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Chicken Picking lick #1
The phrase, in D major, is structured on the pentatonic major of D. After the initial bending, we have a succession of notes played by alternating the thumb and middle finger. The two stopped notes, characteristic to Chicken Picking, make the phrase more percussive. Always remember the use of the slap for the fingers of the right hand, for this and other examples relating to Chicken Picking.


Chicken Picking lick #2
There are two tonal center that characterize this phrase. D major in the first two movements of the measure, and C major.
In the first measure we again find stops, as well as the use of the third minor and major intervals in C at the end of the measure.
In the second we will use a string jump to take advantage of the sixth intervals, played on the 1st and 3rd stings.


Chicken Picking lick #3
The initial bending between the C and D notes is maintained during the execution of the three successive notes on the first two strings, in order to then play the release from the D note to the C. The ring finger keeps the string taut from bending until the release. This phrase is developed on the chord of G major.
The next passage is found on the F chord, on the third movement of the measure, and to then return in the next measure in G, immediately followed by the E chord. Note the use of the open strings here.


Chicken Picking lick #4
Here, as in the previous example, we maintain a bending while at the same time playing other notes. In the first movement of the measure we bend the third string at the ninth fret with the middle finger. The note goes from an E to an F#, and we maintain the bending playing the two successive notes, the D on the first string and the A on the second respectively. In the second movement, we will now release the string, going from F# to E. To finish, perform an arpeggio on the two successive notes, G (second string) and C (first string). In the movement we therefore have the D chord, while in the second it is C
Starting from the end of the third movement, we will perform a series of ascending-descending slides, all in the A chord. It concludes with a double bending of the second and third strings, which respectively brings the G and B notes to A and C#.


Chicken Picking lick #5
In this example we again have the alternating slap of the thumb and middle finger on the played notes. This lick uses three chords, the A (first two movements in the first measure), the A7 (second movement) and the G (fourth movement). In the second measure we have a chromatic descent that comes back to the A chord.


In the next page you can listen to some examples of improvisational country and use the audio base to experiment with the techniques discussed here.
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