Welcome to another edition of “Practice Up”. I just completed my 106th album recently, it's called Modern Rock Guitar vol.106 - Portals. You can hear samples from the album at http://www.dtguitar.com . While recording the album, I spent a lot of time on creating melodic guitar solos. In doing so, I realized that these solos needed a little flash and excitement to keep them interesting (and fun for me to play as well). One easy way was to use long scale runs. While simple, these long runs can really add some flash to your solos. Using the same fingerings for every two strings and using octaves, allowed me to create some really simple long scale runs. Because the fingerings on every pair of two strings are the same, it is easy to create fast runs using alternate picking (think Yngwie Malmsteen/Paul Gilbert) or try using hammer-on’s and pull-off’s to create a really flowing legato run which can really stand out (think Joe Satriani/Eric Johnson). Here are 4 examples using the A Aeolian mode (A Natural Minor Scale)/C Major Ionian mode. Try them ascending and descending and using alternate picking and hammer-on’s and pull-off’s:
Example 1
A Aeolian mode (A Natural Minor Scale) / C Major Ionian mode
Example 2
A Aeolian mode (A Natural Minor Scale) / C Major Ionian mode
Example 3
A Aeolian mode (A Natural Minor Scale) / C Major Ionian mode
Example 4
A Aeolian mode (A Natural Minor Scale) / C Major Ionian mode
Try using a metronome to develop speed and timing when playing these examples. Also, can you find other 2 string patterns using the A Aeolian mode (A Natural Minor Scale)/C Major Ionian mode besides the four examples above? There are others. Also -- apply these ideas to other scales and modes. Used sparingly, the scale runs can create some excitement and flash into your solos. See you next time.
Denis Taaffe has been playing guitar since age seven and has developed a unique solo electric guitar style which uses regular guitar and guitar loops done on the fly and all his material is improvised on the spot. Denis performs, records and teaches guitar regularly. He has released 80 independent CD's, nine of which have been considered for Grammy Awards. He also has endorsements with Kradl picks, Seymour Duncan Pickups, Ernieball/Musicman Strings, Parker Guitars & Boomerang Pedalboards. You can visit his website at www.dtguitar.com for more info on him and mp3 audio samples.