Introduction
Hi and welcome to my newest column for iBreatheMusic.com. First thing Iīd like to tell you: if you do have any questions or comments regarding this or other articles, or if you just wanna discuss them with others ( not only me, but the other visitors and "advisors" of Ibreathe Music ), you can do so in the forums, too. Thatīs what theyīre there for, and itīs fun.
So anyway, this time I would like to talk about the pentatonic scale... hey... hold on ! Stay there ! Donīt dare to walk out or hit the "Back"-Button on the browser !
Well, there still is a lot of cool stuff to discover about the pentatonic. Itīs one of the first scales we learn, and unfortunately it often is one of the first scales we abandon again or consider "something to use when jamming on some blues in the wee-hours"... But there is some really cool stuff you can do with the pentatonic scale, and you can sure shred on it too... if you want to. Yes, and even without falling back on the cliché-licks we learned in the very beginning.
To be a bit more specific: I would like to introduce you to the "stretch-pentatonic" ( aka. "the three-note-per-string-pentatonic" ). In case you donīt know that one yet, well, read on, cuz Iīll show you how it works and what you can do with it.
If you DO know it, read on anyway, cuz Iīll also give away some cool licks.
Lemme tell you how I was introduced to this...
A long time ago, in a galaxy far away...
Well, I was like 15, and I was working hard on my chops. Back then, I was listening to a lot of neoclassical stuff, especially the Varney / Shrapnel-type stuff, like early Malmsteen, MacAlpine etc. So I was under the impression that the best stuff to jam on is like the minor scale, harmonic minor, sophisticated arpeggios etc. So I was practising and learning a lot of that stuff, and eventually I got bored of it. It all kinda sounded the same to me.
Fortunately, a friend of mine gave me two albums to listen to... "Electric Joy" by Richie Kotzen and Greg Howeīs debut. Well, lemme tell you, I was freaking out. There was no trace of the neoclassic-cliches on those albums, and the licks those dudes played sounded way different from what I had heard before.
That was not only due to some techniques and tricks that those guys used, or the compositions ( fusion, funk, instrumental mainstream-rock )... no, what I loved about those records was that the guys used the pentatonic scale, and used it differently than I was used to.
Instead of playing the same old blues-licks at light-speed, they played really cool runs and sequences all over the fretboard, incorporating tapping and string-skipping. The base for many of those licks was... the stretch pentatonic...
Construction and first licks
Architecture of the stretch-pentatonic
Well, itīs really easy to understand the concept of the stretch-pentatonic. The idea is to play the pentatonic scale using three notes on each string. Be aware though, that requires some wide stretches of the left hand, especially in the lower areas of the neck, so make sure you are properly warmed up before working on that.
Letīs take an example in the upper areas of the neck. To keep it simple, letīs use the E Minor-Pentatonic Scale.
E-G-A-B-D-E
Now, start at the 12th fret ( low E-String ) and play 3 notes on each string...
Hold on ! Once you get to the A at the 12th fret of the A-string, youīll notice that there is a note-repetition ( 17th fret, low E-String and 12th fret A-String ). You can use that to create some cool effects ( Iīll give you an exmple of that later ), but right now we gotta adjust to that by avoiding these repetitions. That is done by playing three notes on one string, 1 on the next, then three again, etc.
Look at example 1, the E Minor Scale, once ascending, then descending in another pattern:
One thing you should remember: there are bunches of different patterns for this scale... itīs up to you to decide how to play it, like eg. playing 3 notes on the low E-String, 1 on the A-string, 3 on the D-String etc., OR 1 on the E-String, 3 on A, 1 on D etc.
Get the idea ?
Well, you could just take a sheet of paper and draw some of the patterns based on the E-Minor Scale, using different approaches as described above...
OK, before we get to the fun part ( string skipping etc. ), I wanted to show you one example of a cool effect you can create with the note repetition I mentioned ( when playing the stretch pentatonic on two adjacent strings, three note per string ).
Here is a short example from a solo of my song "Cab To Queens". The Key is G minor, and I am playing at the 10th, 12th and 15th fret of both D- and G-String... here is the actual lick:
Hear a short MP3-Excerpt from "Cab To Queens", featuring Example 2
Fun, ainīt it ? OK, letīs quit repeating notes now, and letīs go on to the difficult ( but exciting ! ) examples...
More examples
What to do, Skipper ?
So weīre trying to avoid repeating notes. How are we gonna accomplish that ?
The most logical way would be to approach the scale in the way I described before, playing 3 notes on one string, one on the next adjacent string, then three again etc. I think this is pretty uncomfortable though ( although you should feel free to experiment with it... you will soon realize that all youīre getting is a regular pentatonic scale played in an awkward fashion ). So what are we gonna do ? Well, letīs skip strings !
Take a look at the next example:
This isnīt easy to play, cuz it incorporates some wide stretches ( remember to warm up ! ) and string-skipping ( which is a technique that is tough to master at high speeds ! ).
But what you get is a series of cool intervals: HUGE intervals. And that was what really attracted me to the stretch-pentatonic. It avoids the typical intervals we guitarists tend to use, instead we get some big interval leaps ( after all, the guitar is actually an instrument that makes leaps like that pretty easy ! ) I like the sound of the example above, itīs kinda dramatic sounding and is great to start or end a solo. BTW, Richie Kotzen used licks like that quite a bit.
Now, lets make a variation of the previous exercise and speed it up a bit !
Hereīs the next one, example no.4
This time we should pay attention to how we are playing those notes. I prefer to play this kinda stuff with a lot of hammer onīs, which also makes the string-skipping part easier. Pay attention to the picking directions, weīre using "outside picking" here.
Try this one with different patterns of the stretch pentatonic, and in different keys !
The next lick consists of two parts. Itīs in D Major. Part 1 is an ascending scale ( weīre a bit lower on the neck though, so the stretches are a bit wider and therefore harder to do ! ), the second half is the descending version, in a different pattern of the same scale.
Ascending:
Descending:
Sounds pretty good, huh ?
Take your time with those, try to incorporate them into your regular playing. I really enjoy those wide interval leaps, they add an interesting color to our lick-repertoire !
OK, now comes a REALLY tough one !!!
If you tried playing the previous example, and if you know some of Paul Gilberts licks, it might have reminded you of the scary intro of Mr. Bigīs "Colorado Bulldog" a bit.
Well, Paul used the stretch pentatonic to play that intro, and he once said that it was most likely the hardest thing he ever came up with.
So here we go, this is the intro of "Colorado Bulldog". Key is E Minor, the tempo is 140 bpm.
Gee, thatīs a tough one, huh ?
But I think it sounds really cool. Experiment with different patterns & keys as well as different fingerings and different ways to pick the notes...
Now, letīs get to the really scary stuff... ( Ha ! I thought "Colorado Bulldog" was tough enough already *grin* )
Scary stuff !
Letīs start by taking one of the previous examples ( in E Minor ) and add some tapping to it. The way to play this is:
Put your right hand over the fretboard, in the area where youīre going to tap ( in our example: 20th fret ), pick the first note, hammer on the next two, pick the first note on the B-string, hammer on the next two, tap the highest one
( 20th fret ), pull off, and keep pulling off and hammering your way down, then up again, this time tapping the A ( 22nd fret )... hereīs the lick:
Nice, huh ? That one is one I use quite a bit. It sounds really cool.
Letīs alter that lick a bit more by adding even more top notes ( the tapped ones ). This time weīre gonna tap the G, F# ( an interesting color, since F# is not a part of the Pentatonic ), G again and A.
And another variation... After ascending, we stay on the B-String and keep tapping ( with a changing "top-note" ) and hammering / pulling between B, D and E... then finally we descend again back to the D-String. Very cool effect. You can keep on playing that pattern on the B-String for even longer and go back and forth between B- and G-String in between... a real rollercoaster. Check it out:
Got enough yet ? No ?
Well, letīs get even more complicated... look at the next example:
We are using a similar pattern ( like in the previous licks ) on the D- and B-String, ascend, then descend, then weīre changing to the G- and high E-String with a similar pattern. That adds some more tension to it. You could also use this over two different chords, like i.e. playing the first half over a D Major-Chord, and the second half over a G major-Chord ( key still is E Minor )...
OK, since I started this article by talking about Greg Howe ( whom I listened to a lot, and was even an influence for me ), I wanna give away two licks to end it... one really wacky one utilizing the stretch-pentatonic, the other you could consider a little bonus... weīll get to that in a minute..
Here is Greg Howe-Lick No.1, a really wacky one. Look at it first, Iīll explain how to do it afterwards...
K, hammer on the first and second note, then hammer on the next two on the G-String. ( Using a "hammer on from nowhere" at the 7th fret ). Then tap the high B. Slide your hand up and hammer the D on the B-String with your left hand, then hammer on to the F#. Next, hammer with your left hand on the G, then the B. Tap the high E, pull off to B, to G. Hammer on to the F# ( B-String ) again with your left hand ( pinkie ), pull off to D. Tap the B on the G-String again. This will give you time to shift your hand down the neck, so you can hammer on to the E ( 9th fret ), pull off to D, hammer on to B, pull off too A... done. Repeat at will.
You really should start out VERY slowly. Get used to the shifts and the constant hammer onīs ( that might take some time ). Make sure youīre avoiding noises ( check your muting ). Then speed it up. That will definitely take some time, but is worth the effort, cuz this is a really unusual riff, a cool chopbuilder, too. Also, let this inspire you to create your own licks using the stretch pentatonics and unusual interval leaps.
Most of all, have fun !!!
OK, here is a little bonus, a definite Greg Howe-trademark. It has got nothing to do with the streth-pentatonic, but you can certainly use the approach I am gonna describe with that scale.
Greg used the following technique very often. Itīs a lick in A-Mixolydian, and you execute it like this:
Tap the highest note ( A, 17th fret, high E-String ), pull off to G, pull off to F#. Re-Tap the G, pull off to F#, pull off to E. Re-Tap the F#, pull off to E, hammer on ( left hand ) to D on the B-String. Re-Tap the E, but not on the high E-String, but at the 17th fret of the B-string. Pull off to D, to C#. Re-Tap to D etc.
It is easier than it sounds. Look here:
Itīs actually a three note-pattern and will enable you to accelerate a very typical pattern to a speed you can hardly ever reach with only picking or legato-playing. It also has a certain legato-sound to it, Greg once joked and called it "a cheap way to sound like Allan Holdsworth"
Continue the scale downwards. Also, try it with different scales ( i.e. the stretch pentatonic ). Try to incorporate it into your playing so you can swith between your "regular" playing and this kinda lick easily.
Your hands will be very close to each other at times, so get used to the concept at a slow tempo before speeding it up. Itīs a really cool lick.
Also, I recommend to tap with your middle-finger, so you can continue holding the pick with index-finger and thumb ( which makes it easy to switch from picking to this lick and back pretty fast ).
Pay attention to accuracy. Since your right hand will have to move forth and back quite a bit, you gotta make sure youīre not making those scratching noises on the lower strings with the palm of the right hand.
Once you get this to work, speed it up, try it in different areas of the neck, using different scales and keys, and incorporate it into your playing, so itīs not only a lick, but an equal part of your style...
I hope you liked this article. Of course you can make ( should ) make up your own licks and exercises. You donīt have to play this stuff at high-speed to make it sound cool, and it works in every style. So, try it...
Feel free to email me if you have any questions or, even better, post them in the iBreatheMusic.com ...