Introduction and the five patterns
Yawwwwnnnnn.... I KNOW I have talked about the pentatonic scale already in my two articles about the stretch pentatonic. And I KNOW a lot of people think that the pentatonic scale is a "beginners scale", suitable for your typical good ol' blues-licks, but not interesting if ya wanna shred...
Well, lemme see if I can show you some licks that might change your mind !
Cuz: Even if you don't use the pentatonic scale in the 3NotePerString - patterns, you can create some cool licks with it, and hopefully I'll be able to show you a few licks you might like and use in your own playing.
A lot of "shred"-guys use the pentatonic scale just as much as some others like the natural minor or harmonic minor scale. It just isn't always easy to tell...
Pay close attention to the playing of Greg Howe, Paul Gilbert, Todd Duane or Greg Howe... you will notice that they actually use the scale a lot, and it never sounds like "oh, there he goes with that same ol' blues licks again!"
OK, I showed you the 3NPS-pentatonic patterns already - in the STRETCH IT and the STRETCH SOME MORE articles. Here are the regular, basic pentatonic patterns. I guess you are familiar with at least one or two of those, cuz those usually are the first patterns most players learn. (You should be familiar with pattern No.3, it's like a "classic"... )
I put the pentatonic patterns (right side) next to the regular five major patterns (left side), so you can see where the pentatonic patterns are derived from. (I guess I don't have to mention that, if you take away the fourth and seventh of the major scale, you get the pentatonic, so if you i.e. have the C Major Scale (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C) and you take away the fourth and seventh (F and B), you get the C Major Pentatonic.
I marked the root red every time it occurs in the patterns. So for example if you take pattern 3 and you wanna use it in the key of C Major, you move it so the lowest note on the low E-String is located at the 5th fret (A). As seen in the pattern, the root occurs at the second note on the low E-String... well, let's see... the lowest note is A, 5th fret, low E-String. Three frets above that we have: C. Right.
OK, you can position all those patterns like that, by locating the C and positioning the patterns based on that. That way, you can kinda "link them together", and you can cover the whole fretboard. Therefore, once you get used to it, you can solo all over the fretboard in every key. You just have to position those patterns appropiately.
Now, the reason why the p.s. (pentatonic scale) has that "goody ol' shoes"-image is because a lot of players tend to fall into the same old "either go up and down the scale or play the same ol' blues licks over and over again"-trap. I have to admit this happens kinda easily because of the "character" of the scale (2 notes per string, and a rather... harmless sound because of the lack of fourths and sevenths).
Licks, Licks, Licks !
But let's see how we can create some cool, unsual sounds and "shred" using the pentatonic scale. Our first example is based on a simple exercise I was taught at the GIT... playing through the scale skipping notes, playing fourths.
Look at the TAB:
We're in the key of A Minor / C Major, using pattern 3... the minor pentatonic goes: A-C-D-E-G-A
If you look at the notes in the lick, we're playing A-D-C-E-D-G etc... so we're skipping one interval and then start over on the one we skipped, etc.
If you'd number the scale degrees ( 1-2-3-4-5 ), our sequence would be 1-3-2-4-3-5-4-6 etc. I guess it's easier to understand if you grab your guitar and play the lick. So do so NOW! By the way, this one makes for a neat exercise too!
The next lick is the descending version of the first lick.
If you practise these two a while, you might be able to really speed it up, and you will see what a cool sound you get that way.
The next lick is similar (or shall I say identical) to one of the licks I showed you in my Greg Howe-Profile. It uses Greg's "barring technique", using the ring finger or pinkie to bar two notes at the same fret to speed up a bit. The key here is G Major... check out the lick:
If you need more details on that technique, check out my article about Greg...
The lick sounds kinda similar to our first exercise... you skip a note of the scale, therefore you kinda lose that typical pentatonic sound.
It's a bit more difficult to descend that thing... but it's possible, and here is how that goes, same key:
OK, now let's check out some other stuff. One player who really turned me on the pentatonic scale and the cool stuff you can do with it was Paul Gilbert. Here's one of his trademark licks, derived from his live-solo on Mr Big's "Live: Raw Like Sushi II" record:
This one requires some practising, but once you get used to the pattern (the first 8 note), it should be easy to use it in different keys and pentatonic patterns. Pay attention to the indicators of which note is hammered on / pulled off, and try to keep all notes at a equal volume... unless you wanna accent some notes on purpose.
Now, let's move that same sequence through the whole pattern... pattern III in the key of E Major...
Again, this is nothing but that basic 8 note-sequence moved through the pattern. Once you reach the high E-string, why dont'cha use another cool PG-lick to get down to the low-E-string again. I.e. this one:
That one is based on one of the typical sequences I showed to you in my previous articles. You go down 2 notes from the starting note (i.e. E-C#-B), then skip back to the second note (C#) and go down two from there (C#-B-G#), skip back to the B etc. Again, it might be easier to understand the sequence if you play through it, so GO AHEAD!
Paul played another cool lick right at the beginning of that aforementioned guitar solo. It uses a sequence similar to the previous one, and also is in the key of E Major. Two differences though: we use a different pattern (No.1) and we throw in the note D, which is actually not part of the scale, but adds a "bit of dirt" to the lick. Check it out:
Again, it might take a while to get used to the sequence and the stretches involved, but once you can nail it, it's fun to do that one!
Spicing it up
OK, let's get to an edited version of a typical "down the scale" lick, again in the key of E Major. This one sounds cool if you speed it up. The little difference is the minor third we're throwing in (G), which adds some bluesy sound to the lick... here's the TAB:
Based on a well-known repeating pattern, I created the next lick / exercise. This one has a typical sound as long as you go "E-C#-B-G# etc.", but once you throw in the F# it sounds a tidbit more interesting, which is our goal (isn't it?!?)
Check it out:
Time to mention another player who seems to dig the pentatonic scale quite a bit... Mr. Zakk Wylde! Here is a lick I heard him do a lot. This time, we're throwing in a note from the regular major scale (A, the fourth of our key, E Major). This has a slight country-vibe, and sounds cool if you play it fast and over and over and...
Did'cha like that one? Hope ya did!
And now, ladies and gentlemen, here's one of Zakk's trademark licks... a sequenced version of our pattern No.3 (yeah, we're still in E Major!). The sequence should become obvious once you pick up your axe and play your way through it. It sounds even better if you slightly palm-mute the strings and throw in a few of those screaming pinch harmonics like Zakk does (or use a Wah to get that "QUAAAAH" sound... if you know Zakk's playing, you know what I am talking about *grin*)
OK, one thing I really dig is using double stops with hammered on notes, used with a clean sound... the Hendrix-style playing (a la "Little Wing", "Wind Cries Mary" ...). Check out the next example... some barring involved too...
Make up your own licks based on that one... it's a cool way to get away from your typical singlenote-stuff, and it's a nice way to embellish some basic chords, just like Jimi did in "Little Wing"...
OK, here's some other stuff I was taught at the GIT... one day we were taught about some unusual runs you can do with the pentatonic scale, i.e. to cross some distance on the fretboard, to play some unusual intervals and to get from the low areas of the neck to the higher ones with a quick run. Have a look at this:
Check it out... the key is G Major. The sequence (in case you don't see it initially) is: 3 notes on the low E-string, 2 on the A-string, 3 on the D-string etc. If you do this, it'll kinda force you to move upwards on the neck, and soon you'll end up in a whole different area of the neck. This kind of sequence works really well, and once you got used to the picking (in case you've been using mainly three note per string-scales so far), you might discover that it's a cool tool for your soloing, to throw in some unusual runs...
Here's the descending versions:
I didn't include any picking- or other indicators. Feel free to figure it out yourself, and play it the way that feels best to you, whether it's all alternate picking, legato etc.
You also might wanna use some slides (you have to shift the hand anyway!), so try different ways of playing your way through those licks.
Here are two more (first ascending, then descending... D'uh) of those in A Minor:
Out Of Your System and a conclusion
Well, I hope all those licks are useful to you, and hopefully you'll discover some new sounds using the pentatonic scale. Be creative, make up your own licks, incorporating all the stuff you learned so far (position shifts, hammer-ons, pull-offs, taps etc. ). Finally, let me merge all the pentatonic stuff (2 note and 3 note per string) and some of the Greg Howe-stuff by showing you the first part of the guitar solo in my song "Out Of Your System" (to be featured on "Talking Hands")
The key is E Minor.
Here is the first bar... a really fast tapping passage using the pentatonic scale... 3 notes for the left hand, tapping some more with the right hand. Please note: I use the ring finger to tap the notes on the high E-String, and the the middle finger to tap the notes on the B-string, while I hold the pick with my index finger and thumb (so I can skip back to using it quickly). That first bar requires some big stretches from the left hand, but it sounds awesome once you speed it up... FUN !
Here is the second bar:
As you can see, I use the "Greg Howe descending a scale with tapping involved technique" to go down pattern III, ending on the E and hitting some strings to create a percussive sound...
Here's the next bar...
Same lick, this time ending on the open G-string, with a dive with the whammy bar...
Here's one of my trademarks... the stretch / 3 note per string-pentatonic, using string skips in a repeating lick with a constantly changing (tapped) top note... (I know I need to get out of the house a bit more... ). Check it out, here it comes:
Finally, I continue with some of those "Hendrix-y" double stops and a bend...
OK, just wanted to show you in what context I use some of those licks I showed you, how to merge them and how to create some neat sounds with your "good ol' pentatonic scale"...
Happy picking !
EV
ATTENTION: As discussed in the forums, I attached a Powertab-file with all the licks and exercises explained in this article. You can download it HERE. That way, you can listen to the examples via MIDI-playback, and you can slow them down (using the tempo-marker-option) to practise them along to the MIDI... If you don't have the Powertab-program yet, you can download it HERE for free