13th Blues Pentatonic Drill: 2 Fattest Strings. Mode 1, Position 1. Root, flat 3, root, flat 3.

Introduction to the Lesson

A.     1^st 1^st Position Pentatonic Soloing Drills: Mega Lesson Syllabus for 2 String Play of Single Notes

a.      1st Killing the 1^st Position Blues Pentatonic Scales in 4s on the 1^st and 2^nd Strings

1.      1^st 27 Lessons for Mode 1 Blues Pentatonic Drills in 4/4 Time on String 1 and 2, Position 1

·         13^th Blues Pentatonic Drill:  2 Fattest Strings.  Mode 1, Position 1.   Root, flat 3, root, flat 3.   

Note1:  Please note, that I call the fattest string, the 1^st string.  Thus, the second fattest string would be the 2^nd string, and the skinniest string would be the 6^th string, and so on.

Note2: If at any time you are experiencing pain during the playing of this exercise or any other exercise I give, then stop immediately!  Please!  It doesn’t help me as a teacher to gain students with tendonitis, or other guitar injuries.

Note3: 1: Refers to the section of pentatonic drills.  In this case, 1 means that the drill is for 1 and 2 strings.  For example, the second section uses 3 strings.

Note4: 1:1  The 2^nd 1 of 1:1 refers to the position of the blues pentatonic scale that is used.  As a pentatonic scale has 5 notes, there are 5 positions.  These positions are all part of a scale.  One can switch between positions and not play any wrong notes.  1:1a-1:1e in its entirety can be raised/lowered as much as 11 half steps to result in modes with root notes in different keys.  Also, note that the pattern changes between the 1^st and 2^nd strings because the intervals between open strings when using standard tuning are not always the same.

1:1a  Position 1 in the key of E minor is as follows.  1^st string; 12^th fret and 15^th fret.  2^nd string; 12^th and 14^th fret.  3^rd string; 12^th and 14^th fret.  4^th string; 12^th and 14^th fret.  5^th string; 12^th and 15^th fret.  And the 2^nd string follows the same pattern as the 1^st string.

1:1b  Position 2 in the key of E minor is as follows.  1^st string; 3^rd and 5^th fret.  2^nd string; 2^nd and 5^th fret.  3^rd string; 2^nd fret and 5^th fret. 4^th string; 2^nd and 4^th fret. 5^th string; 3^rd and 5^th fret. And the 6^th string 3^rd and 5^th fret.

1:1c  Position 3 in the key of E minor is as follows.  1^st string; 5^th and 7^th fret.  2^nd string; 5^th and 7^th fret.  3^rd string; 5^th and 7^th fret. 4^th string; 4^th and 7^th fret.  5^th string; 5^th and 8^th fret.  6^th string 5^th and 7^th fret.

1:1d  Position 4 in the key of E minor is as follows.  1^st string; 7^th and 10^th fret.  2^nd string; 7^th and 10^th fret.  3^rd string; 7^th and 9^th fret.  4^th string; 7^th and 9^th fret. 5^th string; 8^th and 10^th fret. And on the 6^th string 7^th and 10^th fret.

1:1e  Position 5 in the key of E minor is as follows.  1^st string; 10^th and 12^th fret.  2^nd string; 10^th and 12^th fret.  3^rd string; 9^th and 12^th fret.  4^th string; 9^th and 12^th fret. 5^th string; 10^th and 12^th fret. 6^th string 10^th fret and 12^th fret.

Note5: 1:1:1  The third 1 of 1:1:1 refers to the mode of the pentatonic scale that is used.  There are 5 modes.  Though there is at least one major mode and one minor mode, to my knowledge, these modes don’t commonly go by names such as Lydian, or Ionian.

Note6: 1:1:1:7  The 4^th in the sequence: 1:1:1:7 is a 7 and refers to the specific lesson title.  That is that this lesson is a drill that uses the Root note, the 4^th note, and the 5^th note of the 7 note major scale in a pattern, rather than the 4^th and 5^th of the pentatonic scale, etcetera.  That way a 5^th is always going to be a 5^th, even it is the 4^th mode of the pentatonic scale, where a 5^th would be the 5^th note of a major scale with 7 notes.

The Lesson Itself

1:1:1:13:1 A pentatonic scale is a 5 note scale.  Usually, for the blues pentatonic scale, scalar positions have 2 notes per string.  That is there are, 2 possible notes on the 1^st string, 2 possible notes on the 2^nd string, 2 possible notes on the 3^rd string, 2 possible notes on the 4^th string, 2 possible notes on the 5^th string and 2 possible notes on the 6^th string for any given position.  The notes for these exercises will all be played on the 1^st and 2^nd strings, which are the 2 fattest strings.  If your guitar is a standard 6 string with standard 6 string tuning then sometimes the 1st string is called the low E string, and the 2nd string is called the A string.

1:1:1:13:2  I will call the first mode of the blues pentatonic scale to be a minor scale.   5 notes of this pentatonic pattern follow the formula; root, flat 3, 4, 5, and flat 7, where the next note is an octave where the scale repeats itself.  Perhaps, it would be better to call it a hexave, but since intervals are told usually with respect to a 7 note major scale, the 8^th note of the Ionian mode, which is another name for a classical major scale is an octave.  An octave is the same note as the root note, only an octave higher.  In addition, one is often able to solo interchangeably between say the Dorian mode, and a minor Pentatonic scale, where according to the Dorian mode, such that the 8^th note is called an octave, while the same note when only using a minor pentatonic scale could be thought of as a hexave, the 6^th note.  For example, in A Dorian, the octave is the note A, while in A minor pentatonic the hexave is also an A note.  The reason for this paradox is that there are a different number of notes for the scales in question.  That is for A Dorian it takes 7+1 notes to get to the octave, and for A minor pentatonic, which is a similar scale it take only 5+1 notes to get to the same interval, such that it makes sense to determine intervals as relative to the Ionian mode, of which the intervals are 1 (the root), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and the 1, which is also 8, which is also the octave.  The reason for this is that the Ionian mode is to be thought of as having no sharp intervals or flat intervals, even though these scales can be written with sharp notes or flat notes, depending on the key in classical notation.  Here, I have placed before the reader a key to some of the paradox I have written where note and interval may be considered as synonyms, or they might take on a different definition.  Noting this paradox is key for musicians, because notes can be intervals and intervals can be notes, yet if the word interval is used, it will always be with respect to the notes of the Ionian mode, commonly called the major scale, and it is such that for example the notes of the C major scale pattern can be moved up a half step, etc, and the result of moving the scale up a half step can be a Ionian mode in the key of C# major, which has sharps and/or flats on a G clef, etc, though it’s intervals with respect to the Ionian mode are neither flat nor sharp.

1:1:1:13:3   The root note will be the lowest note for this exercise.  The root note does not have to be the first note, nor the lowest note, but for this lesson it will be.  Laying out the pattern root, flat 3, 4, 5, on a fret board that has standard tuning will always follow the following pattern:  On the 1^st string, the root will be the first note, and the second note of the pentatonic scale ascends 3 half step on the same string, which is the 1^st string, and the 4^th is a whole step up from flat three, and is at the same fret as the root note, but on the 2^nd string.  Like the 4^th, the 5^th is also played on the 2^nd string.  This 4 note pattern represents a cross section of the blues pentatonic scale, where each drill will contain between 2 to 4 of this pattern of notes.

1:1:1:13:4  The time signature will be 4/4 time.  That means that it is to be counted in 4s.  Where the 1st note of the 4 note sequence is played slightly louder than or stressed compared the rest.

1:1:1:13:5  Time to play.  Make sure your guitar is in tune, and has standard tuning.  In another blog, I describe how this is to be accomplished through the usual methods.

1:1:1:13:6  With your index play the 12^th fret of the 1^st string with a down stroke.  This place on the fret board is usually designated with a double dot marking.  This should be an E note.  Use your right hand to mute all the strings except for the string that is being played.  The next note to be played is a play is a flat 3rd  from this E.  It is also an G note, and played with an upstroke.  It is at the 15^th fret on the 1^st string.  It is to be carefully played with the pinky finger such that pain does not occur.  If you feel unable to do this don’t force your hand to play it because that is how injuries occur.  Play the 3^rd note on the 1^st string with the index finger, while muting the other strings.  This note is played with an down stroke and because it is the same note as the root note, it is still called root note.  In this case the 4^th note a G note in the key of E minor.  This means the flat 3^rd is the 4^th note of the sequence.  It is to be played on the 2^nd string.  It is played with an upstroke at the 12^th fret with the ring finger.  Again, it is good to try to mute all the strings, except for the one that you are playing.  Thus, it is such that with this exercise, a pattern is created, with ones fingers, index, ring, pinky, index.

1:1:1:13:7  Next repeat this pattern, always using a down stroke on the 1^st sting when playing the root note.  Play the pattern four times.  Later, sometimes I will indicate that you should use down strokes for each note that is played.

1:1:1:13:8  Next, play the same pattern a half step lower.  This steps of moving this pattern up and down the fret board cause key changes.  It will follow the pattern, 1^st string 11^th fret using the index finger, 2^nd string 14^th fret using the pinky finger, 1^st string 11^th  fret using the index finger, and finish with the 4^th note on the 1^st string at the 11^th fret using the index finger.  Play this four times, counting 4s.  Use alternating picking and/or use picking with all down strokes.

1:1:1:13:9 Next, play the same pattern a half step lower.  This steps of moving this pattern up and down the fret board cause key changes.  It will follow the pattern, 1^st string 10^th fret using the index finger, 2^nd string 14^th fret using the pinky finger, 1^st string 11^th  fret using the index finger, and finish with the 4^th note on the 1^st string at the 10^th fret using the index finger.  Play this four times, counting 4s.  Use alternating picking and/or use picking with all down strokes.

1:1:1:13:10  Repeat the above described pattern moving up and down the fret board, changing keys every time the pattern is moved.  This pattern is well establish in exercises 1-10.

1:1:1:13:11 Repeat 1:1:1:13 6-10, except play the pattern only 1 time instead of 4 times working on the fluidity of your playing.

1:1:1:13:12 Repeat 1:1:1:13 6-10 using all down strokes, except play the pattern only 1 time instead of 4 times, similar to verse 32, working on the fluidity of your playing.

1:1:1:13:13  If possible on your guitar, then you may wish to continue this pattern above the 12^th fret, possible up to a 24^th fret if your guitar has one, and then return to the 12^th fret.