This lesson is similar to the scale sequence lesson in the Diatonic Scales section. These exercises show a few ways to take the familiar Pentatonic scale and add some excitement to it by using repeating patterns as well non-repeating, in the moment playing.
If you have gone through enough of the guitar lessons on my site, then you have probably figured out that I am a big fan of being able to play across the entire fretboard. If you have a tendency to play riffs in confined box patterns, then this guitar lesson will open your mind and ears to wider possibilities.
The idea behind this guitar lesson is to take a familiar scale - the Pentatonic Scale - and visualize it across the fretboard. If you are not familiar with the Pentatonic Scale, now is a good time to see my Pentatonic Scale guitar lesson. The approach I like to take to learning scales throughout the fretboard is to learn shapes for the modes of the scale and then use those shapes to help me visualize the scale across the fretboard. So while the idea of Pentatonic modes is not really an accepted musical concept (i.e. since Pentatonic modes don't really correspond to a harmonization of the scale, at least not that I know of...), we can still apply the concept of a mode to come up with various scale shapes for each note of the scale.
In my Pentatonic Scale guitar lesson I use G Minor Pentatonic and break it down into 5 modes/shapes. For this exercise, we will consider the same 5 shapes, but this time use E Minor Pentatonic.
All of this is easier to explain in pictures, so consider the below diagram. It is a fretboard layout of the notes I played in my example riff.
In the diagram, we see a bunch of Pentatonic shapes merged with one another across the fretboard. It is the ability to merge scale shapes in such a manner that enables you to have true mastery of the fretboard. Spend some time on my Pentatonic Scale guitar lesson and you should then be able to recognize the shapes I have indicated above. Note how the complete 6 string shapes are not being used but how 2 - 4 string portions of the shapes are being used instead.
Now here is tab of my example riff. Anything goes. You can even throw in notes that are outside the scale to give it more character. In any case, when I recorded the riff, I simply let me fingers do whatever they wanted without thinking about the riff. I am not a skilled tabber but the above tab appears to be pretty close to what I played. But the point is not to play the riff I played but to come up with your own unique riff using the concept of this guitar lesson.
In the tab I did not indicate whether you should use alternate picking, hammer ons/pull offs, etc. You should play riffs these sort in whatever manner you wish. I find that mixing up picked notes with hammer on and pull off notes gives an overall pleasing sound - it results in a nice blend of aggressiveness and smoothness.
Also, after you get comfortable with the idea, add rhythmic variation to your riffs. For purposes of the exercise I played a riff that is pretty much played at an even tempo. But by adding bends, vibrato and varying the note duration you will end up sounding much more musical.
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