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A Minor String Skipping Pentatonic Scale
Pro Tips:
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Pro Tip:
The Pentatonic Scale is a minor scale with the second and flat sixth scale tone removed.
Keep the picked notes at the same volume as the legato notes.
Remember consistent, focused practice (even for very short amounts of time) will ALWAYS get better results that infrequent binge-practicing.
In this lesson, I’m going to demonstrate string-skipping with the A minor pentatonic scale, for this exercise we are using all five patterns of the pentatonic scale in A minor. These patterns are easy to link up with all the other keys, and I think you’ll find them very useful for adding some flash into your riffs and solos.
It is one of the most widely used scale patterns in all of western music. You will find yourself using this scale often when improvising in genres from rock and blues to bluegrass and jazz. Now, all we need to do to turn this scale into a finger-busting string skipping exercise is re-arrange it to include playing on non-adjacent strings.
One way to do that is to start playing the scale on the 6th string, skip the 5th string and play the 4th string, go back and play the 5th string, skip the 4th string and play the 3rd string, etc. This gives a ping-pong effect while running through the scale.
The intervals in the minor pentatonic scale are 1, b3, 4, 5, b7. For this one we are placing the scale with pattern 7 starting at G, then shifting up to pattern one, starting on A. For pattern four we are starting on C, on the eighth fret. Pattern four starting on D and then pattern five starting on E. Use hammer-ons and pull-offs throughout. You can also use this exercise to work on your alternate picking as well.
Free Demo Video
The video below is an example of the videos that are available for this exercise. For Paid Members, this section includes a commentary video that explains each exercise in full. Additionally, each exercise is also presented as videos where the exercise is played in 10+ tempos. Sign up today to get full access to all the videos.
Backing Tracks
Most exercises include backing tracks for you to practice with. They are also provided in the same tempos as the videos. Backing tracks are available for paid members only and are downloadable MP3 files.
Transcriptions
Every exercise includes a transcription in standard notation as well as guitar tab. The transcriptions are presented online and are also available for download as a PDF for printing or saving to your computer. The transcriptions are available for Paid Members of PracticeTheGuitar.com
