So, you may know the pentatonic scales in your sleep, backwards and forwards. Trouble is, there’s only 5 notes in an octave with which to shred.

Time for you to meet the Minor Scale:

The tone of the minor scale is nice and moody. If you want bright, happy tones, go talk to the Major scale. The minor scale has personality for days.

Notice that bump in the middle, on the third (G) string, where your index finger has to come back a fret? Yeah, that’ll help build character in you. Dexterity. Adapt.

Start on the 6th (thickest) string, 5th fret, that’s the A minor scale. Practice it up and down, up and down, up and down. Have a sandwich, Practice it up and down, up and down. After a while, you’ll find some cool notes, which ones sound great together in succession. It’s how lots of the uber-wealthy guitar gods got that way. Practice it, see what parts of it move you.

If you’d like to see an excellent, free video of a skilled instructor help you out much better than I can, check out Peter Vogl here at FreeGuitarVideos.com. There’s some free printouts that you can use to practice with.

I’ve found all of the instructional materials top notch at FreeGuitarVideos.com and Watch & Learn Musical Instruction. I particularly like Jody Worrell’s Basic Blues Licks101. I’ll do a full review of that $4.99 - 30 minute video/tablature/backing track  bargain package in a later post.