Improvisation Tools: Pentatonic
(21 Jun 02)
Five Pentatonic Patterns
1) The "Rock Hall of Fame" Patterns
With these two patterns you can nearly play all top 100 Blues and R&R licks.
(The numbers represent the fingers of your left hand.)
A Minor Pentatonic
A Minor Pentatonic
For now just remember where the roots are, and especially, on what string the lowest possible root is, e.g. the root of the first pattern is on the E string and is played with the first finger. (Second pattern - root on A string - first finger). This is very important if you have to play in a different key. If you prefer to think of the above as C major pentatonic the root for the first pattern is on the E string - fourth finger; Second pattern - root on A string - fourth finger.
2) The "Smooth" Patterns
I call them smooth because personally I like the feel of the fingerings.
A Minor Pentatonic
(Root is on D string - first finger)
A Minor Pentatonic
(Root is on E string - fourth finger)
3) The "Awkward" Pattern
I call it awkward because the fingerings are not that obvious. Either you have to master a position change or a stretch.
or
(Root is on A string - third or fourth finger)
Exploring the Patterns
Now we start actually working and researching. Record a diatonic progression (e.g. Am - F - C - G) and examine each Am pentatonic pattern on its own by playing and improvising with it. A good thing would be if you take one pattern at a time. Maybe take a week to work on one pattern and see what you come up with. Then try to apply your ideas to a different pattern. So after 5 weeks you should be pretty familiar with all five pentatonic patterns.
A list of things you can look for:
bendings / slides / hammer-ons / pull-offs / two notes at a time (double stops) / etc...
You will find out that each pattern has its own character. For instance bendings are great for the two patterns in the "Rock Hall of Fame" category, whereas they are more difficult to incorporate in the smooth patterns.
Transposing
The next very important step is to be able to transpose the already learned patterns. It would be embarrassing if we are the kings of Am and ask for the bathroom when we have to play in C#m.
A quick test:
There are two patterns that have their root on the E-string. Play them in the key of Am. Now play them in Em, Bm, Gm, Cm etc...
There are two patterns that have their root on the A-string. Play them in the key of Am, Em, Bm, etc...
There is one pattern that has its root on the D-string. Play it in Am, Em,etc...
Now record a progression that incorporates all 12 minor chords in a relaxed tempo. For each chord record 1 measures to give you enough time to think.
Example:
||: Cm | Em | Abm | Bm | Ebm | Gm | Bbm | Dm | F#m | Am | C#m | Fm :||
Let's say you start on the Cm pattern in fifth position. (This is a "smooth" pattern. The root is on the E string and is played with the fourth finger. All right, all right ! You know this already ....just wanna make sure.)
Our goal is to connect the different patterns as smoothly as possible and as close as possible to the position we started out by playing constant 8th notes.
Example:
If you can do it in 5th position take a different C pentatonic pattern and start all over. Go through all five positions.
I know it's though but this is the only way to dig into it and visualize the five different patterns.
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