Some of you might be familiar with the ideas presented here but even if you do, hopefully this might give you a different spin on things. And for those of you new to these concepts, remember not to study the examples just as memorized licks, but try to incorporate the ideas behind them into your playing. For best results, try mutating, expanding and experimenting with these approaches and mainly don't forget to have fun with it.
Ok, now lets get things rolling.
Anyone who has tackled speed picking before, surely ran across (literally...) 3 note per string patterns. These have proven to be very comfortable and efficient for both the fretting hand and the picking hand. These patterns are usually applied to diatonic scales and are widely used among technically conscious players. Well, great results can be achieved by implementing the 3 note per string concept onto pentatonic scales, blues scales and even arpeggios (look for that in another lesson). This approach can yield very impressive and ear-gratifying results but demands high technical dexterity from your fretting hand.
I'm intentionally going to tab as little as possible, and will try to convey the ideas behind each of the examples, so it's up to you to sit down and figure out the rest by yourselves. By this I mean I'll show you the examples at one position, and you'll have to implement it on the entire neck, thus, on other positions.
The diagram illustrates the forms of the of the 3 note per string minor pentatonic scale. They consist of your normal 2 note per string pentatonic positions, but with an added high note on each string, which is the next consecutive note to the 2 existing ones according to the minor pentatonic scale ( 1, b3, 4, 5, b7 ). You can also see these positions as two normal pentatonic positions combined (merged).
Now, you probably already noticed (hopefully...) that in this position, the last (highest) note on each string is the same note as the first (lowest) one on the succeeding string. There are (at least) three things we can do about this, all of which are fun and great sounding. You pick your favorites.
We can :
a) Avoid repeating the note by using string-skipping or quick position leaps.
b) Embrace the effect created by the repeating notes and use it to get interesting new sounds.
c) My personal favorite, and the least commonly used Substituting one of the repeating
notes with another scalar or non-scalar note.
Now, as I've said, I will give you examples of some of the stuff you can do, and you should try to use these ideas as a spring-board for your own stuff. Practice these slowly until your fingers get used to this method and then you can really burn. Plus, I will be playing all of the examples legato, but they work great with picking as well, so try to master both.
Ex1:
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Example 1 is the string skipping approach, played as sextuplets. This specific position uses the root, the flat 3rd, the 4th and the 7th and therefore has a very strong pentatonic sound.
Ex2:
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Example 2 uses quick position leaps and creates a linear pentatonic scale, with no repeating or missing notes (unlike ex.1, where the 5th isn't played). This, in my opinion, is the fastest possible way to play a straight pentatonic scale. The only catch is the speed in which the fretting hand needs to shift positions for the sequence to sound smooth and fluent.
Ex3:
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Example 3a is a fairly common pentatonic lick you might already know and use. Example 3b demonstrates how to use the new positions to add variation and an exciting wide-interval sound to that basic lick.
Ex4:
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Example 4 is about using and even emphasizing the sound of the repeating notes. Ex.4a is just playing the positions regularly, and therefore repeating a note on each string cross.
Ex.4b uses a "1234 2345 3456 4567..." pattern (or whatever you want to call it). This pattern, when used in conjuction with these positions, creates a cool stuttering sort of effect (try applying this pattern with string skipping as well).
Ex5:
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In example 5, I substitute one of the repeating notes with a different note. Ex.5a subtitutes the second of the repeating 4th with a flat 5, creating a real bluesy sound. Ex.5b does the same, but the first note is subsituted with the flat 5, and creates a non-linear run.
Ex.5c replaces the first of the repeating 7th with the 6th and creates a dorian sounding phrase.
Note that these new altered positions should be treated as a scale, not a run. By this I mean that you shouldn't just ascend and decend it. You should apply all sorts of patterns and rythmical groupings to it.
Well, that's it! Hope you learned something new and enjoyed yourselves. Look forward for a lesson about applying these concepts onto arppegios very soon. Good luck.
