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PowerPentatonics

Volume1intheFretboardFundamentalsSeriesWrittenBy:MatthewWarnockPublishedBy:GuitarforLifeLLCCopyright2019GuitarforLifeLLC

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TableofContentsHowtoUseThiseBookMinorPentatonicFingeringsMajorPentatonicFingeringsMinorPentatonicApplicationMajorPentatonicApplicationTraditionalDiatonicPatternsModernDiatonicPatternsTraditionalChromaticPatternsModernChromaticPatternsRepeatingPatternsEssentialPentatonicVocabularyMinorBlueSoloingExercisesMajorBluesSoloingExercisesMinorBluesSoloingEtudesMajorBluesSoloingEtudesAppendix1–ModalPentatonicsAppendix2–PentatonicPairsAbouttheAuthor

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HowtoUseThiseBookWelcometothePowerPentatonicseBook,greattohaveyouhere!Beforeyoudiveintotheexercisesbelow,takeaminutetoreadabouthowtogetthemostfromeachsectionofthiseBook.

ScaleShapesThefirstchaptersteachyouhowtoplayminorandmajorpentatonicscalesinthreedifferentfingeringsystems.Thesesystemsareboxpatterns,shiftingshapes,and3-octaveshapes.Youdon’thavetousealloftheseshapesinyourplaying,butcheckthemoutandseewhichonessitwellwithyourhands.Overtime,exploreeachsystemasyouexpandthesescalesoverthefretboardandbuildyoursoloingvocabularyatthesametime.

ApplicationInthissection,youlearnhowtoapplybothminorandmajorpentatonicscalestochordsandkeysinyoursolos.ThisisthemostimportantpartoftheeBook.That’sbecauseifyoucanplaythesescalesbutdon’tknowhowtousethem,they’reineffectiveinyourplaying.Makesuretoreadthischapter,thencomebacktoitovertimetoshoreupthattheoryasyoulearnmorescalesandpatternslaterinthebook.

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PatternsThepatternschaptersprovideyouwithmusicaldevicesthatbuildyourtechniqueandsoloingvocabularywhenappliedtopentatonicscales.MakesuretoapplyeachofthesepatternstothemajorandminorpentatonicfingeringsyoulearninthiseBook.Workthemwithametronometobuildyourchopsandaddthemtoyoursolosoverbackingtrackswhenready.Thesepatternscanbetrickyatfirst,butwithabitofpracticethey’lllevelupyourchopsandsoloingwithpentatonics.

LicksInthelickschapteryoulearn5classicpentatoniclinesovervariouschords.Worktheselinesindifferentkeys,addthemtoyoursolos,andwriteoutyourownlicksusingthesameconceptswhenready.Youdon’twanttorecitelinesinyoursolos,thoughatfirstthat’sok.Whatyouwanttodoisblendthelines,andthevocabularyinthoselines,toyourownmusicalideasandphrases.Thatwayyouexpandyourvocabularybutdon’tbecomea“licksplayer”atthesametime.

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SolosAttheendofthiseBookyoufindsoloswrittenoutusingthematerialfromthesechapters.ThesesolosprepareyoutousethematerialfromthiseBookinrealtimeandgiveexamplesofhowthesescalessoundincontext.Startbylearningthosesolosonephraseatatime,thencombinethosephrasestoplaythesolosasawhole.Fromthere,extractanylinesyoulikefromthosesolosandaddthemtoyourownvocabulary.Lastly,writeoutoneormoresoloingstudiesusingthematerialfromthiseBooktolevelupyourpentatonicsoloingchops.

AddingSlursBesidesthelickslateroninthiseBook,everyexerciseiswrittentohaveeverynotepicked,atleastatfirst.Afteryouworkonpickingeverynoteinanexercise,youexpandthoseworkoutsbyaddingslurs.Thismeansyoucanaddhammer-ons,pull-offs,orslidestoanyexerciseinthiseBookwhereapplicable.Makesuretostartbypickingeachnoteinthescale,thenexpandintoaddingslursfromthere,withametronomeandinyoursoloing.

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MetronomeWorkLastly,youwanttouseametronomeforanyexerciseinthiseBooktogetthemostoutofyourpracticetime.Thereareanumberofvariationswhenusingametronome,herearesomeofmyfavoritestoexplore.

Ø Placeclickonbeats1-2-3-4Ø Placeclickonbeats1-3Ø Placeclickonbeats2-4Ø Placeclickonbeat1onlyØ Placeclickonbeat3onlyØ Placeclickonbeat2onlyØ Placeclickonbeat4only

Regardlessofwhichvariationsyouexplore,it’sessentialtouseametronometodevelopsolidtimeandgroove.KeepthatmetronomeclosebyanduseitforeveryexerciseinthiseBooktomaximizeyourtimeinthepracticeroom.

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TraditionalDiatonicPatternsNowthatyouknowhowtoplayandusepentatonicscalesinyoursolos,timetodrillthosefingeringsintoyourhandsandearswithpatterns.Thesepracticepatternsallowyoutoworkthescalesfurther,withoutbecomingbored,andgiveyousoloingmaterialatthesametime.Becausethesepatternsaretechnicallychallenging,workthemforafewminutesatatimeatfirst,thentakeabreakandrestyourhands.Asyourendurancegrows,youcanworkthesepatternsforlongerdurationsinthepracticeroom.But,tobegin,goslow,useametronome,andtakebreakswhenneededsoyoudon’toverworkyourhandswiththesepatterns.Also,addthesepatternstoyoursolosonceyouhavethemunderyourfingers.Startbyaddingonepattern,thenanother,thenmixingthemtogetherwhenthat’scomfortable.Havefunwiththesepatternsasyoulearnscaleshapes,buildyourchops,andaddtoyoursoloingvocabularyatthesametime.

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123PatternThefirstpatternplaysupthefirstthreenotesofthescale,thenrepeatsthatpatternfromeachnoteoftheascendinganddescendingfingering.Practicethispatternoveranypentatonicfingeringyouknoworarelearning,inotherkeys,andovermajorandminorpentatonicshapes.Then,whenready,addthispatterntoyoursolosoverbackingtracks.AudioExample1

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1234PatternYounowplayupthefirstfournotesofthescale,thenrepeatthatpatternfromeachnoteoftheascendinganddescendingfingering.Workthispatternoveranyfingeringyouknow,inotherkeys,andovermajorandminorpentatonicshapes.Then,addthispatterntoyoursolosoverbackingtrackswhenready.AudioExample2

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OctaveDisplacementPatternWiththispatternyouplayuptheentirescale,thenjumpdowntothenextnoteinthescaleinamovereminiscentofoctavedisplacement.Octavedisplacementiswhenyouplayascale,butatsomepointjumpupordownanoctaveandcontinuethroughthescale.Thisallowsyoutoplaylongerscalelineswithoutbecomingpredictableinyoursolos.AudioExample3

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121PatternThenextpatternstartsonthefirstnoteofthescale,movesuptothesecond,thenreturnstothefirstnote.Thiscreatesa1-2-1patternthatyouthenrepeatfromeverynoteinthescale.Workthispatternslow,useitinotherkeysandoverotherfingerings,andapplyittoyoursoloswhenready.AudioExample4

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212PatternThefinalpatternstartsonthesecondnoteofthescale,movesbacktothefirst,thenreturnstothesecondnote.Thiscreatesa2-1-2patternthatyouthenrepeatfromeverynoteinthescale.Workthispatternslowly,useitinotherkeysandoverotherfingerings,andapplyittoyoursoloswhenready.AudioExample5

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AbouttheAuthorIgrewuplisteningtoclassicrockandblues,andIstilllovethosestylesofmusic.But,it’ssoloingIreallylove,andthat’swhatdrewmetojazz.MyloveofjazzhastakenmefromsmalltownCanadaaroundtheglobe.Istudiedatthreeofthetopjazzprogramsintheworld,startingwithMcGillUniversity,thenWesternMichigan,andfinishingwithaDoctoratefromtheUniversityofIllinois(UIUC).I’vetaughtover7000privatejazzguitarlessons,andmystudentsrangefrombeginners,toProfessorsatNYU,andeverythinginbetween.I’vealsotaughtjazzguitar,popularmusic,andmusicbusinessatuniversitiesinCanada,theUS,theUK,Brazil,andNepal.I’veplayedover2500gigsin8countriesandsharedthestagewithRandyBrecker,StefonHarris,andSlideHampton.Someofmyfavoritegigswereat:

• LincolnCenter• InternationalAssociationforJazzEducationConference• NuJazzFestival(Brazil)• SavassiJazzFestival(Brazil)• InternationalJazzDayFestival(Nepal)

Jazzhasbeeninmylifefor20years,andeverydayI’mgladIfoundthisgreatmusic.Becauseofthis,Iwanttosharethisloveofjazzandguitarwithyou.Youneverknowwhereit’llleadyou.Forthebestfreejazzguitarlessonsontheweb,visitmattwarnockguitar.com