The same can
be said for pentatonic scales as
for normal scales. I thought this would be a good place to introduce
you to basic pentatonic scales. Penta in Greek is five and here we have a
5 note scale. There is one small misunderstanding that most musicians have
with pentatonic scales. Any five notes within the octave is a pentatonic scale,
and not, as is generally though by a most beginners, the 5 notes of the basic
blues or modal pentatonic scale. Here we have a basic Major pentatonic scale.
This is made up by using the Root 2nd 3rd
5th 6th and of course the Octave.
Again we can use the Box principle and play from the 6th
string across the fingerboard to the 1st
string.
Later in the book we have a
chapter devoted to pentatonic scales and I think you will be amazed at the
number of pentatonic scales that there are.
This basic A major pentatonic scale covers three octaves. This
is one set of fingering starting on the A
of the sixth string and ending on the top A of
the first string. If you look at this scale you will see that it also has
another scale within its bounds. Instead of starting from the A,
start from the F# and we have an F# minor pentatonic. Below are two graphics to show how
the two scales occupy the same space.
1st A Major.
2nd is F# Minor.
There are many
more fingerings than this but this fingering shows how two scales with exactly
the same notes can be called different names. The same way as the major scale
has its cloak of many colours.
EX
3.
These pentatonic scales go
with the modes of the major scales.
Here we have
7 pentatonic scales that represent each of the 7 modes. If you examine these
scales you will see that there are three minor pentatonic scales. With a little
observation we can see the shape of these three scales are the same i.e. they
all use the same fingering. The Bmin7, C#min7 and the F#min7
have 1, 4, 1, 3, 1, 3 fingering, this in itself
must give you some idea’s for improvisation. It shows that a minor pentatonic
scale works in at least three different scalic situations, if this confuses
you stay with me and all will become clear as we proceed. For those of you
who are still in doubt about notation I have Tabbed this exercise.
Another small
misconception I will try to clear up. I used to think chords were 3 or more
notes played at the same time, well I’ve got news for you, any 2 or more notes played at the same time constitute the title of a chord. Sorry for waffling
but it’s always nice to know these little snips of musical knowledge. Also
you will notice this chord scale is made up of Major and Minor 3rds.
Here we have
2 note chords as an exercise. As you can see it is played
from the low E string to the high A on the top E string.
I have given you 1 set of fingerings for this exercise and as you might have
guessed there are many more.
EX
1
The second exercise
uses the 1st and 4th fingers to move up the neck. This can make the transition
up the neck quite smooth. Again there are many more fingerings than this,
so, as I think this is quite an easy exercise, I will leave the extra fingerings
for both of these 3rds exercises up to you.
EX 2.
As with the 3rds
this exercise will get the mind and fingers moving together. It will also
help you to develop subtle finger strength. It is this subtle strength that
we need to move over the fingerboard with speed and accuracy, do not forget
the more we practice the stronger our hands will get. I always make a comparison
with a football team. The players are our fingers and our mind is the manager.
Now if you have a lazy mind and let your players hang around and do nothing
you will soon have a very unfit and untogether team. The same goes for your
fingers, if you only practice the things you can already play then your players
are not getting the exercise they need. But if you
practice the things you find difficult and practice with dedication and an
open mind, your players will get plenty of exercise and the more exercise
they get the more strength and subtlety they acquire. This will give the mind
a lot of satisfaction and make it, and you, a better person. So give
these exercises all the attention they deserve and you will be a happier and
better guitar player.
EX
1.
As I hope you
have become aware, the chord scale is not in true 4ths all the way up the
scale. This is quite simply because if we played true
4ths all the way up the scale we would have to play notes that are outside
of the basic scale. The D and the G# in fact are a sharpened 4th or
flattened 5th interval. Intervals that have 6 semitones
between them are termed as sharpened 4th’s or flattened 5th’s intervals. I’ve
titled this exercise as 4ths because it is mainly in 4ths.
EX 2.
With the 5ths
the fingering gets a little more complicated because of the gap between the
notes. I have fingered the exercise here using all 4 fingers just to get your
fingers moving, but as we guitarists know the 5ths can be played at quite
freely just using the 1st and 3rd or 1st and 4th fingers. If you use all four fingers you will probably find licks and
phrases that you might not find using your 1st and 3rd (4th) fingers.
The exercise will make the stretch between fingers widen and therefore make
it easier at a later date to make long stretches for some of the chords you
will have to play. Again this exercise is not true 5ths, you will see the
7th step is a G# and a D.
Again this is a flat 5 interval.
EX 1
EX 2
In EX 2 we have the same approach as in EX 1, again note the flat 5 at the G# step. There are more ways to
kill a cat than strangling it, or if you like more ways to finger these exercises
than I have given you here. I have done this deliberately so you will have
to work a little to find these other fingerings. The whole point of learning
is be able to gain knowledge, and that knowledge only comes with exploration. The exploration of your instrument is the
gateway to knowledge and to yourself, after all, you will be expressing yourself
through your instrument.
EX 1
This exercise
is quite easy and will sound quite full as you play the chords. The human
ear tends to fill the gaps in the chords so there seems to be more notes in the chord than there are.
EX
2
Work out some
more fingerings for these exercises.
EX 1
Here we have
a more unusual exercise. It is not too often we hear 7ths played together
in this manner because of the dissonant sound the chords create. I think it
is very necessary for us to become accustomed to these harmonies as they can
be used to great effect in all sorts of music. Once we start to add other
notes to the bare bones of these chords we will realise how much we actually
use 7th intervals in what we play.
EX 2
EX 1
Although we have
no actual harmony in this exercise we have the bare bones of the chords. Like
the 7ths all we have to do is fill the gaps with 2nds 3rds etc.: and we have
full chords. The octave approach was used by the
great Jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, he used octaves like most players use
single lines. By practising these two exercises you will find the arm
has to move a lot more. The jumps that the hand has to make will help you
a lot with the precision of your playing.
EX 2
The 2nd exercise
will give your picking hand a good workout. If you practice this exercise
with up and down strokes you will develop good co-ordination. Once you have
mastered that you can try doing all down strokes and then all up strokes.
This exercise practised for 20 minutes every day for a week
will improve your picking by at least 50%. By the way, you can use
these picking techniques with all the other exercises. I have also given quite
complex fingering for this exercise, it will give your right hand a good workout.