Pentatonic Scale One-on-One Lesson 2
- Horizontal Position Shifting

 

In this lesson we will take the magic step and start sliding around on the guitar.

For me, there really was some magic in the air when I started connecting the boxes. Prior to this, I had been practicing getting up to speed in one postion (= playing fast at the same spot). What I didn't realise - was that if you can achieve speed on one place on the guitar, you are very close to doing it all over. And that's what this lesson is about.

 

 

 

 

     Easier Horizontal Pentatonic Patterns

 

In this first section of the video, I give you a bunch of easier patterns to start practicing horizontal shifting.

The ones I have given you are very useful for phrasing, playing slower melodic patterns, which (once again!) move all over the guitar. I have found them to be reminescent of both SRV and Eric Johnson - depending on which tempo you chose to play them in!

To really grasp the concepts of this lesson - you should learn all five pentatonic boxes (see scale charts below). Now if you are serious about learning these fixe boxes, you will be rewarded with one of the most powerful tools for "borderless" soloing.

 

 

     Advanced Horizontal Pentatonic Patterns

 

This is where it starts to get really interesting - in this section I give you some of my favorite

full shred licks. If we combine this with the horizontal approach, we are well on our way to jaw-dropping speed.

Needless to say - when dealing with these high tempos, there is no time for thinking. In other words, if you would like to be able to play the things I demonstrate here, you need to...

1. Develop the desired speed staying in one position, while paralelly...

2. ...learning seemless "transitions" (-> see Pentatonic Scale Lesson 1), you need to know them good enough so that no thought process is required to shift position.

3. Connect your abilities and shred all over the guitar!

 

This lesson's backing tracks are also in A minor pentatonic and the tempo is 100 bpm.

Good luck,

 

Backing track Pentatonic scale2 backing (100 bpm)

Backing track Backing track slow

TabTAB


Related lessons:
Pentatonic Scale lesson 1
Pentatonic Scale lesson 3

 

 

     A minor pentatonic boxes

 

 

 

 



     Lesson Questions, Feedback & Comments





Leon
post 3rd January 2007


Member


If I would like to play a C minor pentatonic scale, is it the same shapes that i play, but i just start out on the 8 fret on the E string and play the A minor pentatonic box number 1?
Or do i have to learn 5 new boxes just for the C pentatonic?
Kristofer Dahl
post 3rd January 2007


Member


Rob Flynn: You don't have to learn anything new - that's the beauty of it!

Transposing to the key of C minor is done exactly like you explained it yourself! smile.gif
Leon
post 3rd January 2007


Member


oh! awesome, I was kinda afraid I would have to go through all the pain of learning that with all the other notes to.. thankyou! smile.gif
Hawk
post 21st January 2007


Member


Morning, folks!

As far as I understand, we don't have to slide only to A while sliding between boxes in Am pentatonic scale. It may be any note I want to slide to, right?
Kristofer Dahl
post 21st January 2007


Member


Hawk: You have got it right!
radarlove1984
post 26th January 2007


Member


First of all, GREAT lesson. I just memorized every note on the fretboard by practicing this. This day was well spent!

I have two questions though (and sorry if this is the wrong place to ask).

1) When improvising using these pentatonic boxes, do I need to start or finish the licks on a root note? To my ears, everything sounds fine no matter where I start, as long as it's within the scale and I'm playing on the right backing track. My ears aren't trained enough to be sure though.

2) Can we jump from one box to the other without having to go through everything in between? For example, could I play a lick in box2, then play something else in box5 without having to slide through boxes 3 and 4? Once again, it sounds OK to me, but I'd like to verify this before I practice something the wrong way.




Once again, GREAT lesson!
Kristofer Dahl
post 26th January 2007


Member


radarlove: This is the right place to ask! smile.gif

1) When improvising you don't need to think about that. When *practicing* you should!

2) You can really do whatever you want - so no need to include the boxes in between!

Good luck,
Kris smile.gif
Ponyboy
post 18th February 2007


Member


Most interesting...

I have been practicing my speed picking and today I am finding myself flying around the fretboard and actually knowing where I am going... PLUS it sounds great!

Great lesson(s)!!!
edgor67
post 5th March 2007


Member


Kris,

Holy Moley! I'm thinking cool two pentatonic boxes. Wut up you wit 5! I've got some workt to do. I anticipate the 5 examples above are all in Amin. This is going to be a good challenge. That crashing sound you here in a week is me breaking out of the box.

ed
Kristofer Dahl
post 8th March 2007


Member


edgor: Get practicing!! You need to know all five biggrin.gif biggrin.gif
MetalMan66
post 15th March 2007


Member


How many pentatonic boxes are there?
betschart
post 25th March 2007


Member


Kris:
When practicing any scale is it a good idea to play each fret with a separate finger? I don't exactly have long fingers and the second to last A minor pentatonic box is hard for me to reach with my pinky to the low E 15th fret. At the moment, I'm practicing it using the other three fingers until I get to the A string 15th fret. The same goes for the last pentatonic box. Just wondering, since it gets hard for me to reach the lowest E string past the 12th fret or so with my pinky finger...
ExPatTommo
post 11th April 2007


Member


Kris,

I notice on your pentatonic boxes you tend to use three fingers rather than 4. Should I be stretching my third finger to necessary string or should I be using 4 fingers.

How do i know what fingers to use where in the various pentatonic boxes?
Kristofer Dahl
post 11th April 2007


Member


fingerings: Use the fingerings which make you move your hand as little as possible. So onlower frets (1-10) you may want to use four fingers.

>When practicing any scale is it a good idea to play each fret with a separate finger?

YES! smile.gif

>How many pentatonic boxes are there?
There are five! smile.gif
Fsgdjv
post 13th April 2007


Member


Hmm, is it supposed to stop in the middle, or is there some problem with the video or something? It stops after 8.41, and it seems like it's finished, but since the the bar (or whatever it's called, the thing that shows how far into the video you are) isn't fully completed when it's finished, I can't be sure:P
Kristofer Dahl
post 13th April 2007


Member


Hannes: The has been brought up quite a few times - the scroll bar of the older lessons isn't very reliable. You have the whole video there, though!
fkalich
post 13th April 2007


Member


Something I think worth adding here (sorry for double post, accident). When you play this scale, it sort of sounds like blues, but not quite. That is because the "blue note" is not part of the pentatonic scale. This is the minor 6th note. For example in A minor, it is E-flat. Go ahead and play that note with the boxes, and you will see, your pentatonic scale turns into a pure blues scale. People bend up to the blues note quite a bit, but it is neat to fret it also when playing.
fkalich
post 13th April 2007


Member


correction, blue note is minor 5th. Six semitones above your root note. I said minor 6th my mistake. Sorry for triple post.
Anirudh
post 13th May 2007


Member


awesome lesson!!!!
warchild
post 20th May 2007


Member


Kris - awesome lesson!
I always thought scales were boring to play, I've had so many guitar teachers over the last two years but no-one ever explained to me how to move from one box to the next - I was ready to give it all up - until now! Thanks GMC!
Only started the scales lesson yesterday (Am pentatonic) and I'm moving from box one to box three already! Imagine what I will be able to do in a few weeks?!!
krawetz
post 29th May 2007


Member


Kris this is absolutely amazing i just started this lesson today and i've already memorized the 5 boxes I'd be nowhere without this site
greatly appriciated
-Krawetz
Semmelknoedel
post 11th June 2007


Member


Hi!

Great lesson, but i've one question:

What are the root notes for?
FretDancer69
post 12th June 2007


Member


great lesson kris, but i have a quesiton:

how can i practice the 2nd, 3rd and 4th pentatonic boxes if we dont start with the root note at the 6th string? or do i just skip the previous notes? please help.
Randy32
post 13th June 2007


Member


Wow! I'm pretty new to GMC and also just starting to seriously concentrate on learning the guitar. I've just finished learning the first three boxes in the A minor pentatonic scale and I was thrilled when I found myself improvising for well over an hour. Then my wrist started to hurt and I cried a little inside sad.gif Anyway, this lesson is outstanding and I itching to learn the last to boxes so I can crank up the amp and drive my neighbors crazy!

Thanks Kris, Randy
Andrew Cockburn
post 13th June 2007


Member


QUOTE (FretDancer69 @ Jun 12 2007, 07:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
great lesson kris, but i have a quesiton:
how can i practice the 2nd, 3rd and 4th pentatonic boxes if we dont start with the root note at the 6th string? or do i just skip the previous notes? please help.


The previous notes are part of the scale and you can/shouls use them when playing and improvising. When practcicing scales however, its better to start with the root note to train your ear to the sound of the scale.
jammer91
post 15th June 2007


Member


Truly amazing lesson... Is this a begginer lesson because i found the stuff i can do with it advanced.
I have one problem, I have to stop and think about which notes fit while moving boxes

Also why is it important to start AND end on a root note. Lick 1 as an example starts on a root note but doesnt end on one?

Thanks for your time and effort to help me
Andrew Cockburn
post 15th June 2007


Member


QUOTE (jammer91 @ Jun 15 2007, 05:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Truly amazing lesson... Is this a begginer lesson because i found the stuff i can do with it advanced.
I have one problem, I have to stop and think about which notes fit while moving boxes
Also why is it important to start AND end on a root note. Lick 1 as an example starts on a root note but doesnt end on one?
Thanks for your time and effort to help me


In playing you don't have to get hung up about the root notes - you can play any note from any pattern at any time, it will all fit. BUT you need to know about the root notes to understand the relationship between the boxes and train your ear, which is why we talk a lot about root notes when practicing scales.
gerry t
post 17th June 2007


Member


Hi Kris I'm learning the pentatonic 1 2 and 3 video lessons but I can't get your sound.
Please could you tell what equipment and settings you have to get that great sound.
Thanks gerry t
gharris
post 25th June 2007


Member


the video keeps freezing after 49 seconds, anyone else having a problem ???
maybe its my wireless network trying to stream the video ???
Ninevolt
post 9th July 2007


Member


Hey Kris!
Just wanted to say great lesson! I got to the 4th box and was doing some great improvisations until little bits of skin started coming off the tips of my finger. I guess it is time for a beer beffore I go to number 5... Thanks!
Ninevolt
fretbuzz
post 20th August 2007


Member


Hi Kris!
I'm 4 Am boxes down the road right now, and these lessions really helped me for the first time ever to read and understand the "guitar neck roadmap". These lessions are time well spent! Thanx!
Nicolas
post 20th October 2007


Member


Kris,
at minute 3:00 in the video of this lesson, you mention that it's possible to get this "screaming sound" when using the thumb while picking. Well, I can't figure out how to do it.

Can anyone can help? Is there a video or picture for this?
seagull
post 30th October 2007


Member


Nicolas: Check out Pavels lesson on Pinch Harmonics and Natural Harmonics. Just use the search bar and it will come up. Very good lesson!
Gerald
post 15th November 2007


Member


This lesson is exactly what I have been looking for; this whole series is excellent!!
quebrado
post 16th December 2007


Member


this lesson is exellent man! i also love your other 101 lessons, i get so much out of it, so thanks a lot;)
Danny
post 28th December 2007


Member


Excellent exercise and excellent guitar learning site. I have been playing for quite some time now in two bands but everything I know so far is self tought. It was only until recently that I realized I was holding my guitar pick the wrong way - no wonder I had difficulties when doing speedpicking. So now I have decided to begin from scratch and get a good routine together. The problem is it's hard to know where to begin. Nevertheless, I have started with studying the pentatonic minor because my main area of interest is rock/metal.
Thanks for the great inspirational lessons.
Cheers
joshewing
post 31st December 2007


Member


Quick question...is there one particular string that I should use to connect these boxes, or does any string matter? It may sound like a dumb question, but I trying to get a good grasp on this horizontal concept. Thanks
Andrew Cockburn
post 31st December 2007


Member


You can use any string - the idea is to go on one string from a note in the first box to a note in the second box. and voila you have changed boxes - which string you use doesn't matter at all.
joshewing
post 31st December 2007


Member


Thanks, that helps alot. I am starting to apply these boxes to different keys, and it really helps!
slash hammet
post 20th February 2008


Member


very helpful for beginner lead guitarists
wakefield10
post 26th February 2008


Member


when i practice these licks i should do it with a metronome right?

Also should i do it for every key or should i be able to do it any key after just practicing in Am?
Jesse
post 7th July 2008


Member


I think you can. you have to take the root notes right!
Marco Fattori
post 26th February 2010


Member


hey kris, can you upload the backing tracks for this lesson again? cause it seems they are not available anymore. please!!!
Cheow
post 7th June 2010


Member


Cheers Kris this has been very helpful smile.gif



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