Pentatonic Solo Lesson

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Members practicing this lesson:
Guillaume
daimeon
candyman
UMPHREAK
Orlandun
cpgosborne
tobscore
glowshadow
wienersaber
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   Hi everybody, even though I am still without internet at home I finally had the chance to upload my second lesson, this time a nice little Hard Rock type of solo based on the pentatonic scale. This scale has always been my fave scale, it is easy to play and always sounds nice in my opinion, and it has been the basis for many of the greatest riffs and licks in rock history ("Black night" from Deep Purple or "God of Thunder" from Kiss, to name just two examples).

Most of my solo is based on the A minor Pentatonic, which I am using in different boxes here, only towards the end I break things up a bit and also use the A minor harmonic scale and the A minor scale to add some more color, other techniques you will find in this lesson are alternate picking and hammering on / pulling off and there are backing tracks in different speeds for you to play along.

I hope you'll like this lesson and have fun practicing it, Cheers
Marcus



A Minor Pentatonic.jpg

A Minor.jpg

A Harmonic Minor.jpg


     Lesson Questions, Feedback & Comments



Kristofer Dahl
post 16th April 2008


GMC Founder & Rocker


Excellent - the solo builds up dynamically and the backing chords provide an perfect basis for strong harmonies. Thanks Marcus - it's awesome to have you here! biggrin.gif
preownedguitar
post 16th April 2008


Member


I love it Marcus. Been waiting for this one!
superize
post 16th April 2008


Member


Wow....very nice solo Marcus.... i have been wating for this

Thanks
RIP Dime
post 16th April 2008


Member


Nice, very Deep Purple, you have a great sense of rythem, really catchy solo too.
Trond Vold
post 16th April 2008


Instructor


Excellent smile.gif
Danilo Capezzuto
post 16th April 2008


Instructor


Nice lesson Marcus!
Jon Lambo
post 16th April 2008


Member


Loved it, a very classic rocker solo!
Marcus Siepen
post 16th April 2008


Instructor (Blind Guardian)


Thanks a lot everybody, and yup, there is a touch of Purple in there for sure smile.gif
Hisham Al-Sanea
post 16th April 2008


Instructor


great Pentatonic solo Marcus .very welldone
MickeM
post 16th April 2008


Born of NWOBHM, Moderator


Very good lesson! I think it's very suitable for practicing the pentatonic scale and have a lot of hard rock-fun at the same time. smile.gif
Sam Hook
post 16th April 2008


Member


Great lesson! Thanks! biggrin.gif
Dejan Farkas
post 16th April 2008


Instructor


Nice construction of solo smile.gif
skipdaflip
post 16th April 2008


Member


Nice Penta solo... It's bookmarked here!
Pizzoaro
post 16th April 2008


Member


This is great!
fkalich
post 16th April 2008


Member


Very nice, and it is unique to other existing lessons, always a big thing to me.
Jerry Arcidiacono
post 16th April 2008


Instructor


I agree with MickeM. Very useful lesson for pentatonic soloing!
Capt.Z
post 16th April 2008


Member


Glad to have another one of your lessons.biggrin.gif
PassionPlay
post 16th April 2008


Member


This 1 is sweet biggrin.gif

What i like is, thats it's not very technical stuff it's just a good composition wink.gif
Marcus Siepen
post 16th April 2008


Instructor (Blind Guardian)


Thanks guys, I really appreciate it :-)
jammer91
post 16th April 2008


Member


Pure rock. Im sorry im not an 80's kid and am out of touch with rock, but i know rock when i hear it and this lesson purely rock. It starts of steady and then elevates you. Great lesson for sure.
Marcus Lavendell
post 16th April 2008


Instructor


Great doable solo Marcus! smile.gif
Marshmall0wz
post 16th April 2008


Member


GREAT LESSON! nice paul too smile.gif
The Uncreator
post 16th April 2008


Fire Up The Blades, Moderator


Very cool solo Marcus!

I love the opening melody, Just awesome smile.gif
Gabriel Leopardi
post 16th April 2008


GMC Coordinator & Instructor


Great rock solo Marcus!
at lights end
post 16th April 2008


Member


great lesson! biggrin.gif
Rodnator
post 16th April 2008


Member


Awesome Marcus,incredible tone.
Juan M. Valero
post 16th April 2008


Instructor


great lesson !! sounds really cool Marcus wink.gif
Juan M. Valero
post 16th April 2008


Instructor


ah, and amazing tone !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tongue.gif
Mr T
post 16th April 2008


Member


Yeah, love that tone!
Joe Kataldo
post 16th April 2008


Instructor


Nice lesson Marcus!
Iluha
post 16th April 2008


Member


Great one Marcus, I have to admit that at first I was sceptical when you joined the crew, as I don't ussually expect from musicians that made it big to be good teachers, but this is a very helpful lesson from many aspects and also sounds great, so thanks for spending you'r time on this site man smile.gif
Muris Varajic
post 16th April 2008


Instructor


Good work Marcus,was waiting for your next lesson
and finally it's here! smile.gif
Ivan Milenkovic
post 16th April 2008


Instructor


Killer tone, and a great solo lesson. smile.gif
Fran
post 16th April 2008


Member


Cool licks Marcus! wink.gif
Marcus Siepen
post 16th April 2008


Instructor (Blind Guardian)


Again thanks a lot to all of you :-)
@ Iluha: The fact that I play in a successful band of course does not make me a good teacher automatically, actually it does not even make me a good guitar player by default, but I will try my best to come up with more interesting and helpful lessons, and I am happy that you liked this one :-)
Angelica
post 16th April 2008


Member


That's what I was looking for! Thanks Marcus tongue.gif
muntahunta
post 16th April 2008


Member


.... is that a wine red gibson les paul with EMG's???
I WANT IT!!! lol
nice lesson dude, hope to see alot more biggrin.gif
drummingguitarist06
post 16th April 2008


Member


Holy crap Marcus that is some AMAZING tone that you have. What is your setup? The only thing I see is the Gibson LP, but is it a Std. or Studio?
Marcus Siepen
post 16th April 2008


Instructor (Blind Guardian)


Nope, it is a wine red Les Paul with Gibson Burstbuckers wink.gif The EMG's are in some other Les Pauls smile.gif
Marcus Siepen
post 16th April 2008


Instructor (Blind Guardian)


About the setup that I used here, the guitar is a Les Paul Standard Premium Plus, as I said the pickups are Gibson Burstbuckers (the guitar comes with those pickups, so this is the normal setting). I recorded with Pro Tools, I am using this M-Box Mini version here at home, and the "amp" is Guitar Rig 3, an amazing software plugin that sounds great in my opinion. The amp that I have been using in that plugin is based on the Bogner Uberschall, I used it for rhythm and lead sounds, just that I added some reverb and delay for the leads. (and the eq is different for rhythm and lead of course smile.gif )
Bali
post 16th April 2008


Member


Great sound.
Would you mind posting your Guitar Rig preset?
Old School Rocker
post 16th April 2008


Member


Damn that was killer love your tone. The second I get home im practicing this till my fingers bleed mabey longer.
BTW That guitar you have is a work of art I love the Wine Red finish. Kinda reminds me of my Dragon Blood finish on my BC Rich:).
Tmas
post 16th April 2008


Member


Cool sounding stuff. I will definitely learn this.. if my roommate ever wakes up!! lol
Pi38
post 16th April 2008


Member


Really cool solo.
Carlos Carrillo
post 16th April 2008


Instructor


fantastic lesson and nice job Marcus!!!!!!
Marcus Siepen
post 16th April 2008


Instructor (Blind Guardian)


Thanks again to all of you :-)
@ Tmas: just practice a bit louder and your roommate will for sure wake up sooner or later tongue.gif
Bogdan Radovic
post 16th April 2008


Bass Instructor


Awesome lesson Marcus !! Really well developed solo!
Marcus Siepen
post 16th April 2008


Instructor (Blind Guardian)


I just posted a screenshot of my settings in guitar rig 3 in the instructors corner of the forum, here is the link:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=14288
Nick Kellie
post 16th April 2008


Instructor


great marcus!
Harlequin
post 16th April 2008


Member


Great lesson Marcus! Is it a new Les Paul? As far as I remember you didn't mentioned it in your blog.
Marcus Siepen
post 16th April 2008


Instructor (Blind Guardian)


Thanks Nick :-)
@ Harlequin: Nope, that guitar is not THAT new anymore, and it is already listed in my blog, but since I am still waiting for another one soon there will be a new one mentioned in there wink.gif
Nathan333
post 16th April 2008


Member


Amazing lesson mate! This is just what I was looking for!
Nick325
post 16th April 2008


Member


nice lesson marcus
steve25
post 16th April 2008


Member


Great lesson Marcus, this will be very helpful, cheers
Bali
post 16th April 2008


Member


Thanks Marcus!

I've posted a file with 40 of my lead sounds for GR3 here:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=14290

Hope you enjoy them!
Nemanja Filipovic
post 16th April 2008


Singing Instructor


great lesson Marcus,as every body sad you have a killer tone,but I am amazed by your kick drum...
what drums did you use in this lesson....
thanks...smile.gif
SensE
post 16th April 2008


Member


Marcus, I want to say the same thing jus like what Aluha said. You will gain respect not just only being a musician but a awesome guitar teacher. Stay tuned.
kyldeee
post 16th April 2008


Member


Awesome solo Marcus, love it, thanks smile.gif
Harlequin
post 16th April 2008


Member


@Marcus: Ah, just saw it. And a new Les Paul ... You can never get enough Les Pauls biggrin.gif I'm also waiting for a further Les Paul, they are just beautiful wink.gif
visi0n
post 16th April 2008


Member


great solo smile.gif thanks!
BIGD2
post 17th April 2008


Member


Cool lesson..........kinda like I already do at times...
zoom
post 17th April 2008


Member


thats a fAt solo! whats not to love about that!
Smikey2006
post 17th April 2008


Member


cool solo! will learn it for shure.. smile.gif
fkalich
post 17th April 2008


Member


this sounds just as neat as it did to me yesterday, and that was super neat sounding. A must learn. You have a great swing to your beat. Thank you for this lesson!
ActiveX
post 17th April 2008


Member


Awesome lesson man, this one is definitely going in my "favorites" folder
fkalich
post 17th April 2008


Member


64 people on the "now practicing list". I am pretty sure that is a record (from what I have seen here over the past 14 months).
audiopaal
post 17th April 2008


Member


Wow, I loved that.. Awesome solo with a great melody smile.gif Oh man, I can't wait to get home to practice this one! With my "new" Gibson Les Paul Studio Lite from 1991 biggrin.gif
zoom
post 17th April 2008


Member


Question? when you do the legato bit in part four do you count 8 times or do you just feel it? Does it just become 2nd nature sort of thing?