Welcome back. I trust you’ve been practising lots, and that you’re ready to tackle a brand new guitar lick!
If you’ve been playing rock lead guitar for a while, then you’ll know that the usual way of playing minor pentatonic scales is by using a two-note-per-string approach. While this approach is a great one, and definitely one that all rock guitarists should be comfortable with, I thought that it would be fun to explore a more advanced way of playing minor pentatonic scales.
To do this, we’re going to look at a minor pentatonic lick that uses a three-notes-per-string approach. Let’s take a look at it now…
Rock Guitar Lick 16: Advanced Minor Pentatonic Lick
This lick uses the E Minor Pentatonic scale, and combines notes from Fingering 1 and Fingering 2. The thing I really like about this lick is that it uses hammer-on and pull-off combinations that just wouldn’t be possible using the traditional two-note-per-string fingerings. (Check out the first four notes for an example of this).
Although the lick looks quite daunting, it’s not too bad to learn once you understand the six note mechanic that’s being used. Take a look at the TAB below to see what I mean…
If you look at the groups of notes that I’ve drawn boxes around, you’ll notice that they all make use of a six note mechanic which involves having to do this…
- Play the first note with a downstroke.
- Hammer-on to articulate the second note.
- Do two pull-offs to articulate notes three and four.
- Play the fifth note using a downstroke.
- Play the sixth note using an upstroke.
It’s a really good idea to learn the first six notes of the lick in isolation. Getting fluent with these notes first will mean you’ll learn the rest of the lick faster. Because this guitar lick uses some big stretches, it’s a good idea to be fully warmed up before practising it. It’s also a great idea to make sure that you stop if you feel any discomfort. The “No Pain, No Gain” motto definitely shouldn’t apply to guitar playing. If you feel pain, then you’re doing it wrong. 🙂
Have fun with the lick!
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