EXAMPLES 1-3

The a minor Pentatonic scale isn’t the only scale that you can use over this lesson’s backing track; however, we’re going to stick to it throughout for the purposes of this lesson. The solo study features a considerable amount of lateral motion (shifting along the length of the guitar neck) and is a great way extending your ideas by providing thematic development within your solos. Finally, note that this lesson’s technical study is not supposed to represent a well-balanced solo. Instead, it is a pretty unrelenting succession of three-note-per-string a minor Pentatonic idea: so, it’s more of a technical workout than a musical piece.

We start off by employing some lateral motion up the length of the guitar neck on the fifth and sixth strings using picking and fretting-hand tapping in conjunction with fretting-hand legato. don’t be put off by the five-note groupings (quintuplets) played on the first and third beats of each bar. simply target the tap at the start of the following beat and the quintuplets should take care of themselves as long as you play them evenly.

although tagged seamlessly onto the previous phrase, this example, which comprises consecutive 1-2-3 units, should be considered as a usable and independent line in its own right. This is a good example of how fresh a common scale sequence can sound when it’s applied to a pattern that incorporates string skips.

a good example of how fresh a common scale sequence can sound when it’s applied to a pattern that incorporates string skips.