Six Strings
In this section: Techniques
Techniques

String skipping

The pick jumps from one string to another, skipping the one in between without touching it. Your lines open up into wide intervals that sound bigger and less like a scale.

Notation
No symbol of its own: the tab shows the skipped strings
Hand
Picking hand
Difficulty
Intermediate
Style
Rock, metal, country, funk

Listen

e|-------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------|
G|------------7---9---7----------|
D|---7---10---------------10---7-|
A|----------5---7---5------------|
E|-5---8----------------8----5---|

What it’s for

A scale played string by string sounds like a scale: every note is the neighbor of the one before. Skip a string and the same notes come out in a different order, with wide leaps: sixths, octaves, tenths. The line opens up and sounds bigger, a bit like a piano.

Paul Gilbert made string-skipped arpeggios one of his trademarks. Wes Montgomery played his jazz solos in octaves, two notes separated by a muted string, and funk picked up those octaves for rhythm parts. In country, arpeggios that skip a string let the open strings ring like a banjo.

There are two challenges: hitting a string farther away without looking, and keeping the string you skip quiet.

How to do it

  1. Play the first note already aiming for the target string. The pick gets there in a small arc, moving just slightly away from the strings to clear the one in the middle.
  2. Keep alternate picking: one note down, the next one up, even after a skip. The rhythm stays even.
  3. Mute the skipped string. A finger of your fretting hand touches it lightly: in an octave shape, the index finger playing the low note leans slightly onto the middle string.
  4. Give your picking hand a reference point: your palm or the edge of your hand brushes the bridge. The distance between strings becomes a feel, and you no longer need to look.
  5. Start on open strings: low E, D, low E, D, in eighth notes, then A and G, D and B, G and high E.
45678E×DGBe13ab

String skipping: the octave

  1. Your index on the low E, lying slightly flat: it touches the A string and keeps it from ringing.
  2. Your ring finger two frets up, two strings higher: the same note, one octave up.

Drawn like tab: high E at the top, low E at the bottom.

String skipping has no symbol of its own: in tab, you just see the numbers jump from one line to a farther one, leaving one or two empty lines in between.

Examples

The example at the top of the page plays the A minor pentatonic in octaves, one note after the other. The A on the low E string (5th fret), then the same A an octave higher on the D string (7th fret), skipping the A string. Same thing for C, D and E, then back down.

At the intermediate level, tenths in G major: the bass note on the low E, the top note on the G string, skipping two strings at once. You go up from G to C, come back down, and both notes ring together at the end. A real piano sound.

e|-------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------|
G|---4---5---7---9---7---5---4-4-|
D|-------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------|
E|-3---5---7---8---7---5---3---3-|

At the advanced level, the A minor pentatonic in sixteenth notes. Two notes on one string, two notes two strings over, then one string back: low E, D, A, G, D, B, G, high E, and the same path back down. The notes are the ones from position 1, but the order changes everything. Strict alternate picking: D U on every string.

e|-----------------------------5-8-8-5-----------------------------|
B|---------------------5-8-----------------8-5---------------------|
G|-------------5-7---------5-7---------7-5---------7-5-------------|
D|-----5-7---------5-7-------------------------7-5---------7-5-----|
A|---------5-7-----------------------------------------7-5---------|
E|-5-8---------------------------------------------------------8-5-|

Licks

Rock. Every note skips at least one string: the melody makes wide leaps, like a voice jumping from one octave to another. A minor pentatonic, distorted tone, final vibrato on A.

Loop it in the Studio →
e|--------------------------|
B|---8---5---5--------------|
G|---------------7---5------|
D|-7---7---5-------------7~-|
A|-------------7---5--------|
E|---------------------8----|

Country. An arpeggio over G then C that skips one string forward and comes back one string, with the open strings ringing into each other. It’s the roll country and bluegrass players use, played with a pick.

Loop it in the Studio →
e|---------------3-----------0-3-|
B|-----------0-----------1-----0-|
G|-------0-----0-----0-----0---0-|
D|---0-----0-----------2---------|
A|-----2-----------3-------------|
E|-3---------------------------3-|

Funk. Octaves: two notes an octave apart, on the A and G strings. The D string in the middle is muted by your index finger: you can strum all three strings and only the octave sounds. Dead notes between the octaves, in sixteenths.

Loop it in the Studio →
e|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-9-----9---12---14-----12---9---7---9-----9---12---14-----12---9-|
D|---x-x---x----x----x-x----x---x---x---x-x---x----x----x-x----x---|
A|-7-----7---10---12-----10---7---5---7-----7---10---12-----10---7-|
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------|

Practice routine

Metronome at 60 bpm, two notes per click (eighth notes), alternate picking.

  • Open strings first: low E and D, then A and G, D and B, G and high E, one minute each;
  • the example at the top of the page at 60 bpm, then at 80 bpm;
  • the advanced example at 50 bpm, four notes per click, aiming for 100 bpm.

Go up 5 bpm after every clean minute. A mistake is a missed note, but also the middle string ringing: listen for it.

Common mistakes

The middle string rings? Either the pick catches it on the way, or it vibrates on its own. Move the pick in an arc, a little farther from the strings, and mute the skipped string with a finger of your fretting hand.

Missing the target string? Your picking hand is floating with no reference. Keep the edge of your hand lightly touching the bridge, and practice the jump on open strings until you can do it with your eyes closed.

The rhythm stumbles at every skip? The pick leaves too late. It should head for the target string right after the previous note: you prepare the jump while the note is still ringing.

Notes at different volumes? People often hit the far string harder, afraid to miss it. Play slowly and listen: every note at the same level.

Variations

Octaves. Both notes played together, with the middle string muted: you can strum hard and only one note sounds, doubled at the octave. The sound of Wes Montgomery’s jazz and of countless funk rhythm parts.

Skipped arpeggios. A three-note arpeggio where each string is separated from the next by a skipped string, often with a hammer-on or pull-off on each string. The chord tones spread out over two octaves.

With your fingers. With hybrid picking or fingerpicking, each finger keeps its own string: skipping becomes much easier, and both notes can ring together.

Acoustic or electric

On a distorted electric, the skipped string starts ringing at the slightest chance: fretting-hand muting is a must. Octaves sound great there, distortion makes them thick and singing.

On an acoustic, the strings ring for a long time. In a country arpeggio, that’s the point: the notes blend like on a banjo. In a fast line, mute more so each note stays clean.

Going further