By Chris Brooks

In the last lesson, we covered what pedal tone licks are, then focused on Yngwie Malmsteen's use of inverted pedal tones for some overt baroque influence in neoclassical rock.

Today I want to introduce another pedal tone concept called lower two-tone pedal point. This J.S. Bach-inspired series of ideas sees two melody notes repeating on the B string while single notes on the high E string provide the melodic motion of the form.

Besides Bach, you can hear this device in classic Malmsteen tracks like Fire from the Trilogy album, and Vengeance - the opening track from 1995's Magnum Opus.

In the video above, I'll introduce the basic form of this pedal tone, cover the Viking's unorthodox picking approach, then put it all to use in an original etude called Retribution from the Viking Shred Guitar Suite course.

⬆️ Watch the video to see me play and break down today's licks ⬆️

By studying this melodic form, you'll be able to compose your own ideas and then, ideally, start implementing it into your neoclassical soloing repertoire.

Download the extras for this lesson free in the Guitar 21 store

Chris

Chris Brooks is the founder of Guitar21 as well as the writer of 18 chart topping guitar technique books. His latest creation is Viking Shred Guitar Suite - the ultimate Neoclassical Shred Guitar course.