incredibly inspiring to me. To reach that level of fluency, just shows what the learned mind is capable of. Need to keep practicing.
When you came to Cartagena and I had the chance to try your guitar (that guitar in the video), I can tell is one of the most comfortable guitars I’ve ever tried in my entire life. So yes, Myth #1 is BUSTED!
Awesome lesson - thanks!!!
Amazing Video ! Thanks !!!
Ive not heard anyone explain it from a physiological level, which would really help. There are many muscles in the hand, fingers and forearm that are involved. I’d love to see a breakdown of what great shredders are doing/not doing: e.g. Is it a focus on the fast-twitch muscles in the forearm, combined with a relaxed hand and fingers combo the most efficient method? Would love to hear your thoughts, Tom.
16:54 if you play slowly, and at some higher speeds it is possible. AH has a lot of examples in his recordings, check them out.
Oh man... I missed the discount code. Are you issuing a discount again in the future? Thanks for all quality content and the App.
Brilliant . Thanks Tom
Wawww man, I couldn't be more great full for this. Thanks aaaa loooooot!
Hi Tom. I would like to know your thoughts on playing legato on a scalloped fretboard. Have you ever tried it? Thanks for the amazing content!
Thanks for your advice and instruction Tom, really enjoy your playing and I’m very happy to take advice from one of my favourite guitarists. Greetings from Australia 🇦🇺
hi there tom. i was wondering if you could shed light on what youre thinking about when youre improvising and how youre making lines or using them. are you coming up with them on the go when youre just improvising legato. or are you using older ideas. like when youre improvising im sure youre thinking of melodic ideas to use but how much of what youre playing is intention driven. ive been trying to understand what your mental state might be when improvising fast and fluid legato lines and ive been trying to put myself in a similar state, but im having some trouble. are you thinking interms of shapes or melody or like idk im just curious. if its not a hassle could you make a video about it? thank you alot!
These myths are all known to me and I have and also use them. I'm not the youngest anymore and don't have as much time to become anywhere near as perfect as you Tom. I can remember when I was a beginner, a so-called teacher said that you should play every note otherwise it's more or less fake. I've always had that in the back of my mind, but since there's this CZcams and you've seen this new generation of guitarists live who are actually more acrobats, I've understood that anything is allowed if it works. What I still feel when playing legato is that I find it easier if you tune a semitone lower. Maybe Myth #6
Tom you are great
Well appreciated, thank you!
hey there... Thanks a lot for bringing out these videos. dont know whether this comment would be able to find a way out to your eyes.. but it would be highly beneficial if at all you could bring out a video on making legato lines just like yours. so that it helps us in making some lines based on the modes and the timing... please tom please.... please make a video of it... much love from your fan from INDIA
Hi there and thanks! I do have a masterclass on my website to buy and download called Modern Legato Pt3 that deals with exactly this subject. It's a bit too deep for shorter YT videos but feel free to check it out.
Do you mind explaining your methodology for the legato riffs you use?
Super musical, how are you constructing these phrases when you look at the neck?
Myth 6: Your legato will be better than my legato.
Number 1 myth:
Tossing away your pick and using only hammer ons and pull offs isn't automatically legato.
That kind of playing can tend to sound staccato, especially fast.
It's the pulloffs Tom was talking about in the video where most of the issues come from in most peoples' techniques.
Marshall Harrison's series on Holdsworthian Legato is a great explanation on youtube.
See Chopin's works for some of the definitive legato technique.
Forgot to say, this video was an awesome explanation of a lot of the issues people have with legato playing on guitar.
Thank you for uploading this video sir, I appreciate it
@tomquayleguitar Brilliant video! Thanks very much for this one.
Can you/anyone tell me if you can set up the Solo app to play through ALL notes in a random order for note finding practice? Its a great app but I find too often that I'm just recognising the song pattern within two rounds as you cant randomise the chord sequences or use the scales trainer as you have to play a melodic sequence whereas I just want roots i.e. find C#, Gb, D, B, Eb, D# etc etc. Setup would look something like
Scale - Chromatic (plus enharmonic equivelants)
Melodic sequence - 1 (root only)
Direction/order - Random
P.S. Android user 😩 so only app V1
Cheers all!
Richie Kotzen is a great legato player that breaks every one of these “myths”.
Good tips - some are of course somewhat subjective but absolutely worth examining. IMO the real key is to find a combination of action height, string gauge, setup, scale length, and so on that works for you. Then practice. Note on Allan, that's exactly how he did place accents for notes he wasn't picking......hitting the string that bit harder (1990 Guitar Player interview) but I've yet to see anyone else manage it with anything like the aplomb he did....... that's hardly surprising!
You're looking well dude :)
They're totally subjective for sure and I couldn't agree more with your combination observation!
@@tomquayleguitar No idea how you play like that with heavier strings, medium action and not a whisper of compression. Magic fingers I guess ^^
TQ that was great 👍🏾 ❤ I hear you in so many guitar players ☮️❤️✨Lefuj
Thanks so much!
Hi Tom I really hope you’d see this and reply. All others please do share your idea on this as well:
I’ve seen you talk about visualizing the fretboard in intervals while improvising. My question is, when you’re dealing with cut changes, do you visualize in the intervals related to the current chord that’s being played, or the key of the progression?
For example: If you’re in the key of D and you’re playing a C# when A major (V in the key of D) is played. Do you visualize that note as the major 3rd of A or the major 7th of D (the key)
Hope it makes sense.
It depends on your aporoach to soloing in general. I prefer to visualize the intervals in relation to the current chord. The reason is that when we play the note C# over an A major chord we HEAR that note C# as the major third of the A major chord (that we are hearing in that moment). Of course this C# is also the major seventh of the key but that is the level of conceptual analysis refering to the whole piece. On the level of perception in the present moment it makes more sense (to me) to be aware of the relation to the root of the current chord. You can also play more expressive lines that way.
On the other hand, it is remarkable that there is also the possibility of playing over several chords of one key while only thinking about the parent scale. So when you play for example over a ii V I progression in D you can play the D-major scale over the whole progression while only visualizing the D-major scale. In this case you MIGHT visualize the note C# as the seventh of the key. However, when I use this approach I tend to visualize whole scale patterns as opposed to single notes. But even in the framework of this approach I visualize target notes with relation to the root of the current chord.
In conclusion, I would like to add that in practice, these two approaches seem to blend so the strict differentiation is also merely a conceptualization. But it is useful as a means to the end of better understanding.
@@juliangitarre4196 Thanks for this very detailed explanation. So basically what you mean is when you’re visualizing the intervals related to the current chord, you basically have to adjust yourself to play the correct mode of that scale degree, in order to play notes that are out of that triad, but still within the key. Am I right?
For example when you’re on a IV chord of the progression, you think “right, I need to play Lydian mode of this scale, I should not play the natural 4 in this context“
This has always been too much brain gymnastics for me to handle, and I’ve always struggled with that. Which makes me question whether it’s the right approach or not. I know there no “right” approach but as you said it makes sense to hear there intervals wrt the current chord rather than the key. I’ll try practicing it more! Thanks again.
@@niv6924 I am happy that you appreciate my words and yes, you understood correctly. Do you have a teacher? Your words sound like your theoretical knowledge is far beyond what you can apply in practice. I don't mean that in a negative way. What I want to say is that someone who has advanced theoretical understanding (like you do) but at the same time struggles to apply it all in practice might benifit from an experienced teacher who can support you in your individual(!) learning process. Wish you all the best!
@@juliangitarre4196 I’m completely self taught, and I had a pretty useless and ineffective approach to playing guitar where my theoretical knowledge had always been a step ahead of my actual playing ability. That has been the exact reason for the lack of progress, and only now (after 10 years of playing) I’m starting to realize that. Thanks and I will look for a teacher to improve my playing.
The more I try to play legato at a high level, the more I realize it’s NOT easier than alternate picking. It’s easier in some ways, but much much harder in others. Very difficult to get that clean rolling sound
Exactly my observations
your playing is so smooth its unbelievable
❤cool and natural master👍
I ll buy Solo if the version 2 comes to Android ! but I tested few days before and to me that's not worth an Android now ::
Great myth busting Tom!!! Love videos like this to help educate the community.
Thanks!
Hope Solo gets a web/desktop version at some point so I can try it out
If you're on a newer Apple Silicon Mac you can already run it on the desktop. Not so with WIndows though.
I have total respect for you Tom You're an awesome player but I have to say... I'm 58 years old and I could in no way play legato on 12 gauge strings It's all I can do to play on 10s if I played 12s my hands would be so sore I'd never be able to pull it off and then my carpal tunnel would be screaming at me. On my Taylor acoustic I have tens they're a phosphor bronze mix that's meant to be easy on the hand/fingers because I can't do more than that.
Maybe you don't realize how good you are, but I just want you to know that when I refer to you I always say "the mighty Tom Quayle".
God bless you.
Thanks Maria! Your playing is amazing - subbed!
@@tomquayleguitar Oh my goodness! I can’t believe you are one of my subscribers now.
You liking my playing is a dream come true. Thanks so much.
Is the whole "real legato is all hammer-ons and no pull-offs" a myth as well?
I think learning the no-hammer method helped me quite a bit, to become effortless with legato. All hammers just feels easier. It did take weeks to get comfortable with it.
I then can introduce varying amount of pull off, even very miniscule if desired.
And some maneuvers are nearly impossible without using a pull or two...
Even Holdsworth pulled-off sometimes. Truth be told, it's evident that he pulled-off towards the ceiling. I read him calling it "lift off" on one occasion.
@@jfo3000That's interesting. I always assumed that legato on guitar always had some pull offs. I'd be interested in an example of a lick that's all hammer ons.
I do find distortion can ensure I stay loose when learning new patterns if I need to keep volume low.
but nice lesson, thanks to you , salut from Poland
It looks in the video like you're using a hybrid picking technique with the middle finger?.. Is this a correct observation, or does it just look that way?..
He does use hybrid picking. He has some videos about it, alternating between pick and middle finger.
I must be doing something wrong. The scale @16:32 (this is where I picked up my guitar to follow along), has you end on the high B, but it's high C for me. It's like your E and B are tuned up a step. Great video, but now confused.
Ya I’m pretty sure he tunes his top 2 strings different
just curious to hear from someone who taken the Ultimate fretboard course and how is it like?
Tom: I’m not the authority on legato.
Me: He’s talking about Rick Graham
Ur finger all time fire 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 hard work... L v u... Sir
Next time...Legato while drinking a beer...that's the true test. 😁🤣👊🔥🎸
Talking while shredding like that is a flex!
I totally agree about the action though.
Is that a strmon timeline and bigsky on the pedalboard under the ampheads? 👀
Yes indeed!
@tomquayleguitar awesome! I love my timeline, best delay out there!
Cooool ❤❤❤❤
I always found legato harder to master it than Alt picking in terms of timing mostly. ..
Brilliant
Thanks!
How many years did it take you to develop your legato technique Tom?
Is it ok if i count the beat as ABCD instead of 1234?
I have NEVER been able to play and talk at the same time, no matter what I'm playing - I don't think I ever could tbh
It’s crucial to pay attention to the rhythm while playing. Understanding time signatures is important. Without knowing it, it never will become second nature. You will reach a point , where through repetition - you will play automatically. You will not need to think about the position of your fingers anymore.
@crouchjump5787 To be honest, I'm not sure I really understand what the point of being able to have a conversation is in the context of playing a solo and what it proves. Even what Tom is saying here about the link between physical tension and not having enough 'brain space' for musical awareness. I'm not sure that speaking sentances and musical thought are necessarily of equal weighting as far as taxing the brain. If I can play lines correctly and apply musical variation to its execution pretty easily, but come to a grinding halt when I try to talk at the same time, what is the point of 'training enough' to make it happen.. its an intersting subject anyhow...
god , so quickly how do you want me to not think about it ?
Oh..you ARE the authority
Guru Quayle effortless mastery. Cheers & God bless. Always inspiring!
Isn't the biggest myth of all, that legato implies less right hand picking, when in reality it has nothing to do with guitar technique? Rather a musical term which can be used by many other instruments.
Sir One Question.. if we play legato on acoustic like electric can it disturb muscle memory or hand ?
Only if you play with too much tension on a guitar that's badly setup.
Hey. I Played for one year only on acoustic and came be to electric guitar.
What i notice is that i tense of way to much and that legato didnt sound smooth. On Acoustic its way harder and you not gonna play long legato phrases expesiely without picking.
@@tomquayleguitar Sir thanks for your 💕 love
@@karoljakiel1288 right 👍
Can you play smoke on the water and talk though 👀
11:12 - 11:39 literally concerns to make you more humble
Haha! Thanks.
I don't like spaghetti strings either. I'm a rotini guy myself.
😆
who else is stuck (guitar hands on) at 13:48 with 0,5x to 0,25x speed ? 😅 🎸🔥
He s speaking while legatoing 🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶
This video is a case of "these are all myths because I don't like to play with a lighter touch." Playing lighter on lighter strings and with lower action will make you just a bit faster. Its not really a myth.
The other thing you might want to do is to develop this phrasing.
Not you as well!
Why has everyone suddenly turned on low actions / light strings? Sure, you don’t ‘need’ a low action to play this stuff, but making things easier for yourself is perfectly fine and if Shawn Lane and Allan Holdsworth can get a good tone out of it then who gives a shit.
If I get more students with tendonitis / carpal tunnel because they saw an expert on youtube tell them to go higher with their action I’m going to be pissed, because that’s what you are promoting. Tone and control are secondary (and learnable) to being able to play the guitar in the first place without fucking crippling yourself.
You can always work up to a higher action, or incrementally increase your string gauge. It is however objectively a good idea to start low and light and work up. You wouldn’t tell a beginner in the gym to go and bench two plates so why this doesn’t carry over into the guitar world baffles me.
😳 *Promo sm*
Forwarded halfway thru and it's still all about talking...skip this...too much talking!
🌹