Tips
What is a pentatonic scale?
Among scales, the pentatonic is one of the oldest and most popularly used, especially in blues, rock and country. A pentatonic scale, as indicated by its name, consists of five notes. (In Greek, penta means five, and tonic means note.) There are two types of pentatonic scales: major and minor.
What is a blues scale?
A blues scale is based on a minor pentatonic scale and it consists of six notes. For instance, the C blues scale includes all five notes of the C minor pentatonic scale, C, Eb, F, G, Bb, plus one additional note, Gb. The added note is often called a blue note as the note gives a bluesy sound to the scale.
I want to play lead guitar and solo, which I have never done before. Where should I start?
First, learn scales, arpeggios, and a little bit of theory. Second, learn as many licks as possible. The best way is to listen to and imitate your favorite guitarist, as well as recordings or instruction books/tapes/videos. If you can play note-for-note along with the recording, that’d be great, but even though you can’t play it now, listening and memorizing the solos that appeal you will train your ears and mind.
Also, as soon as you’ve learned a scale or an arpeggio, start creating and playing something. Record a simple chord progression and improvise over it. It’s not only fun, but it’ll also give you an idea of what you should do next and where you want to go from there. It takes quite bit of your time so be patient and practice diligently, and you’ll get there before you know it!
How can I play fast? How can I improve my picking?
The real secret to playing fast is to practice a lot and to start really slowly, gradually building speed and a sense of time. One way to improve your picking is to work on repetitive rhythms. For example, take just portion of a scale (4~5 notes) or a lick and practice repetitively at various tempi. Play it slowly enables you to learn and play each note accurately and clearly.
Use alternate picking: upstroke followed by downstroke, or vice versa.
How can I play guitar solo and sound like a pro?
Approaches differ from one player to another, but if you have a specific player in mind, the best way to sound alike is to IMITATE the player. Spend 1-2 years listening to, copying, and studying your hero and strive to be able to play exactly like him or her. Getting notes down is only the first step. Imitate the articulation, sound, phrasing, dynamics, and everything else! Then, start altering a few things here and there to better suit your taste. For example, take one of his/her licks and change rhythms, notes, etc. Or, you can create your own solo based on his or her solo. Lastly, regularly record yourself and study your playing, or have someone listen to it and ask for their honest and straightforward opinion.
ñ TOP
I’m having trouble playing 16th and 32nd notes.
In order to play any notes, including the 16th or 32nd, you have to be able to hear it in your head first. To review, a 16th note is 1/4 of a quarter note and a 32nd note is 1/8 of a quarter note. To practice these notes, think of each click of your metronome as a quarter note and practice subdividing it into 4 or 8 equal parts. To get a feel for a 16th note, count ONE-e-&-ah, TWO-e-&-ah, THREE-e-&-ah, FOUR-e-&-ah (you can also say 1-2-3-4, 2-2-3-4, etc.) while each click falls right on ONE, TWO, THREE and FOUR. Make sure you divide each quarter note equally by 4.
If you have trouble dividing a click by 4, try this: Think of each click as one 16th note instead, and count and tap your foot every 4 clicks. You’ll be counting each quarter note while your metronome plays four 16th notes per beat. You need to be able to hear these subdivisions accurately before playing it on guitar. Once you can hear it in your head clearly, take one note and play 4 notes per quarter note slowly while counting ONE-e-&-ah, TWO-e-&-ah, etc. Alternatively, play against each click and count each quarter note 1, 2, 3, and 4 for every four 16th notes you play. The latter may be more helpful to practice subdividing a beat accurately. In the case of 32nd notes, just do the same as with 16th notes, except the subdivision will be in 8 equal parts instead of 4. For both notes, do it VERY SLOWLY at first. Don’t set your metronome too fast. After you develop a solid sense of 16th and 32nd notes, write out and play a scale or lick in both rhythms and practice repeatedly against your metronome. There is really no short-cut for practicing rhythms.
ñ TOP
Which left-hand finger tells you what position you are in?
First finger. For example, let's say your first finger naturally lies or positions at the 5th fret (with no stretching); you are said to be in the 5th position. Similarly, you are in the 7th position when your first finger is positioned at the 7th fret.
ñ TOP
I love rock, especially playing the single-note solo. Right now, I'm comfortable soloing over the 12-bar blues using a minor pentatonic scale. However, I often feel I want and need to inject more variety. Any suggestions?
As you seem to begin realizing, there are indeed many ways and approaches than only using a minor pentatonic when soloing. Although pentatonic and blues scales are most used in blues and rock, there are other tools that are used: major scale and their modes, harmonic minor, diminished, arpeggios, etc. If you haven't, first take the time to learn these other tools. Then, learn to be able to make chord changes while improvising. For instance, when the I chord is moving to IV chord, you want to be able to reflect the chord change in your solo. Likewise, you can't just stay with one scale when chords are moving from I to V or V to IV in the last half of the blues.
There are many blues and rock artists who have unique ways to create their solos. While learning to play changes, be sure to check out such guitar masters as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, George Harrison, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Brian May, Ritchie Blackmore, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc. Some of their solos are not merely blues or minor pentatonic scales--it goes a little deeper.
Also, you can get a lot of ideas by listening to other music genres, particularly jazz. Jazz artists are the masters of improvising over changes no matter how complex the chord progressions are. As you learn other scales and listen to various artists, you'll start getting many great ideas and possibilities beyond just a minor pentatonic scale.
TO SCROLL FURTHER
