Introducing the Pentatonic Scales

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conceptinvolvesrepeatinga patternas you ascendor descendthrough :-e scale.For instance,playthe firstthree notesof the scale,then go to the =cond note of the scaleand play three notesfrom there. Go to the third ^ote of the scaleand playthree notesfrom there,etc.

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W Can you see the patternforming?

Once you haveascendedall the way througha pattern,do the samething descending.lmaginethat you havejust playedthrough a sequenceof this patternascending,and now you are descending.

CREATIVITY

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@E@ Trysequencing sixnotes.

CREATIVIry

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-e'e's one that incorporatessequencesof sixes.

An intervalis the distancebetweentwo notes. lntervalsare measuredin half steps. On the guitar, a half step is the distancefrom one fret to the next adjacentfret. For example,a perfectfourth intervalequalsfive half steps or fretson the guitar.

@Eg Once you have measuredfive half steps up from the G to find that a perfect fourthaboveis a C, you can chooseto playthe C in a more convenientlocation on the fifth string.You can measureand re-fingerany intervalin this manner.

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An interestingway to spice up a solo is to play the pentatonicpatternsin fourth intervals.You may notice that some intervalsdeviatefrom the others. For instance,the intervalBbto D, which is a major third (four half steps), appearsduring the exercisein fourths.For it to have been a fourth interval the noteswould have had to be Bbto Eb.The problemis that there is no Ef in the G Minor Pentatonicscale.The closestscaletone is D, so we substitute it for the Eb.This kind of adjustmentto staywithin the scaleis typical.

CREATIVIry

31

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Seventh Intervals

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A minorseventhequalsten halfsteps: G-F,c-Bb,D-C,etc.

Octaves Thereare twelve half steps in an octave: G-G,B-B,andC-C,etc.

CREATIVIry

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: e n d a n y n o t e t h e y h a p p e nt o b e c aying.This is okay for some notes, c-t unlessthey get lucky,they always "out3,ay a percentageof wrong or l t - t u n e " n o t e s . L e t ' se l i m i n a t et h e guessingame.

As you now know,the degreesof the . n i n o rp e n t a t o n i sc c a l ea r e 1 , b 3 ,4 , 5 , and b7.You can bend from any note in the scaleto any other note in the scale.You can alsobend to and from the 2 and 6, eventhough they are not in the minorpentatonicscale.

HALF STEP BENDS Like anythingelse, there are certainnotes that sound better than others when bent. The minor pentatonictendsto take on a bluesyqualitywhen its notesare bent. For example,you can makethesehalfstep bends: 2tob3 4 to b5* 6tob7 * The occasionaluse of the b5degree lendsa particularly bluesyqualityto the minorpentatonicscale. Hereare somehalfstep bendsin the Keyof G to practice.

BENDING

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This scalesoundsanythingbut bluesy,even when its notes are bent. Still, you can pull more emotionout of the scaleby bendingthe noteswhereyou would not be able to on most other instruments.Some of my favoritebends in this scale go irom 2 to 3, 5 to 6, and, if executed properly,1 to 2 can soundnice. Here are some bendsto practicefor the major pentatonicscale.

2to3

5to6

BENDING

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Thereare differenttypes of bends. Playinga note and bending it to another ,vitha slur(not pickingthe secondnote)is the most commontype. Youcan also bend a note before you play it, and then bring the stringdown to its naturalposition after picking.This is often called a reversebend, or a pre-bend.

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B. B. King. He'sgot the blues,so he3 got "bends," too! the Nearlyall of B. B. Kingb playing is based on Pentatonic scales.

BENDING

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ANALYSIS The first measureis a pick-uplickthat leadsinto the progression, and incorporatesthe conceptof connectingpatterns.Thisexamplebeginsin pattern #2 and slidesdown to Pattern#1. Measure3 incorporates a stringskippingconceptthat moveshorizontally up the neck. In Measure4, I havesequencedsomeof the descendingseventhintervals. Measure6 beginswith a whole step bend and continuesin a descending sequenceof a four note pattern. Measure7 containsa stringof descendingand ascendingfourthintervals. Measure8 demonstrates a halfstep bend and return. Measure10 has a whole step bend on the secondstring that is held out whileyou play a note (A)on the firststring.The bend is then releasedin the next beat. Measure11 alsodemonstrates a halfstep bend.At the end of the measure, you will find a grace note hammered-onfrom the third to fifth frets of the first string.Gracenotesare playedvery quicklyright beforethe beat. Measure12 hastwo wholestep bendsand a pull-offat the end.

SAMPLESOLOS

41

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ANALYSIS Measure1 demonstratesdescendingfour note sequences. Measure2 begins by combiningC Major PentatonicPatterns#'l and #5 on the first beat and then movesinto fourth intervals. Measure3 combinesD Major PentatonicPattern#5 with Pattern#1. M e a s u r e4 i n c o r p o r a t e sw h o l e s t e p b e n d s f r o m t h e 2 n d t o 3 r d s c a l e degreesof the G Major Pentatonicscale. Measure5, stillusinga G MajorPentatonic scale,combinesPatterns#3 and #4. Measure6 demonstratesstringskipping. Measure7 containssome descendingseventhintervals. Measure8 hasa whole step bend with a delayedreturn.

I hope that seeingthese conceptsused in an actualmusicalsituationwill help you formulate some ideas to use creativelyin your own solos. Better yet, I hope that these ideas inspireyou to come up with new concepts. Keep your eye out for other books about improvisingfrom The National GuitarWorkshopand Alfred, such as "lntroducingthe Dorian Mode" and "lntroducing MixolydianMode," the both by PeterEinhorn.

SAMPLESOLOS

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The staff is divided by verticallinescalled bar lines. The space between two bar linesis a measure.Eachmeasure(badis an equalunit of time.

D o u b l eb a r l i n e s( f

) m a r kt h e e n d o f a p i e c e .

Everypieceof musichasnumbersat the beginningthat tell us how to count thetime. Examples:

4 4

3 4

6 8

The top number representsthe number of beats or counts Per measure. T h e b o t t o m n u m b e r r e p r e s e n t st h e t y p e o f n o t e r e c e i v i n go n e c o u n t . Example:4 = quarternote 8 = eighthnote Sometimesa C is writtenin placeof 4/4 time. Thisis calledcommontime.

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X U | I . L U I E U Id 0 H S i l U 0 m l J UUTIN$lUI{OIIUN OI XIIN9 U

Hammer-onsand pull-offs are indicatedwith slur marks,just like in standard "P" for pullnotation. Our TAB alsoincludesan "H" for hammer-ons and a offs. Theseare found iust above the TAB.

Upwardbends are markedwith upwardarrows. Downwardarrowsare used to show a bend being released.A number above the arrow indicateshow far to bend (1 = a whole step, 1/2 = a half step, etc.). Rememberthat the TAB will showthe fret numberon whichyour fingershouldbe placed. The standardnotationcorresoondswith the fret shown in the TAB. In the following exampleyou will alsofind a tap [D and a slide (S and .z). Also,notice that if more than one note are playedwith one bend,they appearin parenthesesin the TAB. Some notesare actuallyrepresentedby the arrowsthemselves,as in the secondnote of the tripletin this example.

In the followingexampleyou will find severalmore symbols. The sign for vibrato (,rvv'.r',), and the signsfor picking down (Ff ) and the sign for picki n gu p ( V ) . V V I I V F I VN

|| n || -

t/ v v \/ - \/ l.l \/ -,\_/\_^_/-v

TABLATURE

47