In today’s blues lead lesson we’re going to talk about something called “ornaments,” in the classical world…
And while this ain’t classical music by any means, these ornaments are still pretty darn cool, and worth your time to start mastering.
There are 3, the trill, the “tweedlie” (a mordent, I believe, if you want to be fancy and hold your pinky up) and a turn (which, is different the way I use it than in classical music… but just by a little.)
If you can get these down, you can take even the simplest of idea and make it sound way cooler!
21 replies to "Trills, Tweedlies, and Turns, Oh My!"
In music, a mordent is an ornament indicating that the note is to be played with a single rapid alternation with the note above or below. Like trills, they can be chromatically modified by a small flat, sharp or natural accidental. The term entered English musical terminology at the beginning of the 19th century, from the German Mordent and its Italian etymon, mordente, both used in the 18th century to describe this musical figure.
Need to practice that more for quickness……great lesson
I just got the news that Eddie Van Halen passed away on Oct. the 6th . today being the 10th . Sad news he was one of the greatest guitar players . Invented the tap method .
Thanks Griff, good reminder on keeping it interesting and not getting stale on the solos. I have a lag hyvibe guitar (acoustic) and am able to get it to work like an electric. It’s my on the road guitar( truck driver). If you don’t know what one is, you seriously have got to check it out. It’s my one my favorites, next to my prs solid body. Enjoy your day.
very interesting….very informative …
Great stuff, just what I needed. Thanks
Great lesson as always, Griff.
I have a question please. In the Turnaround you used a slide instead of the usual hammer-on/pull – off in one of your examples. Is there any benefit or reason for using a slide instead of the hammer-on /pull-off? I’ve seen quite a few guys using the slide up and back 1 fret recently and wondered about the reasoning behind doing this.
Cheers,
Bob
Aston Martin Vantage T-shirt? Nice car, and a bit of a change from your usual music-themed shirts, Griff. And is this the first time we’ve seen the Gold-Top Les Paul? Cool lesson.
Cheers from the Land of Oz,
ChrisG
Hi Griff, maybe I missed this but does the turn use a note that is not in the scale “officially”? Since it is only a 1/2 step, is that what makes it a turn?
Yes, very cool! and yes, I did dug it.
Good advice. Thanks for the lesson Griff.
6/27/18
Great video, always so informative. Could you include the tab for the turn around. I’ll have to watch it a few times to understand that, but overall I really dig this lesson. Thanks!
Is there any other kind of string besides EB Slinks?
Cool lesson thanks Griff!
You were right on everything except the spelling. Its mordente.
Griff , this is a big help to me to add a little “pizazz ” to a riff . I have been using the trill , but this really sounds great . Thanks for this great lesson . Mike Z.
Hi,
Does anyone know what strings Griff uses on this Les Paul?
I can’t get these bends and pull-offs on my Epiphone LP
Sounds good.
Historically, Griff uses Ernie Ball Slinkys, usually .010 (EB item number 2221).
Lloyd is correct. Been using them for many years.
10s i believe
Excellent, excellent, excellent. Clear, concise and straight to the point.
Geo J