From: dirk@telecom.ptt.nl
Subject: LESSON: pentatonic solo playing
Date: Thu, 2 Nov 1995 16:24:29 +0100 (MET)

> Title : LESSON: pentatonic solo playing
> Author: Dirk Jetten (D.Jetten@telecom.ptt.nl)


We're gonna play solo on this progression :
( 4 beats in every  | <chord>      | )

| Gmaj7        | Cmaj7        | Gmaj7        | %            |
| Cmaj7        | %            | Gmaj7        | %            |
| D7           | Cmaj7        | Gmaj7  Cmaj7 | Gmaj7   D7   |

Over this nice jazzy blues you can play in G major, and stay
within the scale the whole time. 

e.g. :
     G    A    B    C    D    E    F#   G

E |---------------------------0----2----3--------------------
B |------------0----1----3-----------------------------------
G |--0----2--------------------------------------------------
D |----------------------------------------------------------
A |----------------------------------------------------------
E |----------------------------------------------------------

It is also possible to play E minor pentatonic, A minor penta-
tonic and B minor pentatonic on the same progression. This is
because of the notest that make up these scales :

E minor pentatonic : E  G  A  B  D  E 
A minor pentatonic : A  C  D  E  G  A 
B minor pentatonic : B  D  E  F# A  B 

You can see that none of the notes in above scales are "wrong"
( sound dissonant ). Of course there is no such thing as
"wrong" or "right", dissonants can be very nice sometimes.

Tip : careful though with bending ! And try to put the empha-
sis on other notes that you're used to when playing "normal"
one-scale blues licks. 

LAB 1 :
-------
Record the progression in a slow tempo, and try which scales
fit best on which chords. Also try these :
A minor pentatonic on the Cmaj7 and D7 chords
B minor pentatonic on the Gmaj7 and D7 chords

Now for the position, that is, at which fret your left hand is
located ( right-hand players ). You can slide this fingering

e.g. A minor pentatonic :

E |---------------------------------------------5-----8------
B |----------------------------------5----8------------------
G |-------------------------5---7----------------------------
D |-----------------5---7------------------------------------
A |---------5---7--------------------------------------------
E |-5---8----------------------------------------------------

up 2 frets to get B minor pentatonic and down 5 frets for
E minor pentatonic.

LAB 2 :
-------

Find out, at a fixed fret position, how to play all three
scales. Then you are able to switch scales faster.

Have fun,

Dirk