Back to Basics with Creative Pentatonics

By: Will Wallner

Will Wallner

The Pentatonic Scale is the first scale learnt by virtually every beginner guitar player in rock and metal. It’s a great scale that it is easy to use. It’s ideal to get you started playing simple solos but as you progress you may find it sounds too basic. In this lesson I want to give you some ideas on how use the Pentatonic Scale in a more creative way. I’m going to teach you a hybrid Pentatonic shape that can be used to make some very interesting sounding licks.

First of all, I want to show how I created this hybrid shape. I assume you already know the Pentatonic Scale but if you don’t here it is Fig. 1. For this lesson, all examples will be in the key of A Minor. After mastering this shape a common next step is to learn the ‘Blues Scale,’ Fig. 2. As you can see, the Blues Scale is identical to the Pentatonic Scale, except for two notes, which I circled for you see.

In fact, it’s the same note over two octaves known as a flat 5th and as our example is in A Minor the note is Eb. If the term flat 5th confuses you, that’s ok it’s not important for this lesson you understand music theory but I would suggest doing some research into intervals; it’s a very exciting subject!

Fig. 1

Figure 1 Audio

Fig. 2

Figure 2 Audio

I like to view the Blues Scale as simply a Pentatonic Scale with an extra note added in to make it more dynamic. For my hybrid shape, I need to add in two more notes to create a very unusual shape. The next note is a Minor 2nd, which when added into a regular Pentatonic looks like Fig. 3. The last note is a Major 6th, which could also be referred to as a ‘Dorian note’. Again if you don’t understand the theory, don’t worry. But I would encourage you to do some research. The Pentatonic with a Dorian note looks like Fig. 4.

Fig. 3

Figure 3 Audio

Fig. 4

Figure 4 Audio

Each scale from Fig. 2, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 could be used on its own and each would have its own unique sound. I would suggest experimenting with each scale but my lesson involves combining all three to make a hybrid scale, Fig. 5. Look at the scale and see how I use the Flat 5th on the G string, the Dorian Major 6th on the B string and the Minor 2nd on the high E. I must say this scale is not a conventional scale and should only be used in one position on the neck depending on which key you are in. Notice how conveniently the notes align on the top 3 strings, which is why I don’t bother playing the scale on the lower 3 strings.

Fig. 5

Figure 5 Audio

Now you know how I make the scale let me show you some ideas. The scale may look crazy but can make some very unusual sounding licks and can help to break out of the conventional Pentatonic which often sounds stock and basic when used by beginners. Here are ascending, descending and pedal point examples, Fig. 6, Fig. 7 and Fig. 8. Each example utilizes the symmetrical shape of the scale. The scale works best in a hard rock / heavy metal song setting and you should play around with the scale to try and come up with some cool sounding licks that can be used when improvising.

Fig. 6

Figure 6 Audio

Fig. 7

Figure 7 Audio

Fig. 8

Figure 8 Audio

I’d like to finish the lesson by playing you a guitar solo from one of my own songs. The guitar solo uses Fig. 7 played over a Phrygian chord progression.

Guitar Solo Example

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About Will Wallner

Will Wallner is hard rock guitarist from England currently living in Los Angeles. At age 24 he has worked with many influential musicians from rock and metal including Carmine Appice, Vinny Appice, Rudy Sarzo, Tony Franklin, Derek Sherinian, Brian Tichy, Jimmy Bain, Tony Carey, Bob Kulick and many more. His debut album features these musicians providing an all-star backing to Will Wallner’s original compositions. For more information please visit Will Wallner’s homepage.