LogicalLeadGuitar.com
Newsletter #4
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By now I hope you're really flying on the alternate picking (tremolo picking) exercise I showed you in newsletter #3. To go along with that I'll show you a riff from an Eddie Van Halen solo in the "Famous Riffs" section below, so you can exercise some of your new-found picking speed! Once again, if anything doesn't make sense, please email me at adam@LogicalLeadGuitar.com and I'll try to answer your questions.
Now Let's Play!
Today I'm going to add a couple notes to the basic pentatonic shape and show you the "diatonic" pattern for A minor at the 5th fret. For me, the five pentatonic shapes (yes, there are five different pentatonic shapes), the seven diatonics (yes again), and the five basic arpeggio shapes (can you spell CAGED?) are simple overlays on my fretboard, allowing me to fly all over the place in any particular key, pulling out great phrases no matter where I am on the neck.
I'm constantly mixing and matching pieces of a pentatonic here, a diatonic there and an arpeggio riff now and then to create my solos. And that's what all our guitar heroes are doing as well (even though some of them aren't all that knowledgeable about the exact patterns) By learning all of these and then of course learning how to break each shape down and turn the smaller pieces of it into useful licks (which is what my Logical Lead Guitar course demonstrates in exacting detail), you will become a masterful lead guitar player.
The Diatonic A
Minor Pattern
For reference, first take a look at the basic A minor pentatonic at the 5th fret:
E|--------------------------------5--8-----
B|--------------------------5--8-----------
G|--------------------5--7-----------------
D|--------------5--7-----------------------
A|--------5--7-----------------------------
E|--5--8-----------------------------------
Now we'll add two notes in each octave, creating the A minor diatonic scale pattern:
E|--------------------------------------------5--7--8-----
B|-----------------------------------5--6--8--------------
G|--------------------------4--5--7-----------------------
D|--------------------5--7--------------------------------
A|-----------5--7--8--------------------------------------
E|--5--7--8-----------------------------------------------
The A minor pentatonic includes the notes A, C, D, E, G. The A minor diatonic includes the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, G.
Practice this diatonic pattern a bunch of times (how about thousands of times like I have over the years!) until it feels somewhat comfortable and don't forget to go backwards too, from the high note to the low note.
Remember to use alternate picking (as discussed in newsletter #3). Also, try to keep a one-fret-per-finger uniformity to your scale patterns whenever possible. In this case, I use my first finger for any note on the 5th fret (of any string), my second finger for any note on the 6th fret (there's only one in this scale, on the second string), my third finger for any note on the 7th fret (there are plenty in this pattern), and my fourth finger for any note on the 8th fret.
Note: I do use my first finger to reach back and grab the 4th fret, third string, then slide it back into 5th fret position before continuing up the scale.
Sticking with a one-fret-per-finger rule whenever possible will make you a better player in the long run. Don't cheat, and definitely do not play all your patterns using only your first three fingers (what are ya, lazy?). Your playing will improve dramatically once you get your fourth finger some exercise and whip it into shape.
Famous Riffs
Learning pieces (or better yet, all) of your favorite artists' solos are the tried and true method of learning lead guitar, handed down from generation to generation. If you've never learned your chosen guitar heroes licks note for note, painstakingly picking up the needle and moving it back on the vinyl over and over and over again (oh wait, it's the 21st century!) you should know that this is exactly the method of studying and perfecting lead guitar techniques used by everyone from Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones to Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, to Eric Clapton, and, without doubt, almost any famous lead guitarist you've ever listened to. So get to it!
In the meantime, here's a little piece of speed-laden alternate (tremolo) picking, done Eddie Van Halen style, as heard in the song "Atomic Punk." This little riff played fiendishly fast takes place at approx. 1:50 into the song. Play each note twice.:
E|----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------|---
B|----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------|---
G|----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|-6-6-7-7-8-8-9-9-9b--|---
D|----------------------------------------------|-6-6-7-7-8-8-9-9-10-10-|--------------------------|---
A|------------------6-6-7-7-8-8-9-9-10-10-|-----------------------------|--------------------------|---
E|-7-7-9-9-10-10----------------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------|---
My Latest Guitar
Industry Projects
I've posted a whole bunch of great interviews on my website www.BluesQuest.com, including lengthy discussions I had with B.B. King, Jeff Beck, Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers, and many more. If your tastes lean toward blues or blues rock, you'll definitely enjoy the great free interviews available at BluesQuest.com. You can always learn more about playing guitar from my interviews with these greats I make a point of drilling them for useful guitar knowledge so read up.
In the meantime
Practice, Practice, PRACTICE!
Adam St. James
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