Guitar Mastery Simplified: How Anyone Can Quickly Become a Strumming, Chords, and Lead Guitar Ninja (12 page)

Why is that?

Because C major’s relative minor scale is
A
minor (that means that they share the same set of notes). So considering
everything that I’ve discussed already about how to use what scales over what
progressions, all of the A minor forms of the pentatonic scale would work best
over an A minor chord progression. To use the C major pentatonic scale,
it would sound best over a C major chord progression. Now I can already
hear you asking, “But they are the same scale, why can’t I use either?”
The answer is you can. They are the same exact scale, however over
the C major chord progression, “C” is your tonic or key; over the A minor chord
progression, your tonic is “A.”

Form 1 of these diagrams is by far the most important scale
pattern in all
guitar
playing, in all of history, for
all genres, Amen!

Let me say it again
, form one is an invaluable
pattern that you will find in all genres of guitar music. Learn it,
memorize it and know it inside and out, backwards and forwards. After you
have mastered form one it’s up to you which forms you want to learn. I
like to work my
way out in either direction of form
one.

Memorizing each of these forms may take you several weeks,
or an hour of concentrated practicing. Once you have all the forms
memorized and don’t have to look at the diagrams any longer, start moving them
up the fret board 1 fret at a time. At first you will probably only be
comfortable with moving one pattern up the fret board until you reach the end
of the neck. Make sure that you work it down the fret board and work it
into the open position as well, not just down to the first fret position.

As you get more acquainted with each form across the entire
fret board, then start thinking about using
all the forms in one particular
key
before moving it up the fret board. Before you do this, it’s a
good practice to name the key that you are in.
For instance
, say
“A minor pentatonic,” before you begin the exercise and play through each form
until you do a complete cycle of the guitar neck. I always start at form
one and work my way up the neck. When I run out of frets, I start over in
the open position and continue on until I’m back where I started. Then I
move to the next key, “A# minor pentatonic,” and so on.

Once you do this for all the minor pentatonic scales in all
the different keys, do the same routine for all the major pentatonic scales.
Yes, I know it’s the same forms, but starting the scale from the new
major pentatonic key will help you to see these forms in both the major and
minor relationship.

In regards to how to pick these scales, I practice them a
few different ways. Depending on your proficiency, beginners should start
off picking every note with a down stroke. After you have mastered all
the forms and are then able to concentrate a bit more on the picking hand, it’s
important to start developing your alternate picking technique. To do
this, pick the first note down and the second note up and follow this pattern
to the end of the scale. Don’t try to complicate this one. It’s
easy if you do it slowly! Just down, up, down, up, down, up, etc.
Since this scale is so uniform and only has two notes per guitar string,
it is a great exercise for practicing “hammer-
ons
”
and “pull-offs”.

Otherwise, pick the lower note on each string and hammer the
note just above it. If you want to practice your pull-offs, pick the
higher note on each string and pull off to the note just below it.

There are literally months and possibly years of potential
practice that can be gleaned from these exercises. I have used them for
years and still do on a weekly basis. Be patient but persistent.
These exercises will allow you to master your fret board and develop your
left and right-hand techniques.

Pentatonic
Scale Diagrams

A minor pentatonic scale - form 1