Soloing

1. Soloing pattern 
2. Scales in soloing
3. Harmonizing
4. Soloing help : Arpeggios
    

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CAGED Chords In Use

Making your guitar solos sound professional
 The Caged system isn’t just about relating chord patterns to the major scale. In fact as far as I’m concerned it’s the least important. A good guitar solo is more often centred around chord tones rather than scales. Sure, scales are an important part of it but the difference between pro and amateur guitar lead breaks mostly boil down to three things. Amateur guitar solos are most often a combination of the following three things.

1. Poor guitar technique
2. Over use of scale patterns
3. Un-awareness of the importance of the underlying chords

The first one isn’t so hard to grasp, most beginner guitarists know their technique might need some work and they usually practice harder to improve it. The other two are a bit more difficult and they are a related problem. The beginner and even some intermediate guitarists aren’t necessarily bad at playing lead guitar, they just have limited knowledge of how to practice and improve their guitar solos to sound professional. This is one of the bigger problems of self taught guitarists, the books they use don’t really help much so it’s hardly a surprise.
Many magazines and guitar methods will tell you all about scales and maybe even explain the CAGED guitar system but unfortunately not in nearly enough detail as they should. The heart of the CAGED method is about knowing how to find chords as well as chord tones anywhere on the fretboard. This is more important than just relating five chord shapes to five major scale shapes.
Another problem with they common explanations of the CAGED system is that it is always related to major chords only. This is a mistake. Yes the five common chords make are the basis of the system but shouldn’t be limited to the five major chords (triads) only. It’s just as important and not even much more difficult to use this same method to know the minor chords and all the seventh variations.
It takes time to learn them all but the good news is it gets easier as you go on. At first it can sound like to much to learn but it really isn’t that bad. Once you get going there are so many similarities between the shapes that it comes together a lot quicker than you might expect at first. A few months regular, focused practice and it’s quite possible for most guitarists to have put the CAGED system to very good use for all the chord variations and anywhere on the guitar neck.
The best way to make use of this method is to simply start using it straight away, but do so in small stages so that you build your skill slowly. Try to do it all at once and you will probably get nowhere.
One of the first things you should practice is to play the chords to a variety of chord progressions but try to stay as close to one position on the guitar neck as possible. Learn this well and you will open up a whole new world with your guitar solos. Use the practicing ideas on this website to build your CAGED knowledge and your solos will improve by a huge amount. There will be quite a lot of practice ideas coming so watch out and start improving your guitar playing now.

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4. Soloing help : Arpeggios

Today's lesson revolves around an oft misunderstood entity known as... the arpeggio. The first quesion that pops into everyone's mind at the mention of this enigmatic term is, "What's an arpeggio?" The fact that it sounds like a type of pasta does not diminish in the least its tremendous usefullness in the world of soloing.

What's an arpeggio?
An arpeggio is essentially a chord that is played one note at a time. Simple as that. See, this isn't so tough. If we analyze this to the nth degree we can say that a strum is also a chord played one note at a time... just with very little time between each note. My response to this is that if the time interval between the notes does not fall to within a quantized amount (16th note, 32nd note, 64th note etc) then we call it a strum. You can differ on that point if you like... but let's continue.

Let's start with some examples of easy arpeggios to get a better idea of what one is. Here are a few in TAB form:

   D major
E--2-------
B----3-----
G------2---
D--------0-
A----------
E----------

   A minor
E--0----------
B----1--------
G------2------
D--------2----
A----------0--
E-------------

   Bm7
E--2---------
B----3-------
G------2-----
D--------4---
A----------2-
E------------

   E major
E---------4-
B-------5---
G-----4-----
D---6-------
A-7---------
E-----------

   Em7/11 (I didn't say they had to difficult)
E-----------0--
B---------0----
G-------0------
D-----0--------
A---0----------
E-0------------

   Am13
E-------------7-
B---------5-6---
G-------5-------
D-----5---------
A---5-----------
E-5-------------


The current shredding movement has made the use of arpeggios seem a daunting task. What with full 6 and 7 note arpeggios played with a
single sweep at blazing speed. But we needn't think of arpeggios in these terms. Arpeggios can be played slowly and deliberately to make a wonderful statement and outline the underlying chords. Arpeggios can also be just a few notes. A simple triad arpeggiated during a solo can be most effective and can really help soloists get away from the diatonic or pentatonic scale runs. Compare two descending runs: Fast descending pentatonic run (triplets over eighth notes)

   Am                                                E
   1     +     2     +     3     +     4     +       1
E--8-5---5-----------------------------------------]---
B------8---8-5-8-5---5-----------------------------]---
G------------------7---7-5-7-5---5-----------------]---
D------------------------------7---7-5-7-5---5-----]---
A------------------------------------------7---7-5-]-7-
E--------------------------------------------------]---

Apeggiated Chords

   Am                Am7         Amsus4        E
    1    2     +     3     +     4     +       1
E---8----8--5--------------------------------]----
B--------------5-----8--5--------------------]----
G-----------------5--------5-----7--5--------]----
D-----------------------------7--------7-----]----
A-----------------------------------------5--]-7--
E--------------------------------------------]----
   C     C  A  E  C  G  E  C  A  D  C  A  D    E


Now both these examples are totally useful. Each starts high on the third of the scale (C) and ends on the fifth (E). The first one has been heard in a thousand tunes and is in every blues/rock players repertoire. It makes a statement of speed and destination... "I'm up, and I'm showing you how fast I can get down... "

The second example uses an arpeggiated A minor chord with a few variations. It is played more slowly so that the sound of the underlying A minor chord may be heard, and therefore complimented. Notice how an arpeggio is just a scale with some of the notes missing? Hey... good for you. Just like a chord is made up of selected notes from the scale (Root, third, fifth, seventh etc... ) So an arpeggio will just be selected notes from a scale too.

In fact... look at the example of the arpeggio for the Am13 chord above. Can you see the scale for that chord? That's right... it's:

A--B--C--D---E--F---G
r--9--3--11--5--13--7
  (2)   (4)     (6)  


remember that 9=2, 11=4 & 13=6.

So just playing an A minor scale is arpeggiating an Am13 chord! Let's look at a few more arpeggios. An obvious arpeggio sequence would be the opening chords to Stairway to Heaven. We all know it but I'll write it out anyway for example (Actually I stole from the net this morning).

  Am      *Am       C       Bm7       Fmaj7
E-------5-7-----7-|-8-----8-2-----2-|-0---------0-----|-----------------|
B-----5-----5-----|---5-------3-----|---1---1-----1---|-0-1-1-----------|
G---5---------5---|-----5-------2---|-----2---------2-|-0-2-2-----------|
D-7-------6-------|-5-------4-------|-3---------------|-----------------|
A-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-2-0-0---0--/8-7-|
E-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
*Am= Am/maj7add9


A good soloing example is in David Gilmour's solo in "Mother" from "The Wall". The final line of the solo is a Gsus4 kind of arpeggio that goes:

E--8-7-8-7---------------
B----------8-------------
G------------7-----------
D--------------10-9------
A-------------------10---
E------------------------
   C B C B G D C  B  G


Another example is in Mark Knopfler's first solo in Sultans of Swing. (Selected arpeggios)

  A                       Dm               C
E-------5--9--12b(13)--]--10-----------]-/13-12--------------------]
B-----5----------------]-----10--------]--------13-----------13-13-]
G---6------------------]--------10-----]-----------12--14p12-------]
D-7--------------------]-----------12--]---------------------------]
A----------------------]---------------]---------------------------]
E----------------------]---------------]---------------------------]

  Bb                C
E----------------]---------------]
B-----3--6--3----]-----5--6/8-6--]
G---3------------]---5-----------]
D-3--------------]-5-------------]
A----------------]---------------]
E----------------]---------------]


And of course his arpeggios from the outro solo

  Dm               Bb              C
E--13p10----10--]--13p10----10--]--15p12----12--]
B--------10-----]--------11-----]--------13-----]
G---------------]---------------]---------------]
D---------------]---------------]---------------]
A---------------]---------------]---------------]
E---------------]---------------]---------------]


Here are a few more examples of arpeggiated chords.
() = an optional note

Dm7  (D-F-A-C)

E----------5--8--5-----------
B--------6---------6---------
G--(5)-7--------------7-(5)--
D----------------------------
A----------------------------
E----------------------------

Emaj7 (E-G#-B-D#)
                    tp
E----------4--(7)--(12)--
B--------4---------------
G------4-----------------
D----6-------------------
A--7---------------------
E------------------------

  Asus4 (A-C#-E-D) or (Aadd11)
E-----------------
B--15p14----------
G--------14-------
D-----------14----
A--------------12-
E-----------------

   Dadd9 (D-F#-A-E)
              tp
E---------5--(10)--
B-------7----------
G-----9------------
D---7--------------
A-5----------------
E------------------

D minor (D-F-A)    (play Bb as grace note)
E--5h6p5---------
B--------6-------
G----------5/7---
D----------------
A----------------
E----------------


Arpeggios don't have to be played on different strings. In fact a good example of single string arpeggios would be the final tapping sequence in Eruption. Here Eddie just plays a series of arpeggiated triads

  C# minor   A major    D#dim      B major
E---------]----------]----------]----------]
B--2^5^9--]--2^5^10--]--4^7^10--]--4^7^12--]
G---------]----------]----------]----------]
D---------]----------]----------]----------]
A---------]----------]----------]----------]
E---------]----------]----------]----------]
  C# E G#    C# E A     D# F# A     D# F# B

   E major     C major     Em7       D major
E-----------]----------]----------]----------]--
B--5^9^12---]--5^8^13--]--5^8^15--]--7^10^15-]--
G-----------]----------]----------]----------]--
D-----------]----------]----------]----------]--
A-----------]----------]----------]----------]--
E-----------]----------]----------]----------]--
   E G# B      E G C      E G D      F# A 

    F#m7       E major     Em7
E-----------]----------]----------]----------]--
B--7^10^17--]-9^12^17--]-12^15^17-]-..etc...-]--
G-----------]----------]----------]----------]--
D-----------]----------]----------]----------]--
A-----------]----------]----------]----------]--
E-----------]----------]----------]----------]--
   F# A E      G# B E     B D E


As your playing gets more complex, so too can more intricate arpeggios be worked into your solos. Here are a few: (Try playing them forwards and backwards) (Try modifying them with altered notes to make new chords).

Am
E---------------------8-12--]
B-----------------10--------]
G-----------5--9------------]
D---------7-----------------]
A-------7-------------------]
E-0-5-8---------------------]
  E A C E A C  E  A   C  E

  E7
E------------11-]
B--------12-----]
G---------------]
D---------------]
A----11---------]
E-12------------]
  E  G#  B   D

C6/9b5
E----------------]
B----------10-12-]
G-------11-------]
D----14----------]
A-15-------------]
E----------------]
  C  E  Gb A  B

E9
E----------------]
B----------3--7--]
G-------4--------]
D----6-----------]
A-7--------------]
E----------------]

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3. Harmonizing

I'm sure you are all tearing up the fretboard now and are in no need of any more instruction, however since this is a free Internet I will submit today's lesson on: Dum-da-da-dum...

Harmonizing:
One of the things that is a side effect of the shredding movement is the single note solo thing. Don't feel bad... Almost all my live solos are single note runs and I seem to get along fine. However when I do plan ahead a little and add some harmony (either with another guitarist or myself or a prerecorded track) my solos and melodies really evolve.

Let's look at what harmony is. The dictionary says that harmony is "... A combination of musical sounds considered to be pleasing." So what we get from this is that to have harmony we must have more than one sound. Well, we already have that, because the rest of the band is playing stuff that we are harmonizing with... well hopefully... but I'm not considering that. I'm talking about harmonized melody lines.

The easiest type of harmony to do between two guitarists (or vocalists or whatever) is in unison. Each instrument plays the same melody in the same pitch. This can be a really nice effect, especially if the two instruments have complimentary tones. A chorus effect pedal kind of does this.

The next type of harmony would be octaves. Each instrument plays the same melody but one plays it an octave higher. Octave divider pedals can do this too. However it usually sounds better when two separate instruments perform it. When harmonizing in octaves (or fourths or fifths) the melody stays exactly the same because the intervals are all perfect (neither major nor minor).

The real type of harmonizing I'm getting at is harmonizing in thirds. When harmonizing in thirds the melody changes because of the changing major and minor intervals in the melody. Just to get started let me run through a quick example:

Here I am harmonizing a descending A-minor scale in thirds:

Root (Am)

   A G F  E D C  B A G  F E D  C B A
E------------------------------------
B-10-8-6-----------------------------
G---------9-7-5----------------------
D----------------9-7-5---------------
A-----------------------8-7-5--------
E------------------------------8-7-5-


Up a third (C)

   C B A  G F E  D C B  A G F  E D C 
E--8-7-5-----------------------------
B---------8-6-5----------------------
G----------------7-5-4---------------
D-----------------------7-5-3--------
A------------------------------7-5-3-
E------------------------------------

Harmonized

E--8-7-5------------------------------
B-10-8-6--8-6-5-----------------------
G---------9-7-5--7-5-4----------------
D----------------9-7-5--7-5-3---------
A-----------------------8-7-5--7-5-3--
E------------------------------8-7-5--


Notice how the intervals change? This is the tricky part of harmonizing in thirds. In the above example the intervals are:

A-C m3
B-D m3
C-E M3
D-F m3
E-G m3
G-B M3


So how did I figure this out you ask? Well, let's take a look. Admittedly harmonizing in Am is pretty easy; no accidentals to worry about. But we'll use it to get started. We know what a third is, right? It is an interval of either three semitones (minor third, 3 frets) or four semitones (Major third, 4 frets). Thirds are very instrumental in chord construction, as you know from the other lessons we have been through (did we all do our homework? )

We know that the interval between two adjacent strings on the guitar is a fourth, or a M3 between the G and B strings. So to find the third up from a note on the low E string (say A at the fifth fret)... we go to the next string (A string) one fret back (4th fret... C#). This gives us our major third. One more fret back (3rd fret... C) gives us our minor third. Like this:

E---]---]---]---]---]---]---
B---]---]---]---]---]---]---
G---]---]---]---]---]---]---
D---]---]---]---]---]---]---
A---]---]-C-]-C#]---]---]---
E---]---]---]---]-A-]---]---
          ^   ^   ^
          m3  M3  R

Also:
E---]---]---]---]---]---]---
B-C-]-C#]---]---]---]---]---
G---]-A-]---]---]---]---]---
D---]---]---]---]---]---]---
A---]---]---]---]---]---]---
E---]---]---]---]---]---]---


So, to figure out what the harmony is, just count up three notes in the scale to find the third. In keys other than C-Am we have to make sure that the proper notes are sharped and or flatted. If you have two guitarists it will take a while to work out the proper harmony lines, but it is well worth the effort. Another trick is to slowly play a scale and have another guitarist play the same scale but start on the first note when when you get to the third note. Try this with a digital delay too. Here is a descending D major scale with the harmony up a third:

E-14--12--10--9---7--5--3--2--0----
B-15--14--12--10--8--7--5--3--2--3-
G--------------------------------4-
D----------------------------------
A----------------------------------
E----------------------------------


Another way to harmonize is to play harmonizing melodies. Two different melodies that share common tones. Try playing an ascending A minor scale at a slow tempo, and have another guitarist play a descending A minor scale. This will give the following harmonic intervals:

A-A Octave
B-G m6
C-F P4
D-E M2
E-D m7 (inverted)
F-C P5 (inverted)
G-B M3 (inverted)
A-A Octave


As you dick around with these things you will find a lot of Allman Brothers, Night Ranger, Queensryche, Eagles, Thin Lizzy, Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi etc. If you have two guitarists try this lick. Or try recording part A and playing part B over it. The lick is a two-hand-tapped triad. Part A is a G major (G-B-D-G) and Part B is up a third Bm (B-D-F#-B). Hammer on the first three notes and tap the fourth note at the 12th fret.

Part A (G major)
E------------------------
B------------------------
G--0--4--7--12--7--4--0--
D------------------------
A------------------------
E------------------------

Part B (Bm)
E------------------------
B--0--3--7--12--7--3--0--
G------------------------
D------------------------
A------------------------
E------------------------

Play this a few times then change to Gmaj7 and Bm7

Part A (Gmaj7)
E------------------------
B------------------------
G--0--4--7--11--7--4--0--
D------------------------
A------------------------
E------------------------

Part B (Bm7)
E------------------------
B--0--3--7--10--7--3--0--
G------------------------
D------------------------
A------------------------
E------------------------

Or to Em and G major

Part A (Em)
E------------------------
B------------------------
G--0--4--9--12--9--4--0--
D------------------------
A------------------------
E------------------------

Part B (G major)
E------------------------
B--0--3--8--12--8--3--0--
G------------------------
D------------------------
A------------------------
E------------------------


So the trick to harmonizing is knowing your scales and key signatures. After that it's a snap to harmonize. I do recommend typing up a fretboard graphic just to make sure that you have the notes right, it saves a lot of time. Here's one.

  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  12  13  14
E--F-]-F#]-G-]-G#]-A-]-A#]-B-]-C-]-C#]-D-]-D#]-E-]-F-]-F#]
B--C-]-C#]-D-]-D#]-E-]-F-]-F#]-G-]-G#]-A-]-A#]-B-]-C-]-C#]
G--G#]-A-]-A#]-B-]-C-]-C#]-D-]-D#]-E-]-F-]-F#]-G-]-G#]-A-]
D--D#]-E-]-F-]-F#]-G-]-G#]-A-]-A#]-B-]-C-]-C#]-D-]-D#]-E-]
A--A#]-B-]-C-]-C#]-D-]-D#]-E-]-F-]-F#]-G-]-G#]-A-]-A#]-B-]
E--F-]-F#]-G-]-G#]-A-]-A#]-B-]-C-]-C#]-D-]-D#]-E-]-F-]-F#]
   1   2   3   4    5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14

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2. Scales in soloing

For those who missed part 1 we discussed soloing in major and minor keys 

and used a Dm-C-Bb-C progression as a starting point. Let's delve into 

this enigma of soloing a little more and find out how to do it... shall we?


The easiest solo:

The easiest solo is one note... that's it. Now, a one note solo may 

state a particular emotion that fits the tune, but it does not state an 

awful lot. I suppose the second easiest solo would be two notes, followed 

by more notes. By the way the solo to "I wanna be sedated" by the Ramones 

is just eighth notes of one tone... and hey, it works.


But if you have a chord change under your one tone (eighth notes or whatever) 

now you have developed an implied note change even though you are still 

playing the same note. Let's see why.


In the Ramones tune the chord changes are E-A-B in quarter note strums, 

each chord being one measure (real fast tempo though). The solo is eighth 

note open high E's. When the solo starts it is playing the tonic (E) 

which gives a particular consonant sound when played with the chord E. 

When the chord changes to the A, the solo is now playing the 5th of 

the chord (still an E) which is another harmonious, albeit different 

tonal relationship from the first note. Now the chord changes to B 

and the solo is playing the 4th of the chord (still E), another consonant 

tone. The note E is not in the B major chord (B-D-F#), but the perfect 

4th is still effective.


So what we have found is that your solo is a relationship between the solo 

notes you are playing and the chords that the rest of the band is playing. 

Hmmm... now you really don't want to be playing just a bunch of licks.


What about speed players? They can't sit around and wait for the rest of 

the band to catch up with their solo notes, so they must analyze specific 

notes or groups of notes in relation to the underlying chords. 

One way is to think about only the first and last note of a scalar 

passage, however long it is. Assuming we're playing in the proper key the 

notes will be alright, but if we're playing pretty fast the listener can't 

really discern them anyway, but they will the last note. This note is where 

you were going with that scalar run; your destination. How you got there 

(fast or slow) is not important, this is the statement you wanted to make. 

This brings us to:


Resolutions.

When listening to a piece of music, the ear always wants to return to a 

stable place. This place is either the tonic (root) of the piece, or the 

tonic of the underlying chord. This "return" is called its resolution. A 

flurry of notes that don't adequately resolve, while technically impressive, 

leave the listener uncomfortably misdirected.


In our previous example using a Dm-C-Bb-C chord progression, the listener's 

ear will always want the solo sequence to return to the D note. Not only that, 

the return (or resolution) should be on the beat. There is also resolution 

to the underlying chord. So if you resolve to the C when the C major chord 

is playing, there is resolution. However when the chord then changes to he 

Bb, the resolution is lost.


Playing in a minor pentatonic scale over a I-IV-V progression yields many 

opportunities for resolution. This is because of the notes in the scale, 

(root, m3, p4, p5, m7) three of them resolve to the underlying chords, 

and the others resolve with a small bend. This is one of the reasons 

the pentatonic scale is so easy to use.


Now that we have established that rule... break it. Play a little solo 

melody and leave it unresolved. Go ahead, rules are meant to be broken. 

Resolve to the "C" while the tune is still on the Dm, but hold it 

until the band catches up. Let's get really wild and play notes 

that are not in the scale! Let's add passing tones to our scales like this:


Play real fast in Dm

Pick the asterisked notes and pull-off the rest.


* * * * * *

E--8-6-5-6-5---6-------------------------

B------------8---8-6-8-6-5-6-5---5-------

G------------------------------7---7-6-5-

D----------------------------------------

A----------------------------------------

E----------------------------------------



Notice the passing tone inserted between the "D" and the final "C" note? 

This lick resolves to the C, however, if you hold the C for a moment and 

then hammer-on or slide to the D at the seventh fret, we have a nice 

resolution to the tonic.


Remember that your main goals in soloing are:


1 Entertain the listener

2 Add to the song

3 Take the song someplace that the lyrics can't

4 Reinforce the melody or chord structure



Listen to some of your favorite solos and pick out the resolutions. 

They will be very obvious as you listen to each tune. Listen also to 

those spots where resolution is delayed, or not there. If you have a 

recording of Yngwie's first album with Alcatrazz, check out the way 

he incorporates speed with resolution. For kicks also listen to 

"The Four Seasons" by Vivaldi and pick out the resolutions in the 

melody, or try "La Gazza ladra" (The Thieving Magpie) by Rossini. 

For blues scale resolution, check out David Gilmour's solo in 

Comfortably Numb from The Wall.

Read more...

1. Soloing pattern

If you have not mastered the art of note bending, slides, pull-offs 

and hammer-ons, you will probably have a difficult time with some of 

the topics discussed here. But read on anyway. I happen to have a 

personal disdain for the pentatonic scale. So while I will not dissuade 

anyone from using it nor dispute its usefulness, I will not be discussing 

it here. Let's say that your makeshift band is jammin' on a simple three 

chord warm up progression, Dm-C-Bb-C.

It's your turn to solo and what are you going to do? Based on the 

chord progression, we'll pick D minor as our soloing key of choice. 

I have always had luck memorizing a particular pattern and moving 

it around depending on the key. Here is the one that I use most and 

can use in any key major or minor. Here it is in our Dm position:

Pattern 1
E---l---l---l---l-x-l-x-l---l-x-l---l-r-l
B---l---l---l---l-x-l-R-l---l-x-l---l---l
G---l---l---l---l-x-l---l-r-l---l---l---l
D---l---l---l---l-x-l---l-x-l-x-l---l---l
A---l---l---l---l-r-l---l-x-l-R-l---l---l
E---l---l---l---l-x-l-x-l---l-x-l---l---l
  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10


The RR'sS represent the root of the major key (F) and the Rr'sS represent 

the root in the minor key (D). Technically I suppose you could call this 

an F major scale in phrygian mode (beginning on the third, A). But 

I really don't. It's just a particular set of finger placements that 

are comfortable and reliable for soloing. Since when I solo I will be 

stressing the notes of the major and minor, the A phrygian is just a 

coincidence.

OK. Now we've got a scale to use. Notice that this scale contains all the 

notes of the chords being played. Like so:

D minor scale  D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C
Dm chord  D-F-A
C chord   C-E-G
Bb chord  Bb-D-F


Now when we solo (which you will remember is supposed to be a story 

within a story, not just a bunch of licks) we can really play any note 

in the scale and it will fit. It won't always sound good, but it will 

fit in some way. Here are two more positions of the same scale.

Pattern 2 (F major scale)
E---l---l-x-l---l-x-l-x-l---l---l---l---l
B---l---l-r-l---l-x-l-R-l---l---l---l---l
G---l-x-l-x-l---l-x-l---l---l---l---l---l
D---l-x-l-R-l---l-x-l---l---l---l---l---l
A-x-l---l-x-l---l-r-l---l---l---l---l---l
E-R-l---l-x-l---l-x-l---l---l---l---l---l
  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10

Pattern 3 (D minor scale)
E---l---l---l(x)l---l-x-l-R-l---l-x-l---l
B---l---l---l(x)l-x-l---l-x-l---l-r-l---l
G---l---l---l-R-l---l-x-l---l-x-l---l---l
D---l---l---l-x-l---l-r-l---l-x-l---l---l
A---l---l---l-x-l---l-x-l-x-l---l---l---l
E---l---l---l-r-l---l-x-l-R-l---l---l---l
  7   8   9  10  11  12  13  14  15   16


(x) alternative fingerings to use if you want to stay in one position.

Notice that this is the D minor scale and that the D minor pentatonic 

scale is contained within this scale. Where did you think the pentatonic 

it came from?

If you link patterns 1, 2 and 3 together starting with the F on the E 

string 1st fret (pattern 2) you can move up and down the fretboard all 

the way to the 24th fret (if you have one) without leaving the patterns. 

Like this: (In TAB form)

E------------------------------------8-10-12--l
B---------------------------5-6-8/10----------l
G-------------------2/3-5-7-------------------l
D-------------2-3-5---------------------------l
A-------1-3-5---------------------------------l
E-1-3-5---------------------------------------l

E-13-12-10----------------------------13-15-17/18-l
B----------13-11-10----------13-15-17-------------l
G-------------------10-12-14----------------------l
D-------------------------------------------------l
A-------------------------------------------------l
E-------------------------------------------------l

E--20-18-17----------------------------18-20-22/24l
B-----------20-18-17----------18-20-22------------l
G--------------------19-17-19---------------------l
D-------------------------------------------------l
A-------------------------------------------------l
E-------------------------------------------------l


Try playing this slowly and smoothly hammering-on each ascending note, 

pulling-off each descending note, and sliding where notated. Stop at 20 

if you don't have the upper frets, or if you get tired.

Now, the nice thing about remembering patterns is that the pattern 

works for any key; just change the position. Pattern 1 above starts 

on the third of the major scale. (remember it's only a pattern, not 

a phrygian scale). So the starting points on the low E string that I 

remember are:

C major/A minor  open
D major/B minor  2nd fret
E major/C# minor 4th fret
F major/D minor  5th fret (as above)
G major/E minor  7th fret
A major/F# minor 9th fret


We can find a few licks within each pattern that we can use to augment 

our solos. Like these:

Dm
E-----5-6-8-6-5---5-------l-8-----5--8-----5-8-10-l
B----6---------8-6--8-6-5-l--6---6----6---6-------l
G---7---------------------l---5-7------5-7--------l
D-------------------------l-----------------------l
A-------------------------l-----------------------l
E-------------------------l-----------------------l


E---------------------------5---5-6-5-6-8-6-8/10--l
B----------5--5-6-5-6-8-6-8---8-------------------l
G----7-5-7--7-------------------------------------l
D-------------------------------------------------l
A-------------------------------------------------l
E-------------------------------------------------l


Also notice as we put the patterns together and complete the major 

scale up the neck that the chords for the tune we're playing become 

available for licks. Like this:

Dm
E-5--------13-10-----l
B--6-------------10--l
G---7----------------l
D----7---------------l
A-----5--------------l
E--------------------l

C
E-8--------15-12-----l
B--8-------------13--l
G---9----------------l
D----10--------------l
A-----10-------------l
E-------8------------l

Bb
E-10-------13-10-----l
B--11------------11--l
G---10---------------l
D-----8--------------l
A--------------------l
E--------------------l


We can use these triads in our solos to really accentuate the chords and 

pull-off the triads in kind of a "Hotel California" "Sultans of Swing" solo 

kind of thing. Find a pattern that you like and that feels comfortable for 

your fingers and playing style. Then play it a thousand times. Have a friend 

play the chords over and over and try it out. Or play along with a tune in 

each key.

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