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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Electric → Improvising lead guitar w/ scales
hi everyone i have a question and haven't been on in a while. My question is, while using the 'a minor pentatonic scale' to make my playing more fun, are you supposed to play the notes of the scale in order or just play them in whatever order sounds good to you? for example can you skip from the "a" string fifth fret to the "b" string fourth fret?
Ah, that it is the beauty of scales. You can skip around all you like. That is what gives lead players the many different sounds they come up with. This is a simple explanation. I am sure some of the others who know music inside out can give you a more detailed look at what you are doing when you play scales in order or just skip around. Play them any way you like and good luck with the new sounds. Let us know how you are doing.
Absolutely experiment. Try to stay within the confines of the key but jumping around it what makes it your own. If it sounds good to you....it's good
The best thing to do is record yourself playing a basic 12 bar blues progression in A. So... A,D,and E. Make your recording extra long. Like as long as you can stand it. Or if you have the abiliy to loop the progression, do that. Another option is to find blues backing tracks in A. Play it back. While its playing, play your A minor pentatonic scale over it. Play it forward, backwards, stop halfway through and go the other direction, skip around. After a while you will start to notice that the root note, the A, which you will find at three diferent places in that scale, will sound perfect when played at the end of each progression. Or at the end of the twelveth bar. This is what people talk about when they say things like "resolve". When you find that... you can play anything you think sounds cool as long as you end each phrase or bar with that root note. This hold true for other keys as well. So if you hear a song in a different key, say E, you just play the E minor pentatonic scale over it and resolve on the E. Hope that helps and doesn't hinder.
I have a cd from "wlbaye" with 14 backing track songs. So thats a start. ha ha ill try it! 
That's a fun question! If you learn the scales and practice them to the point that you can play them easily without thinking...then play along with any of the Blues or Classic Rock recordings...Clapton is a great one. Then just amaze yourself with the cool little rifts and such that will pop out of your guitar! To answer your question...play what sounds best to you! Those scales make great starting points and sorta set the "rules" that are meant to be broken!
I jump around with whatever chords are playing.
Knowing how to move around the fretboard non-sequentially is the largest part of being an effective Lead Guitarist.
And not just jumping around within the notes....but jumping around within the octaves of the scale you're playing in.
(Like playing a bit of the scale on the lower part of the neck, then finishing the scale at the upper part of the neck where it repeats)
=]
Dm
The best thing to do is record yourself playing a basic 12 bar blues progression in A. So... A,D,and E. Make your recording extra long. Like as long as you can stand it. Or if you have the abiliy to loop the progression, do that. Another option is to find blues backing tracks in A. Play it back. While its playing, play your A minor pentatonic scale over it. Play it forward, backwards, stop halfway through and go the other direction, skip around. After a while you will start to notice that the root note, the A, which you will find at three diferent places in that scale, will sound perfect when played at the end of each progression. Or at the end of the twelveth bar. This is what people talk about when they say things like "resolve". When you find that... you can play anything you think sounds cool as long as you end each phrase or bar with that root note. This hold true for other keys as well. So if you hear a song in a different key, say E, you just play the E minor pentatonic scale over it and resolve on the E. Hope that helps and doesn't hinder.
Pretty good advice. I think you want to note that when a song is in a "key" you're going to find that root note is the center of attention and the note progression for a lead line will dance around that root note in some sort of pattern. Not to say all lead lines are symmetrical about the root note, just that there are patterns back and forth. Also, you'll notice the note of the lead line will coincide regularly with the notes in the melody (because they are in the same key) and that connects the two.
Steve
Play around! Remember that if you're playing in Aminor, you can also play in Cmajor too, and combine the two scales
my mom was trying to show me some music theory stuff a while ago and all i really understand is whole whole half whole whole whole half ,for scales i dont understand how the circle of fiths works . i know i should probably make a new post on chordie about it but can anyone try to explain the circle of fiths? oh and thanks for all the other answers
wlbaye!? I B out of the loop???
No matter what angle you get, It's polished till it shines.
No I'm still here, I have been outa the loop lately though
Chrome aint Chrome if it don't shine
walbaye, what are these 14 (or 144) backing tracks!?
I'm a 1,000 miles from nowhere, time don't matter to me
Heya Butch,
I just sent Mkm's boys some blues backing tracks. She had said she was buying her boys some electric guitars for xmas so I sent her some tracks and tips on getting started jammin. The backing tracks are bass and drums and rhythm but have no vocals or lead guitar. They included Mustang Sally, Stormy Monday, Redhouse , Summertime, and a few more of my favorites.
I aint from nowhere but you can see it from here
If you do a search either here on chordie or even google for backing tracks you'll find that there's actually a lot of them out there available to download for free. Wayne just helped out a LOT by introducing the idea to my boys, and sending it in an organized way so they could just jump right in. I've claimed Wayne as my mentor.
Son, we can sit down again and try to work through the circle. I think now that you understand more as far as scales and such go, you might be more likely to "get it" now. You can also read through the music theory section here on Chordie. There's a TON of info in there even for beginners!!!
Google 'sliding pentatonic scales' These are great as they allow you to move up the fret board easily, which will open up more positions to improvise your soloing.
You can effectively use this scale to move up the fret board then use a standard minor pentatonic scale for variation.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Electric → Improvising lead guitar w/ scales
