Lick of the Day: "Off the Hook" Riff by Vinnie Moore

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The lick is from Vinnie's song "Off the Hook," which appears on his album, "To the Core." It's a funky-sounding, Jimi Hendrix-inspired riff that features strummed octaves, double-stops, pull-offs, subtle bends and fret-hand muting.

When playing through the lick's funky, syncopated rhythms, Vinnie uses a pick-hand technique called "16th-note pendulum strumming." Pendulum strumming involves maintaining a constant down-up-down-up strumming or picking motion regardless of whether or not every 16th-note rhythm is played. As you can observe in the picking prompts, any chord or note that falls on the first or third 16th note (including eighth notes) receives a downstroke, while any note falling on the second or fourth 16th note is played with an upstroke.

For rhythmic durations longer than a 16th note let the pick hand pass over the strings without touching them, effectively producing a silent "ghost" strum while the previous note(s) continues to ring.

The bends are all performed by pulling the strings in toward the palm slightly.

The tempo is 115 beats per minute, 90 for slow practice.

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• Guitar World
• Lick of the Day
• Vinnie Moore

[Tviruskillu]

I want that guitar

[ItrolledYou]

Black Betty?



[roundman3000]

Probably the best "Lick of the Day" ever!

[eddieisfiction]

@nyyguitar3387 actually thats completely hendrix style and vaughan completely took it... hendrix didnt always use this style, but vaughan always used this specific style of hendrix... thats the difference.

[RevisedTV]

@nyyguitar3387 i agree, but there both really good, so, no harm no foul :)

[nyyguitar3387]

I think that sounds a little closer to Stevie Ray Vaughan than Hendrix, but Hendrix was a big influence on SRV.

[Matthewkilb]

@RicardoDiazHimself That's just absurd. By your logic I would unable to feel any music played on the violin, because I am unable to play it. Good music can be appreciated and understood by anyone.

My argument still stands. All the players you mention are great, but in terms of musical ability and innovation, and in terms of the effect they have had on guitar playing Hendrix is in a completely different league.

[RicardoDiazHimself]

@Matthewkilb thats the thing! as a matter of fact i DO feel the music regardless of his technical level. I always say that in order to feel that kind of music you have to be able to play it or at least be at that level so you can concentrate on the music and let the technical part be just another element of the song.

i think thats the problem. I consider hendrix just like you consider vinnie: A great guitar player. the same way i consider vinnie, eric johnson, Vai, Satriani, , petrucci, etc...

[Matthewkilb]

@RicardoDiazHimself No, he isn't. He's a great guitar player. So is Vinnie Moore.

Neo-classical music is a load of pretentious rubbish, that exists solely to house the equally pretentious self-absorbed noodlings of professional musicians who have forgotten that the main purpose of music is to entertain and stimulate, not to gain the chin-stroking approval of teenage bedroom fretwankers and souless guitar techniques magazines.

It is music made by people who only exist because of guitar expos.

[RicardoDiazHimself]

@Matthewkilb No... i mean: Listen to "The Maze" song... Great melodies, progresive passages, an AWESOME funk/groove middle section, an a great keyboard solo by Tony McAlpine (You must think that Tony McAlpine is also another boring technician uh?)...

[Matthewkilb]

@RicardoDiazHimself by 'interesting' i assume you mean tedious sweep-picking, or soulless up and down the scale showing off.

[RicardoDiazHimself]

@Matthewkilb i first watched this video because i thought that vinnie was about to show us something interesting... maybe the type of harmonies or techniques that he uses... i didnt say that this lick was awesome, its kinda boring. Still vinnie IS awesome, you just need to listen to his records like "Mind's eye" or "The Maze"