Technique III - Pentatonic Scales; Alternate E♭/A Major Every 3 Strings

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The technique exercise for this month is the same as last month’s expect that now, instead of switching scales every six strings, I switch every three strings. I have again chosen scales a tritone apart which means that when you switch strings into a new scale, the first note you play will not be the same as the last note you played on the previous string—which is the rule for switching strings within the same scale. The rules for this exercise are:

  1. Using three notes per string, play an Eb major pentatonic scale starting on the lowest available note in the scale found on the guitar (F on the low E string).

  2. When you switch strings, repeat the last note of the previous string (F-G-B♭, switch strings, B♭-C-E).

  3. Every three strings switch to the pentatonic scale a tritone away. The first switch will be from Eb to A pentatonic.

  4. When you exhaust the strings of the guitar in one direction, add one more note on that string in the direction you want to travel along the fretboard and reverse direction.

A transcription of this exercise is available here and you can watch my performance of it here.