Golden Age of Guitar Instrumentals

Surf Guitar Instrumentals
Today's lick employs two indispensable techniques prevalent in instrumental guitar music.  The first is known as arpeggiation.  This term originated from the word "arpeggio," an Italian word meaning to play in a harp-like manner.  On the guitar this often means playing the tones within a chord as single notes.  In this figure the guitar player (me) arpeggiates the background chords: A-G-F-E, in triad form from high to low, as a distinct melody.  The second technique involves the use of the vibrato bar (a.k.a. "tremolo bar") to produce two decorative effects.  The first effect is a subtle vocal-type vibrato created by gently rocking the bar in rhythm.  The second is an actual pitch dip.  This more dramatic effect is generated by using the vibrato bar to dive a note or chord a discrete distance and then return it to its original point.  Both colorations appeared and flourished in instrumental rock and pop music following the success of The Ventures in 1960.

Learn this lick and then practice to