Monday, February 21, 2011

Soloing and the Pentatonic Scale

If you have gotten the basics of guitar playing down, then I'm sure you'd like to learn something about leadwork. Now, before you go off and try to learn all those fancy harmonics and modes, try to start with the simplest scale; the Pentatonic. PENTAtonic, because it is actually only made of five different notes. Easy, huh? It's very prominent in classic hard rock, bluesy rock (although the Pentatonic Blues Scale is better for that), and is great for creating simple riffs and solos.

Let's start with an easy one: the E Minor Pentatonic (E G A B D). Here is the simple box form for it:

e|O|-|-|X|
B|X|-|X|-|
G|X|-|X|-|
D|X|-|O|-|
A|X|-|X|-|
E|O|-|-|X|

From left to right, that would be Open, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd frets. The circles are the root note (E). The X's are the other notes in the scale. Now, you may be thinking "Five notes? No, that's twelve!". In a way, you're right. But no; it is five notes. When you

written by msu_man04
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/for_beginners/easy_guide_to_the_minor_pentatonic_scale.html


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