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f,INOIVINSd UOIVIN

-^:s concept involves repeating a pattern as you ascend or descend through

:-e scale. For instance, play the f irst three notes of the scale, then go to the=cond note of the scale and play three notes from there. Go to the third^ote of the scale and play three notes from there, etc.

ffi

WCan you see the pattern forming?

I

Once you have ascended al l the way through a pattern, do the same thingdescending. lmagine that you have just played through a sequence of thispattern ascending, and now you are descending.

CREATIVITY 27

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-xample 46 Continued)

@E@Try sequencing six notes.

CREATIVIry

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-e'e's one that incorporates sequences of sixes.

An interval is the distance between two notes. lntervals are measured in halfsteps. On the guitar, a half step is the distance from one fret to the nextadjacent fret. For example, a perfect fourth interval equals five half steps orfrets on the guitar.

@EgOnce you have measured five half steps up from the G to find that a perfectfourth above is a C, you can choose to play the C in a more convenient loca-t ion on the f i f th str ing. You can measure and re-f inger any interval in thismanner.

An interesting way to spice up a solo is to play the pentatonic patterns infourth intervals. You may notice that some intervals deviate from the others.For instance, the interval Bb to D, which is a major third (four half steps),appears during the exercise in fourths. For it to have been a fourth intervalthe notes would have had to be Bb to Eb. The problem is that there is no Efin the G Minor Pentatonic scale. The closest scale tone is D, so we substi-tute it for the Eb. This kind of adjustment to stay within the scale is typical.

4 .I2 .J

CREATIVIry 31

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Seventh Intervals ls@A minor seventh equals ten half steps:

G - F , c - B b , D - C , e t c .

Octaves

There are twelve half steps in an octave:

G - G , B - B , a n d C - C , e t c .

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D E N I I I N LU

-^ s last sect ion is very impor tant .

t . ' a ^y beg inn ing p laye rs randomly:end any no te they happen to bec aying. This is okay for some notes,c-t unless they get lucky, they always3, ay a percentage of wrong or "out-l t - t une" no tes . Le t ' s e l im ina te theguessing game.

As you now know, the degrees of the.n inor pentatonic scale are 1 ,b3, 4 , 5 ,and b7. You can bend from any notescale. You can also bend to and fromin the minor pentatonic scale.

in the scale to any other note in thethe 2 and 6, even though they are not

HALF STEP BENDS

Like anything else, there are certain notes that sound better than otherswhen bent. The minor pentatonic tends to take on a bluesy quali ty when itsnotes are bent. For example, you can make these half step bends:

2 t o b 3

4 to b5*

6 t o b 7* The occasional use of the b5 degree lends a part icularly bluesy quali ty tothe minor pentatonic scale.

Here are some half step bends in the Key of G to practice.

BENDING 35

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This scale sounds anything but bluesy, even when its notes are bent. Sti l l ,you can pull more emotion out of the scale by bending the notes where youwould not be able to on most other instruments. Some of my favorite bendsin this scale go irom 2 to 3, 5 to 6, and, if executed properly, 1 to 2 cansound nice.

Here are some bends to practice for the major pentatonic scale.

2 t o 3 5 t o 6

BENDING 37

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There are different types of bends. Playing a note and bending it to another,vith a slur (not picking the second note) is the most common type.You can also bend a note before you play it, and then bring the string downto its natural position after picking. This is often called a reverse bend, or apre-bend.

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B. B. King.He's got the

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Nearly all ofB. B. Kingb

playing is basedon Pentatonic

scales.

BENDING 39

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ANALYSIS

The f irst measure is a pick-up l ick that leads into the progression, and incor-porates the concept of connecting patterns. This example begins in pattern#2 and slides down to Pattern #1 .Measure 3 incorporates a str ing skipping concept that moves horizontal ly upthe neck.

In Measure 4, I have sequenced some of the descending seventh intervals.Measure 6 begins with a whole step bend and continues in a descendingsequence of a four note pattern.Measure 7 contains a str ing of descending and ascending fourth intervals.Measure 8 demonstrates a half step bend and return.Measure 10 has a whole step bend on the second str ing that is held outwhile you play a note (A) on the f irst str ing. The bend is then released in thenext beat.

Measure 11 also demonstrates a half step bend. At the end of the measure,you will find a grace note hammered-on from the third to fifth frets of thefirst string. Grace notes are played very quickly right before the beat.Measure 12 has two whole step bends and a pull-off at the end.

SAMPLE SOLOS 41

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( l iua , l - - - - - - - - - ,D

ANALYSISMeasure 1 demonstrates descending four note sequences.Measure 2 begins by combining C Major Pentatonic Patterns #'l and #5 onthe first beat and then moves into fourth intervals.

Measure 3 combines D Major Pentatonic Pattern #5 with Pattern #1.Measure 4 incorporates whole s tep bends f rom the 2nd to 3rd scaledegrees of the G Major Pentatonic scale.Measure 5, still using a G Major Pentatonic scale, combines Patterns #3 and #4.Measure 6 demonstrates string skipping.

Measure 7 contains some descending seventh intervals.

Measure 8 has a whole step bend with a delayed return.

I hope that seeing these concepts used in an actual musical situation wil lhelp you formulate some ideas to use creatively in your own solos. Betteryet, I hope that these ideas inspire you to come up with new concepts.Keep your eye out for other books about improvising from The NationalGuitar Workshop and Alfred, such as "lntroducing the Dorian Mode" and"lntroducing the Mixolydian Mode," both by Peter Einhorn.

SAMPLE SOLOS 43

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The staff is divided by vert ical l ines called bar l ines. The space betweentwo bar l ines is a measure. Each measure (bad is an equal unit of t ime.

Double bar l ines ( f ) mark the end of a p iece.

Every piece of music has numbers at the beginning that tel l us how to countthe t ime.

Examples: 4 3 64 4 8

The top number represents the number of beats or counts Per measure.The bot tom number represents the type of note receiv ing one count .Example: 4 = quarter note 8 = eighth note

Sometimes a C is writ ten in place of 4/4 t ime. This is cal led common t ime.

A whole note

A half note

A quarter note

An eighth note

A sixteenth note

four beats

two beats

one beat

1/2beat

1/4 beat

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XU|I.LUIEUI d0HSilU0m lJ UUTIN$ lUI{OIIUN OI XIIN9 U

Hammer-ons and pull-offs are indicated with slur marks, just like in standardnotation. Our TAB also includes an "H" for hammer-ons and a "P" for pull-offs. These are found iust above the TAB.

Upward bends are marked with upward arrows. Downward arrows are usedto show a bend being released. A number above the arrow indicates howfar to bend (1 = a whole step, 1 /2 = a half step, etc.). Remember that theTAB wil l show the fret number on which your f inger should be placed. Thestandard notation corresoonds with the fret shown in the TAB. In the follow-ing example you wil l also f ind a tap [D and a sl ide (S and .z). Also, noticethat i f more than one note are played with one bend, they appear in paren-theses in the TAB. Some notes are actually represented by the arrows them-selves, as in the second note of the tr iplet in this example.

In the fol lowing example you wil l f ind several more symbols. The sign forvibrato (,rvv'.r',), and the signs for picking down (Ff ) and the sign for pick-i n g u p ( V ) .

V V I I V F I V N

|| n || - t/ v v \/ - \/ l.l \/ -,\_/\_^_/-v

TABLATURE 47