Pentatonic Soloing for Guitar

Intro

Hey all out there in guitarland! It’s good to have you back and even better to be back; after a very busy period I can finally return to Guitar International and devote some real time to you guys. In this lesson we’ll take what we have learned from our previous lessons on pentatonic scale visualisation and develop it further.

So far we’ve used playing over non diatonic progressions to improve the visualisation of the scale in all five positions. Today we’ll be using various pentatonic scales found within a full seven note scale.

Levi Clay in Action

Theory Background: The Dorian Mode

The dorian scale is the second mode of the major scale, so in G major we have:

G,A,B,C,D,E,F#,G

The dorian mode is built from the second degree of the scale, so in the key of G we have A dorian:

A,B,C,D,E,F#,G,A

The interval formula for this scale is:

R,2,b3,4,5,6,b7

The A minor pentatonic scale (R,b3,4,5,b7) is

A,C,D,E,G

Dorian and Pentatonic Relationships

Now we all know from our lessons here that the notes of A minor pentatonic will fit over an Am7 chord, but A dorian also contains two other pentatonic scales within its makeup.

E minor (E,G,A,B,D) – Pentatonic up a 5th

B minor (B,D,E,F#,A) – Pentatonic up a 2nd

We need to understand how these two new scales will affect the chord we’re playing over. In order to do that, you need to learn the intervals created by each scale, and therefore the harmony you will implying.

Eminor(over A) – (A),E,G,A,B,D – (R),b3,b7,R,9,11 = Am11

Bminor(over A) – (A),B,D,E,F#,A – (R),9,11,5,13,R = A13sus

Substituting E minor over Am7 is very easy to do as the resulting sound (Am11) only adds the 9 to the mix, and experimentation will prove that this is a very sweet note to add.

Using B minor is a little harder, as the A13sus sound contains all of the upper extensions but none of our guide tones (b3,b7) so these ideas need to be used more sparingly and resolved effectively.

Diagrams

Our first set of diagrams form a great exercise in the same vein as the last 3 lessons. We take position one in A minor, then visualise the pentatonic up a 5^th (Em position 3) and the pentatonic up a 2^nd (Bm position 5).

The key to this exercise is to view the notes of the substituted scale in relation to the underlying root, not the root of the substitution (as in the diagrams).

Licks

Here is our first example lick. For the first bar I play a simple Am pentatonic phrase, then for harmonic interest I rip through a speedy Em pentatonic line in bar 2, resolving to Am. Note the use of a chromatic approach note (1^st note in bar 2). Don’t be afraid to embellish lines with simple neighbour note chromaticism.

As before, in the second lick I open with a simple Am phrase, this is the best way to set up a complicated lick as it clearly states the key centre. From there I move through an Em7 arpeggio (contained within Em pentatonic) then I resolve this to Am position 2. I slide this up to Am position 4 before teasing some Bm pentatonic (also position 4) and resolving to an A.

The third line is a little more complex, moving freely between the 3 scales all in close proximity. After an introductory Am phrase I move quickly to Bm position 5 and slide this up to position 1, this gives us a very open sound as we aren’t hitting the b3rd of the chord at all (one of the guide tones).

The Am line I play (in position 2)includes some chromatic passing tones, another common “connect the dots” approach common in fusion music. I then take the same idea and move it down to Em (position 4) and let the chromaticism lead me into the open sounding Bm pentatonic. To resolve the tension efficiently I target the b3rd (C) of our underlying Am7 chord

In the opening phrase of lick 4, I rest on the 6^th (a key dorian note), the idea being that I sustain a consonant note that isn’t a chord tone, then after a flurry of notes I finally give the audience the chord tone they expect.

As before the pentatonic substitution line moves rapidly between the scales, we do this so the listener’s ear doesn’t take one of your substitutions as the new key centre.