Greetings fellow guitarists! Here is the 3rd installment of a series of articles on Contemporary Rock Guitar Techniques. This month we will examine the exciting technique of...

Hybrid Picking has been around for a long time as far as country guitar styles are concerned; it is only during the last few years, however, that it has gained popularity with the rock/metal guitar players, mostly through the very melodic work of rock/fusion Australian player Brett Garsed.

The main advantage of hybrid picking is that by using a combination of the pick plus multiple right-hand fingers, the player can skip strings very easily, therefore playing intervals much larger than the ones usually associated with electric rock guitar!

So, for this installment, I have decided to present the introduction from the title track to my latest instrumental rock/fusion CD - Suspension of Disbelief. The introduction is played using hybrid picking, specifically with the pick, middle and ring fingers. Instead of a humble MP3 file, here's the Video Clip for "Suspension of Disbelief" directed by Bob Katsionis

Performance Tips: Try to minimize noise and follow the picking directions to the letter! Do not forget to use a metronome!

Suggested Listening:

• Brett Garsed - Big Sky
• Brett Garsed - Quid Pro Quo
• Ioannis Anastassakis Suspension of Disbelief

Well, that's all for this month!!! Make sure you work on the example slowly at first before trying to play them fast - a little patience will pay off quickly!

Watch the video carefully to get a clear idea of what each phrase is supposed to sound like. If you have any comments on my articles, suggestions for future columns, or any kind of relevant questions, feel free to email me at info@ioannis.org.

For the latest news and updates, please check out the Myspace profile at www.myspace.com/ioannisanastassakis and my WWW site at www.ioannis.org.

Ioannis Anastassakis studied and taught at the legendary GIT in Hollywood. He has a Masters Degree in Guitar Performance and has given more than 350 guitar recitals. He has studied with many modern electric guitar legends, including Brett Garsed, John Petrucci, Steve Vai, Frank Gambale, Marty Friedman, Paul Gilbert, Joey Tafolla, Mike Stern and Scott Henderson.

Ioannis Anastassakis is sponsored by Carvin Electric Guitars, ELIXIR electric guitar strings, T-Rex effect Pedals, George L Cables, LaBella flamenco guitar strings and his instructional materials are published by Mel Bay Publications.

For a wealth of instructional materials, covering both the Electric & the Flamenco guitar, Audio & Video Samples and much, much more guitar related items, visit the Official Ioannis Anastassakis WWW Site at www.ioannis.org and the Ioannis Anastassakis Myspace profile at www.myspace.com/ioannisanastassakis.