Want to solo like the Pros?

Did you know that most rock solos and songs are only played with 5 notes? No, that is not a typo and you don’t need to have your eyes examined. I said FIVE notes. So few notes you can count them on one hand. One, Two, Three, Four, Five. I know what your thinking, “FIVE notes, there has to be more than five notes. I’ve see guys like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton go all up and down the neck! They couldn’t possibly be playing only five notes.� But I assure you they are only five basic notes are needed to create a good guitar solo. Want to know How?

All you really need is the basic knowledge of scales and the pattern they create. Scales are just groups of notes played over and over at different pitches. The Minor Pentatonic Penta meaning five, only has five notes, but in Country and in Rock it has become a primary part of music. I have created diagrams of the guitar neck to show you how this works.

If you are unfamiliar with guitar tabs I suggest you read my entry on Guitar Tablature basics, but for now it will be enough for you to know that the top string on the chart is know as the 1st, it is the thinnest string and it is tuned to a E. The B-string is known as the 2nd, the G-string is known as the 3rd, the D-string is known as the 4th, the A-string is known as the 5th and the 6th string is the thickest, deepest sounding string and it is also tuned to E.

This particular set of notes makes up the minor pentatonic in the key of F. As you can see all five notes, F, G#, A#, C and D# can be played in many different places. To demonstrate this I encourage you to take out your guitar. Hit the 6th (thickest string) on the first fret. Then, hit the 6th string on the 13th fret. You notice that they sound very similar? That’s because they are the same note, just played at different pitches. Each note happens every 12 frets. So on the 6th string you get the note F on the 1st and 13th fret.
Scales are made up of these simple patterns and once you learn these patterns you will find soloing not that difficult.

Congratulations you have just completed the first step to soloing like a pro. Fill free to use this key of F to solo to. The individual box patterns of the minor pentatonic scale can also be very helpful when learning the scale.

If you have any questions ask them in a comment below and I will answer them as soon as possible.

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