Unleash your guitar's full potential with Gus G's ultimate routine for tuning up your playing skills
Gus G, the renowned guitarist recognized for his work with Firewind and Ozzy Osbourne, has shared a series of warm-up exercises designed to enhance overall performance and minimize strain. These exercises, which can be found in various resources, cover a range of techniques including legato, alternate picking, sweep picking, and one-finger-per-fret fingering.
Legato Exercise
The legato exercise, focusing on hammer-ons and pull-offs, does not require a change in fingering pattern as for diatonic scales. It is meant to serve as a symmetrical warm-up exercise, helping to establish a smooth, fluid connection between the fretting and picking hands. Discomfort or fretting hand 'burn' should be addressed with a break during the exercise. The final exercise in this section is excellent for building fretting hand strength and precision by slurring notes.
Sweep Picking Warm-up Exercise
The sweep picking warm-up exercise concentrates on the synchronization between the picking and fretting hands. It uses all four fingers, moving over to an adjacent string each time a finger is laid down. The trick in this exercise is to time the fretting of the notes with when the pick sweeps across.
Alternate Picking Exercise
The alternate picking exercise is good for maintaining and developing your alternate picking technique. It is logically pattern-based and falls well under the fingers, making it an ideal exercise for warming up before a performance.
Analysis and Transcription
The person who analyzed and transcribed Gus G's playing is not publicly identified. However, it is known that Jon Bishop, a guitarist who transcribes songs for Total Guitar and gives technique tutorials in Guitar Techniques, was responsible for this task.
Tuning and Sound
Gus G's signature Jackson Pro Series San Dimas guitar is detuned by one tone, changing the typical tuning of E-A-D-G-B-E to D-G-C-F-A-D. This dropped down tuning creates a deep, resonant sound and decreases string tension, making fretting easier.
The warm-up exercises can be played in standard E based tuning, as they are pattern-based and will sound perfectly fine. The first example of Gus's warm-up exercises is a variation on the classic chromatic warm-up pattern that utilizes all four fretting hand fingers and introduces the need for greater picking accuracy as it goes between two strings to ascend then descend.
The third exercise uses a fingering pattern of the first, second, and fourth fingers across all six strings for legato play.
Instrumental "Advent" showcases both Gus's burning metal chops and melodic phrasing, featuring his Jackson seven-string guitar. These exercises, played at brisk speeds, may make them sound more intimidating than they actually are. However, they are designed to help reduce strain and boost overall performance.
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