Patterns and scales

This time I only have the Practical part and will show you patterns and scales of the Pentatonic and Aeolian mode that can be used in your soloing. Why these scales? By combining them you can give your solos a melodic tension.

Here is the scale of the Pentatonic mode (minor scale):

and the Aeolian mode (also called natural minor scale, in fact a major scale):

If you look at the scales you might notice that the Pentatonic scale is a simplified Aeolian.

I will give a few examples of licks that are based on these scales but let me give a few examples of the pick and vibrato technique that was mentioned in the previous articles first:

 

(From every pattern a sound sample is available that you hear when you click on the pattern image. The examples are played slowly or moderate. Start like this and then try to speed up a bit. At the bottom of the patterns you see the direction of picking and the fingering)

This example let you practice the alternate picking with three fingers on one string (triplets) Apply vibrato to the last note:


P10

Do this exercise on other strings and with other fingers as well...be creative.

Here's a pattern that you can use to develop alternate picking further. Go from string to string. Speeding up after a while will give you the ability to play these kind of licks in fast soloing.


P12

Okay, moving on with the Pentatonic and Aeolian scales in E. The red notes are the basic E notes. Locate the scales on your fret board.

Here's the pentatonic mode with 2 examples:

     

Here are 2 examples of the Aeolian mode:

    

What I often do is combining parts of the Pentatonic and Aeolian mode to give a melodic sound and this will pull you out of the typical blues scales and lead you to rock licks.

Here is an example where I start with a Pentatonic lick and continue with the Aeolian mode:


P11

Here another one:


P13

Try to be creative with the scales and patterns and find out which melody you like and want to practice and play. The best way is to learn some patterns by heart so you have these ready when soloing. The rest of the solo should be more intuitive and improvised in a way that you can glue the patterns and licks together to become a melodic solo.

At last I would like to say that the only way to develop is to learn new stuff and practice this. A lot of just playing helps too but, as I experience myself, most of the time you will play licks that you already know and control. The challenge is to really sit and focus on things you don't know yet, which is hard, but rewarding in the end.