Master Class No. 1 - The Raptor
This lesson is solely dedicated to the playing of a rather challenging piece, The Raptor. Both the rhythm and lead guitar parts will be studied and carefully analysed to give you a clear understanding of the important parts of the piece.
Rhythm Guitar Part Analysis - The Raptor
The rhythm guitar part to The Raptor uses power chords with a complex sixteenth note rhythm pattern that makes use of single notes, muting and rests.
A two string pull-off is also used in part of the rhythm. In order to play this pull-off correctly use the 2nd and 4th fingers of your left hand and maintain the shape of the A5 chord by keeping the 1st finger on the second fret of the 4th string.
Example 45 is a simple lick that uses the two string pull-off.
The main rhythm part of The Raptor is shown in the following example. To learn this rhythm part, try playing it at a slower speed.
The other part of the rhythm combines single notes and power chords.
Lead Guitar Part Analysis - The Raptor
The lead guitar part to The Raptor uses a variety of lead guitar techniques and patterns. The solo uses both the Natural and Harmonic Minor scales, patterns 1 and 4. Lead guitar techniques such as muting, vibrato, harmonics, pick tremolo and tapping are featured throughout.
The next lick is taken from bars 3 and 4 of The Raptor. This lick, played within the Natural Minor scale pattern 4, combines muting, a slide from the 12th fret to the 2nd fret and a touch harmonic.
A rhythm that features throughout The Raptor is the use of sixteenth note triplets. A sixteenth note triplet is the playing of 3 evenly spaced notes within the time frame of one eighth note. The next lick which uses sixteenth note triplets, and pick harmonics is taken from bars 5 and 6 of The Raptor.
Bars 13 and 14 of The Raptor feature the tapping technique.
