Hey guys, Claude Johnson here and today I want
to talk about improvising and creating new and
different sounds on the guitar.
Let’s take the key of A. If I asked you to play
a lick in the key of A, there’s a good chance
you’d start-off somewhere here. Basic 5th fret
to 7th fret pentatonic box, which is great.
And if you don’t know how to do that, then just
check-out “Killer Lead Guitar Made Simple”.
Just go to guitarcontrol.com/lead.
We kind of gravitate to that as a starting point,
or we can maybe just go up the neck. Up or down
the neck which is also cool. The only problem is
we’re kind of stuck in that pentatonic sound,
which can get stale after a while.
What I like to recommend today is start playing
around with the major scale, but almost with a
similar feel. You still want to have that bluesy
feel, but you can start-off, like I said, on the
major scale.
You can use that same root on the 7th fret of the
D string. One nice little pattern is this… It’s
a three note per string pattern, which first of all,
is going to help your chops. It’s a little bit more
physically challenging and it’s going to give you
different ideas, different ways to play and this
is just a great pattern.
So what we have here is 7th fret, 9th fret,
11th fret with my first finger, middle finger,
pinkie. Seventh, 9th, 11th. That’s all on the
D string. And then we repeat 7th, 9th, 11th on
the G string. So we have 7th, 9th, 11th; 7, 9, 11.
You can go straight up and down or you can create
your own melodies. You can create a lot of different
stuff. Also, I should mention you can use hammer-ons
and pull-offs or picking, or a combination.
Here’s one idea for you to get started. On the
D string, up three notes; one note on the G string;
and then back.
Now, you can take that same idea, but instead of
hitting the 7th fret of the G, just hit the 9th
instead with your middle finger, or your pinkie
on the 11th fret. Now in this case you’re
basically flattening it out and then back.
So you’re kind of pivoting there. And you can
combine these different licks. Practice that one.
What you can also do is you can just take a totally
different pattern, which will be the same notes but
instead of the D and G strings, try the D and the
A string.
There are scales all over the neck. That’s just one
shape. But I kind of like it because, again, it gets
you into the three note per string playing and also
using the same root. You can combine the pentatonics
with that. Lots of different ideas, possibilities.
All right, guys, play around with that and have fun
and I’ll catch you next time.
