Minor Pentatonic Licks 1

[Gareth]

Hi Lee

A quick question. In the Am Arpeggio lick you said it has added chromatics. From my understanding an Arpeggio is when you pick the notes that make up a cord. In this case Am - A C and E. In this lick these notes are all there but then there are also B, D, D#, and G. Am I correct in assuming that this is what you mean by added chromatics. How do you know which notes you can add. I know that some are from the Am pentatonic scale (D# as well if you take the Am blues scale) which only leaves B. Is this in some other Am scale? Or am I just trying to think about this too logically and it is just there because it sounds like it fits?

[Lee]

Looking for a logical answer will probably add confusion. I used to get confused for the same reasons. Some things don't have to make theoretical sense and looking for a formula will slow you down. How do you know when to use them? There's only one way ... play with these kinds of ideas ten thousand times and you'll end up just doing them naturally.

The chromatic part is just the part where it goes from E to Eb to D.

To analyse the particular notes used could be approached in many ways, for example over a basic A minor backing track I could probably use an Am7 arpeggio, Am pentatonic, A minor natural scale, A Dorian etc, they might all work well and the only odd note out would be the Eb.

The example lick is dominated by a simple a minor arpeggio in two positions, i.e.

 
E --12----8--------12----
B ------------10---------
G -----------------------
D -----------------------
A -----------------------
E -----------------------
 
and..
 
E --17----12-----------17
B ------------13---------
G -----------------14----
D -----------------------
A -----------------------
E -----------------------

If you add the G (15th fret, E string) to the second variation then it becomes Am7. These two positions are the foundations of the lick, play around with them and you'll hear the same basic flavour of the full lick.

Adding the B won't sound wrong in most cases because it still belongs to A minor natural and the D belongs to this as well as the A min pentatonic.

If you play the first arpeggio above in repeated fashion i.e.

E --12----8--------12----8--------12----
B ------------10-------------10---------
G --------------------------------------
D --------------------------------------
A --------------------------------------
E --------------------------------------

And then add the chromatic steps E/Eb/D you'll hear that it's pretty much the same lick but now has a bit of added flavour. The main thing with chromatics or any dissonant notes is they usually work well as long as you don't hang on them so in a fast lick they will often work anywhere. Playing them for longer durations or playing them on downbeats etc will add to the emphasis and create unpleasant dissonance.

The bottom line is play with them as often as you can and let your subconscious do the thinking. This only comes with lots of repitition.

Hope that helps

[Gareth]

Thanks Lee

This makes perfect sense.

[Gareth]

Hi Lee

In some of the licks you have posted you have shown whether you pick the string up or down using those funny symbols (which are dumb 'cause they point in the wrong direction...) but anyway, why would you sometime pick up or down more than once in a row? Why not just use alternative picking? Is this a method of keeping the timing right? How important is it to do this?

Thanks,
Gareth

[Lee]

Hi Gareth, sorry I've taken so long to reply.

I'm not sure there's a definite answer to this, a lot of guitarists have their own methods. Some would argue that you should keep the pick direction going as it would be if you picked each note as opposed to where you carry on after a legato section. At slow speeds it probably isn't that important but it is often a good idea to keep the down stroke consistent with the down beat if possible because it helps with timing and accenting etc.

At fast speeds it's best to experiment and see what works best for you. The example I show is what I think is the best method but others might find it's not.

[leomartin6]

Thanks. A beginner has to work really hard and needs motivation too ...