Quote:
Originally Posted by yyyk
Alright, so, I know all my major and minor pentatonics in all the positions, and that's usually what i solo with. my stuff sounds okay, but i'm really starting to get bored with playing the same sounds over and over again. I also know the major scale, and the natural minor, but i'm not really good at soloing with them yet. To improve, should I just keep practicing improv with the major or natural minor scales? or should i be trying to learn something different, and what?
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Take the A minor pentatonic scale you already know:
Code:
A minor pentatonic
|--A--|-----|-----|--C--|
|--E--|-----|-----|--G--|
|--C--|-----|--D--|-----|
|--G--|-----|--A--|-----|
|--D--|-----|--E--|-----|
|--A--|-----|-----|--C--|
|
5th fret
^ That also doubles as C Major pentatonic:
Code:
C Major pentatonic
|--A--|-----|-----|--C--|
|--E--|-----|-----|--G--|
|--C--|-----|--D--|-----|
|--G--|-----|--A--|-----|
|--D--|-----|--E--|-----|
|--A--|-----|-----|--C--|
|
8th fret
Now we'll turn the A minor pentatonic into A Aeolian
and the C Major pentatonic into C Ionian by adding the
notes B and F:
Code:
A Aeolian
|-----|--A--|-----|--B--|--C--|
|-----|--E--|--F--|-----|--G--|
|--B--|--C--|-----|--D--|-----|
|-----|--G--|-----|--A--|-----|
|-----|--D--|-----|--E--|--F--|
|-----|--A--|-----|--B--|--C--|
|
5th fret
C Ionian
|-----|--A--|-----|--B--|--C--|
|-----|--E--|--F--|-----|--G--|
|--B--|--C--|-----|--D--|-----|
|-----|--G--|-----|--A--|-----|
|-----|--D--|-----|--E--|--F--|
|-----|--A--|-----|--B--|--C--|
|
8th fret
Now we are going to go to the D minor pentatonic at the 10th fret
and we're gonna do the same thing there by adding the two missing
notes that will give us a pattern for D Dorian and F Lydian.
Code:
D minor pentatonic
|--D--|-----|-----|--F--|
|--A--|-----|-----|--C--|
|--F--|-----|--G--|-----|
|--C--|-----|--D--|-----|
|--G--|-----|--A--|-----|
|--D--|-----|-----|--F--|
|
10th fret
D Dorian
|-----|--D--|-----|--E--|--F--|
|-----|--A--|-----|--B--|--C--|
|--E--|--F--|-----|--G--|-----|
|--B--|--C--|-----|--D--|-----|
|-----|--G--|-----|--A--|-----|
|-----|--D--|-----|--E--|--F--|
|
10th fret
F Lydian
|-----|--D--|-----|--E--|--F--|
|-----|--A--|-----|--B--|--C--|
|--E--|--F--|-----|--G--|-----|
|--B--|--C--|-----|--D--|-----|
|-----|--G--|-----|--A--|-----|
|-----|--D--|-----|--E--|--F--|
|
13th fret
And now we are going to do the same thing with
the E minor pentatonic at the 12th fret to get
E Phrygian and G Mixolydian.
Code:
E minor pentatonic
|--E--|-----|-----|--G--|
|--B--|-----|-----|--D--|
|--G--|-----|--A--|-----|
|--D--|-----|--E--|-----|
|--A--|-----|--B--|-----|
|--E--|-----|-----|--G--|
|
12th fret
E Phrygian
|--E--|--F--|-----|--G--|
|--B--|--C--|-----|--D--|
|--G--|-----|--A--|-----|
|--D--|-----|--E--|--F--|
|--A--|-----|--B--|--C--|
|--E--|--F--|-----|--G--|
|
12th fret
G Mixolydian
|--E--|--F--|-----|--G--|
|--B--|--C--|-----|--D--|
|--G--|-----|--A--|-----|
|--D--|-----|--E--|--F--|
|--A--|-----|--B--|--C--|
|--E--|--F--|-----|--G--|
|
15th fret
Okay so the formula for Major Pentatonic is 1,2,3,5,6
and the formula for minor pentatonic is 1,b3,4,5,b7.
So for minor modes you would have all of the chord tones (1,b3,5,b7)
within the minor pentatonic. So sticking close to the chord tones is as
simple as playing the minor pentatonic licks you know and love. Then
if you are getting tired of those and running out of ideas then go for the full
mode. And that works in the reverse as well. If you are getting tired of
trying to come up with stuff in the mode, then you can revert back to
pentatonic licks. The idea is to mix it up.
The Major Pentatonic has the 1,3,5 chord tones, but not the 7.
So Pentatonic is still gonna help you to stick pretty close to the
chord tones. Just sprinkle in the modal notes to change the sound
every once in awhile to break out of the pentatonic boredom.
Too much of anything probably isn't gonna sound good so you've
got to mix things up. For instance it's easy to bend strings too often.
Sometimes you just want to walk slowly. Simple things "can" sound
better.Fast stuff usually sounds more impressive if you play something
slower first. Slower walking types of ideas are usually a little more
meaningful since you probably took more time hearing them as melody
and less time thinking of them as fast technical tricks.
It's important to play off of contrast...fast/slow...chords/single notes,etc.
>
For starters you could even just try adding the modal notes
on just the highest two strings only. That way you're still pretty
much in the pentatonic but you can begin to experiment with
the two extra notes:
A Aeolian or C Ionian
|--A--|-----|--B--|--C--|
|--E--|--F--|-----|--G--|
|--
C--|-----|--
D--|-----|
|--
G--|-----|--
A--|-----|
|--
D--|-----|--
E--|-----|
|--
A--|-----|-----|--
C--|
.....|
5th fret
D Dorian or F Lydian
|--D--|-----|--E--|--F--|
|--A--|-----|--B--|--C--|
|--
F--|-----|--
G--|-----|
|--
C--|-----|--
D--|-----|
|--
G--|-----|--
A--|-----|
|--
D--|-----|-----|--
F--|
.....|
10th fret
E Phrygian or G Mixolydian
|--E--|--F--|-----|--G--|
|--B--|--C--|-----|--D--|
|--
G--|-----|--
A--|-----|
|--
D--|-----|--
E--|-----|
|--
A--|-----|--
B--|-----|
|--
E--|-----|-----|--
G--|
.....|
12th fret
Linear Mode
