String skipping
Playing a melodic line that deliberately jumps over one or more strings instead of moving to the adjacent string.
String skipping is used to break the comfortable scale shapes that come from playing across adjacent strings, since those shapes make it easy to fall into familiar patterns. By jumping a string, the player forces a wider interval and a different right-hand picture, which produces more angular, modern-sounding lines. The pick has to travel further, so accuracy comes from a controlled motion rather than speed, and many players practise it slowly with wide, deliberate strokes.
Example: A modern rock lead that leaps from the top string to the fourth string and back again is using string skipping to avoid a scale run.
See also
Related
- PageOutside picking
- PageInside picking
- PageAlternate picking
- PageAccent
- PageAction height
- PageAmp modeler
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley