LICKS & TIPS
Welcome to our first tutorial. In this new feature we will be covering everything from techniques and tips from all sorts of different musical genres, all compressed into handy bite-sized chunks. This month we will be taking a look at the minor pentatonic scale – which is the first scale that many lead guitarists learn as beginners – and we’ll look at ways to spice it up a little bit. This exercise is in the key of E minor and this takes the form of a fairly standard minor pentatonic run. The notes used are E G A B D but we have switched around the order of some of the notes to give this lick a more exotic sounding flavour. We’re not stepping outside the E minor pentatonic scale at all but we’ve simply turned it on its head a wee bit. The secret is the note choice; it’s how we choose the notes that make this simple lick sound so cool and adventurous. It will really catch the listener’s ear.
This column will explain how you can squeeze all sort of interesting musical ideas from a single scale or a small area on the guitar fretboard - think of it as an ‘Inside the Box’ if you like. Each month we will feature a different lick on the Playmusic Website and include the corresponding tablature in the magazine. We’ll be exploring rock, blues, country,
metal...all featuring new ways to extract fresh ideas from riffs and scales that you thought you already knew inside out. Check out my video on the Playmusic website and you’ll find an example of how I’ve used this lick as the basis for an even crazier sounding lick, which I play at the end of the video, still strictly sticking to all of the note in the E minor pentatonic scale. Good luck with this one and we’ll see you next month. PM
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Hayden Hewitt points out how to squeeze some extra juice out of the minor pentatonic scale. Refer to Hayden’s instructional video on
www.playmusicpickup.co.uk for a detailed demonstration of the featured licks…
PENTATONICS TIPS PART 1: PLAYING WITH A CLICHÉ
EXAMPLE 1: This run is based on what could be described as quite a clichéd pentatonic run. We haven’t stepped outside the standard pentatonic pattern at all. This run uses groupings of triplets (three notes), descending in three note patterns. We start on the 15th fret on the high E string (G), descending to the 12th fret on the E string (E) and ending the three-note pattern on the 15th fret of the B string (D). Then the phrase repeats, backing up and starting this time on the 12th fret, high E string (E), descending to the 15th fret on the B string (D) and then the 12th fret on the B string (B), then starting again on the 15th fret (D) to 12th fret (B), descending to the 14th fret on the G string (A). Can you see a pattern beginning to emerge?
Repeat this all the way down to the low E string, then try playing the same pattern backwards, i.e. start at the low E string and work your way back up across the E minor pentatonic ‘box’, ending on the note G on the tope E string, 15th fret.
Licks and Tricks 1 Pentatonic : Playing with cliches
B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B "& "# "& "# "% "# "% "# "% "# "%
EXAMPLE 2: Now the fun begins! We are going to alter the first run, staying inside the E minor pentatonic scale but this time we’re stretching it a bit, which sound’s a lot more interesting and sophisticated. We are going to start with A at the 17th fret on the high E and pulling off to an E at the 12th fret on the high E, then an E at the 17th fret on the B string. This is a fairly wide stretch huge stretch and it can be a bit awkward, so make sure that you warm up first and play this lick slowly, gradually building up speed. You don’t want to do yourself a mischief now, do you? You’ll notice that the first and third notes in this lick are the same, just on adjacent strings, which causes an interesting kind of dopler chorus effect. The 16th fret of the G string (B) gives your fingers a momentary relief from the big stretch between the 12th and 17th frets. Played slowly this lick sounds a bit weird but at speed it has a really edgy ‘outside’ feel that sounds really cool.
B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B
"& "# "& "# "( "# "( "#
"% "' "# "#
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"% "( "# "# B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B "( "# "( "# "( "# "( "# "' "# "' "# "' "# "( "# B
B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B
"% "# "% "# "( "# "( "#
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"& "( "# "# "& "# "( "# B B B B B B B B B B B B B B "( "# "( "# "( "# "( "# "( "# "( "# "( "#
Hayden Hewitt EXAMPLE 1
Licks and Tricks 1 Pentatonic : Playing with cliches
"# Hayden Hewitt "% "# "% "#
"% "# "% "# "% "# "& "# B B B B B B B B B B B B B B "& "#
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