This ONE SIMPLE TECHNIQUE Expands the Pentatonic Scale's Range

This ONE SIMPLE TECHNIQUE Expands the Pentatonic Scale's Range - YouTube

If you’re feeling stuck with the pentatonic scale and feel confined to a single area on the fretboard, then look no further because we are going to look at a musical way to expand the scale’s range. This concept will unlock new worlds for you as you study leads and solo techniques. While the first form of the pentatonic scale is timeless and beloved by guitarists everywhere, we are going to look at how to enhance the scale by sliding outside the box.

First, we break down the traditional minor pentatonic scale that us rock guitarists know and love.  This form of the pentatonic scale is referred to as "Form 1".  For demonstration purposes, we use the A minor pentatonic scale.  The video demonstrates how to play the first form of the A minor pentatonic scale, but here is a quick overview of it:

• Low E string: frets 5 and 8
• A string: frets 5 and 7
• D string: frets 5 and 7
• G string: frets 5 and 7
• B string: frets 5 and 8
• High E string: frets 5 and 8

Next, we look at the sliding pentatonic scale pattern.  This pattern uses parts of Forms 5 and 2 of the pentatonic scale.  We start in the 5th form of the pentatonic scale and play frets 3 and 5 on the low E string.  The same frets are played on the A string, then we slide to fret 7 on the A string with our ring finger.  This puts us right into Form 1.  We continue playing the first form of the pentatonic on the D and G strings, then we slide to the 9th fret of the G string with our middle finger.  Now we are in Form 2 of the pentatonic scale.  We finish the sequence by playing frets 8 and 10 on the B and high E strings. Voilà!  You have just doubled the range of fretboard real estate.  Instead of staying limited to 4 frets by using Form 1 alone, we have borrowed parts of Forms 5, 1, and 2 to cover 8 frets!  This should create tons of new phrasing opportunities for you.  You can take certain licks you may already know and applying them to these new spaces on the fretboard.  To play the descending version of this pattern, simply play the same sequence in reverse.  Just keep in mind that when descending, you will be sliding back into each position with your index finger. 

Check out the full lesson video HERE: This ONE SIMPLE TECHNIQUE Expands the Pentatonic Scale's Range