Technique VIII - Pentatonic Scales; Ascending Key/Descending Melody
This month’s technical exercise is the reverse of last month’s. Rather than modulating by a descending half-step, I am doing so by an ascending half-step. This exercise works best if you start at the top of the fretboard and gradually descend. The fretboard patterns are more varied and unpredictable.
The rules for this exercise are:
Using three notes per string, play a D♭ major pentatonic scale starting on the highest available note on the guitar’s first string or the highest sounding string of any set of three adjacent strings.
When you switch strings, repeat the last note of the previous string (D♭-B♭-A♭, switch strings, A♭-F-E♭).
Every three strings change direction and modulate to a pentatonic scale one semitone higher (the first modulation will be from D♭ to D pentatonic).
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.
This and last month’s exercises are a bit difficult to hold only in one’s imagination. For reference, you can download a transcription of the exercise here and view my performance of it here.