How do I get out of my pentatonic scale habbit?

[digiology]

 

Originally posted by pncampbell I suppose what I'm saying is to look deeper into why things that sound cool to you actually sound that way. It wont be because there is some "secret" scale being used - it will be how the lead/solo notes relate to chord tones. Youve got to go beyond relying on just slapping your fingers down randomly inside some rote-learned visual shape. Youve got to forge a link between notes that you hear/imagine and what your fingers play. The best of doing this varies with individuals but usually involves some combination of transcribing (or "copying by ear") other peoples stuff, aquiring some fairly deep theoretical knowledge and a fair amount of structured ear training. Paul.

 

 

Ok, I get what your saying but I have no idea where to start. I have started listening to why chord progressions sound good to me and (with the help of a piano) I can make chord progressions I am happy with. Where's a good place to start?

[pncampbell]

Well theres no quick trick I can offer but heres some pointers:

 

Get this ear training program http://www.miles.be/, set it to C major, I-IV-V cadence, and notes CDEFG. Try to run this prog 2 or 3 times a day for 5 minutes adding new notes as you get > 90% scores. Add all the sales notes first, then add the chromatics. Remember that this can take some time - several months is not uncommon before somone can get > 90% on all 12 tones. While you are using it listen out for the difference between the tense notes and the resolved ones (you will hear this against the last chord of the cadence - the C major chord). At some point you should be able to clearly hear this distinction in any melody that you hear even if you cant pinpoint the precise note.

 

Try soloing over a single chord vamp and try to genuinely invent new phrases rather than rely on your catalogue of licks (although over a single chord most people will exhaust thier set of stock licks very quickly anyhow). To help with this look at the scale your using and try to be aware of the scale degrees and which are chord tones (resolved) and which are not (tense). Try using tense and resolved notes in different ways and listen to the effect - start a phrase with a tense note and finish on a resolved, try to the opposite etc. When your comfortable with scale tones or "in key" notes then try adding chromatics - e.g. try a b5 or b3 (assuming major key) as a starting or ending tone.

 

At some point these two approaches should begin to meld - you will start to hear the specific sound you want (say the "bluesy tang" of the b3 or the "floating" quality of the 6th) in your mind and before youve even conciously recognised it your finger is heading for the right note. The point being that concious note choice eventually becomes instinctive, but you can switch concious choice back on at any time to break out of a rut.

 

Also once your comfortable with and can hear tension and resolution clearly then work out other peoples solos by ear and look at how the notes fall against the chord tones of that bar.

 

Paul.

[bronco]

Hey pncampbell:

 

HOLY COW, thanks very very much for this tool! I have some downtime here and there at work, and THIS is THE tool I needed!

 

Err, well... i should temper my enthusiasm with "hey this seems like a great place to start!"

 

THANK YOU!