Lesson 3. The Pentatonic Scale
Typical Pentatonic Blues Licks
Welcome to lesson 3 of the pentatonic scale, pentatonic blues licks. In this lesson you will be learning some ways to use the pentatonic scale in a solo. Several typical pentatonic blues licks will be used as a starting point to develop your knowledge of the pentatonic scale. Grab your guitar and get tuned up and let's go.
Take a look at example 1. This lick will be used as a springboard for all of the licks to follow, so make sure you nail this one.
Example 1.
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The first thing to notice about this lick is a bend at the 7th fret, 3rd string. This type of bend is very common in pentatonic blues licks. If you are not used to bending here are some guidelines for this lick and those to follow.
This bend needs to raise the note one whole step. This is equal to 2 frets on the guitar. A good way to practice bends of this type is to listen to a target note and try to match it. In this case, play the note at the 9th fret on the 3rd string. This is your target note. Really get the sound in your ear.
Now put your 3rd finger on the 7th fret 3rd string and your 2nd finger on the 6th fret 3rd string. Use both fingers to push the string up until it matches the pitch of your target note. You will find that bending is much easier if you use two fingers to bend the note. Your thumb should be over the top of the neck for added stability.
After you bend the note, then play the 2nd string 5th fret followed by the 1st string 5th fret. There is no time signature for these licks. The idea is to play them as quarter notes and to loop them. It is typical of these pentatonic blues licks to be played over and over in a loop. As you play this lick just count 1-2-3 over and over and keep it steady.
Example 2.
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This lick and all of the pentatonic blues licks to follow all start with the lick from example 1. A pull off has been added to expand the lick from example 1. The pull off is on the second string going from the 8th fret to the 5th fret. You should use your 4th finger and first finger to play these two notes. If you do not know how to do a pull off the following guidelines should help.
The idea of a pull off is to get two or more notes to sound by only picking the the string one time. In this example and the pentatonic blues licks to follow, you will be getting two notes to sound but you will only pick the string they are on once.
First, pick the note at the 8th fret, second string, then pull your little finger down towards the first string. I often tell people that a pull off should be called a pull down. If you pull your finger up off the string the second note( the one you are pulling off to) will not be loud enough or not heard at all. By pulling down towards the 1st string your little finger will be snapping off the 2nd string creating a strong pull off. Be sure to listen for this snapping sound as you pull off.
The note you pull off to should be as loud as the note you pick. I try to pull my little finger into the 1st string and use the first string to stop the downward motion of the pull off. By allowing the little finger to come to rest on the 1st string also prevents any unwanted noise.
Notice again that these licks do not have a time signature. This lick is made up of 5 notes and you should loop these 5 notes around and around creating a classic lick heard in the songs of many great players. Just treat each note as a quarter note and count in a steady fashion or use a metronome.
Example 3.
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This example in our study of pentatonic blues licks is a lot like example 2. The only difference is that the pull off has been moved over to the 1st string. When pulling off of the 1st string you still want to pull down and get that snap. Be careful not to pull the string off the edge of the fret board. Again, keep it steady.
Example 4.
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This lick is a variation on the previous 2 pentatonic blues licks, combining the pull offs and putting them both in the same lick. This is an example of how you can really create a lot of different ideas with just a few different notes. You can combine and recombine same pieces of what you know to get a lot of different ideas to use in your playing.
Example 5.
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Here the pull offs are reversed from the previous example. You can really start to learn how easy it is to create variations and form many pentatonic blues licks by playing around with these ideas. I really encourage you to play around and create some of your own.
Example 6.
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This lesson on pentatonic blues licks concludes with the pull offs going down the scale and ending on the 4th string, 7th fret. Try using the concept from the previos examples and change the string order of the pull offs. You can also delete a note here or there and see what you come up with. The main thing is to just experiment and have fun. You never know what you might discover.
If you have any questions or comments about these pentatonic blues licks, click here to contact me.
Click here for lesson 4 featuring more pentatonic blues licks.
