238658923659

After you practice Figure 9-3 a bit, check out Figure 9-4, which mixes the
notes up a little and adds in the blues notes, which occur on the third string,
eighth fret, and fifth string, sixth fret. The blues notes are indicated with open
circles in the fretboard diagram. (This six-note scale is the blues scale that’s
covered in Chapter 8).
= blue note
5fr.
Shuffle (qr=qce)
A7
Track 49, 0:12
E7
3
Figure 9-4:
A passage
in fifthposition
A
blues.
160 Part III: Beyond the Basics: Playing Like a Pro TEAM LinG
3
8 5
8 5
T
A B
3
3
8 7 5 7 5
7
7
5 8
5 6 7
Use the pattern from Figure 9-4 to create your own solos. In fact, I encourage you,
at any time, to throw down (well, gently place aside) this book and strike out on
your own. The only rule is to play just the notes in the six-note blues scale.
Changing Your Position
When you play lead, you quickly figure out that playing in position is cool,
but changing positions while you play is even cooler. That’s when you really
feel like you’re in command of the entire neck and that you’re playing where
you want when you want. If you look at professional guitarists, they move
smoothly and gracefully up and down the neck, as if the music is just naturally
taking them there. And you can get there, too. But first start by looking
at the positions adjacent to home position, and then see how you get in and
out of them.
Even though you’re extending the home position upward and downward, the
notes in the new positions are the same ones found in home position. Some
of them are an octave higher or lower, but they belong to the same scale — in
this case, A minor pentatonic.