Turbocharge your Pentatonics!

Want your Pentatonic scales sounding speedy and impressive? Using all five CAGED shapes Richard Barrett shows you how to play faster extended runs across the fretboard!

Patterns designed to develop fast playing are often arranged in Major or Minor scale patterns. But while useful as exercises, these patterns can seem difficult (not to mention uninteresting) to integrate into your playing as part of a useable musical vocabulary. Unlike the more familiar sound of the Major and Minor Pentatonic scales, which somehow seem a bit more ready to use ‘out of the box’.

While there’s no substitute for hard work in these matters, there is also no need to make life intentionally difficult – so this feature is designed to methodically put some of those scale type runs and licks under your fingertips in a more user-friendly context, with the added bonus of being based around a scale pattern most of us are comfortable with. Just to clarify, all the scales and patterns used are shown in full, so there’s no need for any prior knowledge of the Major or Minor Pentatonic scales; although most of us will have learned a few patterns and licks derived from these already, even if unaware their ‘formal’ names.

All the examples are derived exclusively from the five Major and Minor Pentatonic

although there’s no real shortcut to dexterity, you’ll be delighted at how quickly the fingers resPond to Patient, rePetitive Practice

shapes – even though it may not look that way at first glance. As you will notice, the Major and Minor shapes cover much of the same ground. In fact, there are actually only five different shapes in total that allow us to ‘map’ the whole fretboard.

The all-important speed part of the equation is another matter. Tapping and legato licks aside, fast licks are usually generated by playing repeated groups of notes across two or three strings. Heavy emphasis on ‘repeated’ here, though it’s technically not impossible to skip through octaves without repeating a note, it would be highly unusual and surprisingly ineffective: the run would be over before you had a chance to blink!

Some of the examples also integrate two or more positions, either by stretching between them, or rapidly shifting across the distinct positions, either up or down. In these cases, the best way to acquire the necessary skills is to walk your fingers through it slowly and preferably to a slow click (or drum loop) until it becomes a conditioned reflex and they’re almost putting themselves in the right places. A mistake many players make is to expect the fingers to instantly obey just because the brain knows what to do. The fingers can be like an over-helpful friend who doesn’t wait for you to finish explaining what you want before getting to work.

So be patient. You may find that playing patterns like these throws up other issues, like pick angle, fretting-hand position, or even forgetting to breathe (much more common than you might think; and, while you’re at it, relax those shoulders!). In each case, regard this as a valuable lesson in the process of solving any technique problems that stand in your way. Although there’s no short cut to achieving this kind of dexterity, you will be surprised and delighted how quickly the fingers respond to a bit of patient, repetitive practice!