Hey Friend,
Guitar soloing is more that just knowing flashy riffs and a few scale patterns. Sure, you can get by with a handful of basic licks and the Pentatonic scale, but to truly become a good lead guitarist, you'll want to push past the comfort of the pentatonic box into some new territory.
However, let's start with what we know...
A scale is a series of notes that have specific spaces between each note. These spaces are called "intervals." The music we listen to is based on seven note scales. There are major scales and minor scales, and it is the specific pattern of intervals in those scales that determine whether a scale is major or minor.
"Penta" means "five," so a pentatonic scale has five notes in it versus a major or minor scale. It has the same notes you would find in a major or minor scale, but two of the notes drop out. A major pentatonic scale loses its fourth and seventh notes of the major scale. A minor pentatonic loses the second and sixth notes of the minor scale.
I know this can sound a bit intimidating, but what it comes down to is learning some basic patterns. Practicing a scale pattern will teach your hand muscles the proper spacing between frets, and once you have the muscle memory in place, you won't have to think about how to play the patterns. Your hands will just know.
If you recall from yesterday, I told you about Kevin, who wants to break out of the box scales. What does he mean by that?
When scales are drawn out on a scale chart, they are typically shown in a three-to-five fret boxed area.
What happens to a lot of guitar players is they learn their scales in that box, but then get stuck because they don't know how to move from the box into other areas on the guitar neck.
What they fail to realize is, a scale repeats itself over and over, up and down the strings. If you're playing a pattern, you could play two or three notes on a single string before changing to the next string. But you can play the same scale by moving your hand into another box pattern. The only difference between the first box and the second is the note you start with.
What happens is, you have a series of patterns that fit together like a puzzle. Each pattern is a different box shape, but it fits perfectly between the pattern below it and the pattern above it.
I want you to think about the notes on that first string in the pattern. You have a low note and a high note.
For example, if you play an A minor pentatonic scale, you start on the sixth string at the fifth fret with an A note. The second note you play in the scale is C at the eighth fret.
That C note would be the first note in a new box pattern above the first pattern you learned. If you think about it in reverse, the A note from the first pattern would be the second note in the pattern below.
For the pentatonic scales, there are five different patterns to learn - one for each note of the scale. For most of us, we learn that first pentatonic pattern and then forgot there are four other patterns we can learn and utilize. So we get stuck doing the same things over and over - and getting incredibly bored. Take a look at these scale patterns - can you see how they fit together like a puzzle?
Tomorrow, we'll explore how to break out of the boredom and put some spice into those patterns.
If you don't have access to a regular guitar instructor and want help breaking out of the patterns you've established for yourself, ArtistWorks is a good option for you. Speaking of pentatonic scales, there's at least a dozen lessons specifically designed to help you master them. Not only is Paul Gilbert a Rock star, he's also guitar professor at Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT).
Whatever your playing level, he can help you get to the next level - ArtistWorks makes it possible without having to move to California!
Peace~
Dave | 
