When playing music we can use scales as
a guide which will tell us what notes will work best
for a particular song. The pentatonic scale is a good
example. The five notes in the pentatonic are all you
need sometimes, but at some point may players want to
be able to venture "outside the box". To do
this, we can simply employ the Chromatic Scale.
Every note is part of the Chromatic
Scale
Yes, that's right! Every note
is part of the Chromatic Scale. In other words
we can say the Chromatic Scale has every note in it,
so it's really not a scale at all. Going from the 5
note pentatonic to every note on the fretboard
may sound like a huge jump, but it's really
not if we put things in perspective.
We can always use the pentatonic as a jumping point for our
leads. For example, in the audio sample below is a basic chord progression
in the key of C. The progression alternates between the C and F chord until
it works in a G in a slight change at end (just before it loops back to the
beginning). Take a few minutes and practice along with the audio until you
have the progression down:
Chord Progression 1
With C Pentatonic Major
Here is the chord progression with and
improvised lead guitar part:
In the audio sample above you can hear
only notes from the C pentatonic major (using our favorite
lead pattern as detailed in the private site):
Below are the phrases tabbed out. As you
can see/hear , there is nothing "outside the box":
Phrase 1
Phrase 2
Phrase 3
Thinking Outside The Box
In the audio sample below you can hear
many of the same notes from the C pentatonic scale,
but you can hear many more "outside" notes,
too.
Below you'll see the lead part tabbed
out. See if you can find the places where phrases venture
outside of the 5 notes pentatonic major:
Phrase 1
Phrase 2
Phrase 3
Some of the outside notes were simply
notes inbetween. In the 1st phrase I rolled off of the
8th fret which is not really an inbetween note (as the
scale pattern would dictate), but it was an outside
note in a 5 note pattern (beginning with the note on
the 8th fret) used to "travel" down to a sustaining
note (the 5th note).
The 4 notes leading to the note on the
5th fret are passing tones. These passing tones are
quick notes that can walk up or down to a sustaining
note. The sustaining note should always suggest the
tonality of the song and therefore would come from the
standard C pentatonic major. The passing tones don't
have to suggest the songs tonality although some naturally
will. Passing tones/notes can be any note since
they don't have to reflect the tonality/key of the song.
Chord Progression 2
The chord progression below could operate
as a bridge or other change with the chord progression
above. It's in Am (which is the relative minor of C).
The progression alternates begins on the A m and then
goes to a G chord then to an F chord. Take a few minutes
and practice along with the audio until you have the
progression down:
With C Pentatonic /Am Pentatonic
Here's the chord progression with a imporvised
lead pattern that's completely inside the box. We can
use the same scale pattern as above since Am is the
relative minor of C:
Thinking Outside The Box
In the audio sample below is the outside
the box version. Try to play along to see where the
outside notes come in:
Final Thoughts
Keep in mind that you don't have to venture
too far from the scale patterns when adding chromatic
notes. You should use the scale pattern as a guide!
That way you can find your way back home (to the correct
key) at any time.
Your lead phrases are like spoken sentences.
Begin or end your sentence with a note from the scale
pattern.
The starting point is obviously the pentatonic
notes. There is 5 of them. Since there are 12 total
notes in music, that leaves you with 7 additional notes
to play with.
