Rory Gallagher is the guitar player's guitar player. Though held in legendary status by so many, his name is not one that you often find at the sharp end of the countless “best guitarists of all time” lists. Despite his great success, he still remains a relatively underrated gem in the world of blues-rock.
Rory's dynamic playing style includes elements of folk, classic rock, blues and even Celtic music thrown in for good measure. Inside this unique melting pot of styles there are many things to learn and add to your own playing to supercharge your existing vocabulary.
The licks in this lesson are not direct copies of anything Rory played, but overarching concepts and approaches that he employed and that you can use as building blocks in your own style.
Hybrid picking
Our first example is a country-inspired idea, but still within the hard blues style that Rory Gallagher's ear was so acutely attuned to. The lick uses an open string as a pedal tone plus a pull-off after each fretted note.
The open fourth string is played with the pick and the fretted notes on the third string are played with the middle finger of the picking hand – a technique known as hybrid picking.
It's an approach to picking that can be used in many different ways. Here, your main aim is to get your picking finger under the string to really give it some snap. Once each fretted note sounds, pull off to an open third string G note.
Double-stop bends and melodic lines
Rory's style is highly melodic and he'd often use double-stops to thicken up his sound and create pedal-steel sounding licks. It's a great way to create memorable hooks and passages and take your playing beyond basic pentatonics.
The double-stop idea shown in the video shares similarities to the intro from Rory's classic track Bad Penny, and a section of the solo in Shadow Play. We're in the key of D minor here, using notes from the D natural minor scale.
The lick starts with an ascending hammer-on phrase, before going into the double-stops. For these, place your fourth finger on the 13th fret of the second string and bend the third string – but only the third – as both strings ring out. Our lick ends with a simple trill between the 9th and 10th frets of the third string before landing back on the root note at the 12th fret, fourth string.
Celtic-style phrasing
Despite Rory's own misgivings about his ability to play traditional Irish jigs and reels, there's a strong Celtic influence in his playing. This can also be heard in the styles of players like Gary Moore, who was heavily influenced by Gallagher, and Eric Bell of Thin Lizzy.
Celtic phrasing, in this example, combines shapes 1 and 2 of the A minor pentatonic scale with the natural minor scale with an added major 6th note for a momentary pull towards a major feel in certain passages.
There is a strong triplet feel to this style of phrasing. When you are starting out, get used to playing in triplet groupings then try out short trill flurries or extended notes.
