Readers note: I did NOT make this up, it is in the August 2005 issue of Guitar World. I take NO credit in this other than
tabbing it onto my computer, so please don't sue. These are a few of the work outs that ex RATM current Audioslave
guitarist Tom Morello uses. Have fun!
Figure 1 Finger Exercise: This is a standard exercisethat develops strenght and indepdence for the fretting
hand's four fingers. Your aim should be to perfrom this with strict alternatve picking and to synchoronize
both hands perfectly before increasing your metronome's speed.
E |----------------------------------------1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1-----------------------------------------||
B |--------------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------4-3-2-1---------------------------------||
G |------------------------1-2-3-4---------------------------------4-3-2-1-------------------------||
D |----------------1-2-3-4-------------------------------------------------4-3-2-1-----------------||
A |--------1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------------------------------4-3-2-1---------||
E |1-2-3-4---------------------------------------------------------------------------------4-3-2-1-||
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Figure 2 Finger Exercise: This example develops upon the first example by requiring you alter your fingering to 1 3 2 4
before moving to the next higher strihg.
E |----------------------------------------1-3-2-4-4-2-3-1-----------------------------------------||
B |--------------------------------1-3-2-4-----------------4-3-2-1---------------------------------||
G |------------------------1-3-2-4---------------------------------4-3-2-1-------------------------||
D |----------------1-3-2-4-------------------------------------------------4-3-2-1-----------------||
A |--------1-3-2-4-----------------------------------------------------------------4-3-2-1---------||
E |1-3-2-4---------------------------------------------------------------------------------4-3-2-1-||
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Figure 3 Finger Exercise: This example is slightly trickier than the one in fig. 2 as the fingering is more awkward-
1 4 2 3. Spend time wiht it, though, as it's a great exercise for swapping securely between the first and fourth fingers
(invaluable for numerous pentatonic and diatonic scale-based runs.)
E |----------------------------------------1-4-2-3-3-2-4-1-----------------------------------------||
B |--------------------------------1-4-2-3-----------------3-2-4-1---------------------------------||
G |------------------------1-4-2-3---------------------------------3-2-4-1-------------------------||
D |----------------1-4-2-3-------------------------------------------------3-2-4-1-----------------||
A |--------1-4-2-3-----------------------------------------------------------------3-2-4-1---------||
E |1-4-2-3---------------------------------------------------------------------------------3-2-4-1-||
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Figure 4 Alt. picking thirds: This may seem simpler than the previous examples as it has you playing 8th notes instead of
16th note, but there are several quick position shifts to contend with. Mastering alt. picked thirds will improve not
only your fretboard understanding, but also your "outside" picking (down-pick the fourth strin, up-pick the third string)
and "inside" picking (up-pick the fourth string, down-pick the third string). etc.
v ^ v ^ v = downstroke
^ v ^ v ^ = upstroke
E |----------------------------------------------------------------------||
B |---------------------------------------------------------------------o||
G |--7---7---6---6----9----9----11----11---2---2---4---4---6---6---2---2-||
D |9---9---7---7---11---11---12----12----4---4---5---5---7---7---4---4---||
A |---------------------------------------------------------------------o||
E |----------------------------------------------------------------------||
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
Figure 5 Minor Pentatonic Picking Riff: Palm muted picking using the minor pentatonic scale can provide lots of cool riffs
as this section demonsrates. Although "Bombtrack" by Morello's previous group, RATM, is a great example, this exercise
riff is more taxing because the picking hand has to jump around and cross between strings more. Remember to take it slow
to begin with, as unsychronized hands sound plain ugly!
P.M. throughout
E |-----------------------------------------------------------------||
B |----------------------------------------------------------------o||
G |--------------------------------------------------------4--------||
D |--------5-------7-----------------------5-------7----------------||
A |--7-5-7---7-5-7---7-5-------5-----7-5-7---7-5-7---7-5-7---7-5---o||
E |0---------------------7-5-7---7-0-----------------------------7--||
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Figure 6 Octave Picking wiht a 3 over 4 feel: Morello has a penchant for writing riffs in F# minor, and this is perhaps
the most challenging one we've seen him perform. Its greatest benefit is to even out your picking hand's while playing
a 16th- note octave riff on the 6th and 4th strings. Take it very slowly and watch out for unwanted string noise or
wasted movement of the picking hand.
; = quarter rest play 3 times
E |---------------------------------||------------------------------||
B |--------------------------------o||------------------------------||
G |---------------------------------||------------------------------||
D |----4-----4-----4-----4-----4--;-||----4-----4-----4-----4-----4-||
A |--------------------------------o||------------------------------||
E |0-2---0-2---0-2---0-2---0-2------||0-2---0-2---0-2---0-2---0-2---||
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 1 e & a 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e &
Figure 7 16th-note Triplet Hammer-Ons: One of Morelo's most flashy moments with RATM was the shred-like solo in
"Know Your Enemy" which consisted of largely 16th-note triplet hammer-ons. This example demonstrates the type of
hammer-on exercises the guitarest practiced in his early woodshedding dayings. Keep the hammer-ons strong (all four
fingers are required here) and in time
play 2nd time
E |-------------------------------------------------||-------||
B |------------------------------------------------o||-------||
G |-------------------------------------------------||-------||
D |------------------------------4h6h7-------6h7h9--||h11----||
A |------4h5h7-------5h7h9-4h5h7-------5h7h9-------o||-------||
E |4h5h7-------5h7h9--------------------------------||-------||
Figure 8 16ths and Triplet 16ths Scale Pattern: This example has you playing the F# natural or Aeolian minor scale
(F# G# A B C# D E) with palm-muted alt. picking, beginning with 16th notes adn switching to 16th- note triplets.
Technically, this is a challenging and requires you to be well versed at swapping between different rhythmic subdivisions.
If you like this highly rhythmic style of playing, check out Deep Purple's Steve Morse or Dream Theater's John Petrucci
P.M. throughout play 4 times
E |------------------------------------||------||---------||
B |-----------------------------------o||------||---------||
G |------------------------------------||------||------_--||
D |------------2-4-6-4-2---------------||------||-4--;----||
A |------2-4-5-----------5-4-2--------o||------||-4-------||
E |2-4-5-----------------------5-4-2-0-||-2----||-2-------||
