I've played the pentatonic box patterns for years, it's time to go outside the box. Any sugestions on how to improvise without having to play pentatonic scale patters.

I have been improvising in the blues scales. Any key really, sounds quite good with regge tunes actually.

The major scale is the keystone to all musical expression(in western music, of course.) All nomenclature is based on the major scale-oriented algebra. All harmonic analysis is derived from major scale degrees. All synthetic scales can be described as specific alterations of major scale chord tones and tensions.

Thus, I would suggest learning as many major scale forms as possible(you may never find them all, so this may be inspiring as well as terrifying)for all twelve major keys(then: surprise! You've got all twelve minor keys covered without doing any specific minor key work(exception: melodic minor- it can be described relative to major scale algebra though it is wrought with powerful though unwieldy dissonances)). The secret is not to learn everything but to learn the system and plug things in later; eventually, there becomes an easy-to-see pattern that goes past memorizing the system and you just get accustomed to it. Start by putting the circle of fifths down on paper(another system- who memorizes that? Just be able to go up or down a fifth from any note). Get an Aebersold publication strictly for improvisational practice.

For example, how many C major scales can you play right now? If you can do nine, that's plenty. Now you've got D  Dorian, E Phrygian, F Lydian, G Mixo, A Aeolian(natural minor) and the mostly ineffective B Locrian. Transposing on a guitar should be as easy as Anna Nicole Smith at an Exxon shareholder's meeting so twelve major keys, seven modes, nine ways to play each...

12 X 9 X 7 =756

So, Seven hundred and fifty-six applications from nine major scale forms. Have fun!

Der

HOLY S#@$ !!!

Yes - learn your major scales now that you have the pentatonic scales. But -

Der wrote:

Start by putting the circle of fifths down on paper (another system- who memorizes that? Just be able to go up or down a fifth from any note).
Der

I would have asked: Who doesn't memorize the circle of 5ths if they want to know what they're doing?

Not memorizing the circle of fifths - kind of back there in the dark ages with "the earth is flat" and whatnot, no? Maybe there are dragons and sea monsters lurking back there in the flat keys somewhere. Obviously it couldn't possibly be somebody just feeling a little challenged in the iq department today...

By the way, here's the guitarist's way to memorize the order of the sharps and flats in the circle of fifths:

Beginning from C Major / A Minor, which has no sharps or flats, the first sharp - for G Major / E minor - is F# which you can find here:

F#: xxxxx2 and next comes
C#: xxxx2x and then
G#: xxx1xx (notice the wiggle in the pattern where it crosses the G and B strings) and then
D#: xx1xxx and then
A#: x1xxxx and then
E#: 1xxxxx

See? right across the strings. Now, the order of the flats is similar, but in reverse:

First in the series comes F, which I mention because it's the "last" of the natural notes in this pattern, and because in the flat direction the pattern is offset by one string so it doesn't all fit on the guitar:
F:   1xxxxx and after it comes
Bb: x1xxxx and then
Eb: xx1xxx and then
Ab: xxx1xx and then
Db: xxxx2x (the wiggle in the pattern again) and then
Gb: xxxxx2 and IF we had one more treble string tuned to high A then we would have

Cb: xxxxxx2 - but nobody does, so the pattern goes off the guitar here.

The key signatures are cumulative: after G Major / E minor. there's a F# in all the rest of the sharp keys. The remaining sharps are added in one at a time in order for each greater number of sharps. Same with the flats - ALL flat keys have a Bb, and the remaining ones are added in one at a time as we progress around through the flat keys. Gb has 6 flats (only F is not flat) and F#, a synonym for Gb, has 6 sharps (only B is not sharp). 
(See the key signatures on the Circle of 5ths chart at the link below.)

So instead of memorizing 12 key signatures in the abstract, memorize the above pattern on the fingerboard, coming and going. Yes, it's a silly trick but it gets the job done without stressing out the old television-zapped gray matter. 

Note that for the sharp keys, the major key note is one half step above the last sharp in the key signature, and the minor key note is a whole step down from the last sharp.

C / Am - no sharps or flats
G / Em - 1 sharp F#
D / Bm - 2 sharps, F# + C#
A / F#m - 3 sharps, F#, C#, G#
E / C#m - 4 sharps, all of the above + D#
B / G#m - 5 sharps, all of the above + A#
F# / D#m - 6 sharps, all of the above + E#

In the flat keys, the last flat added will be the major keynote of the next major key in the pattern:

F / Dm - 1 flat, Bb
Bb / Gm - 2 flats, Bb + Eb
Eb / Cm - 3 flats, previous 2 plus Ab
Ab / Fm - 4 flats, all of the above + Db
Db / Bbm - 5 flats, all of the above + Gb
Gb / Ebm (same sound as F# / D#m) - 6 flats, all of the above + Cb

To get the harmonic minor scales, make the seventh note of the scale one-half step higher in every case.

Ultimately knowing these details of the key signatures and note names beats the heck out of memorizing fingerboard patterns without the names. The sound is the same, of course, but the thinking process is much more sophisticated and flexible.   

Enjoy.

Here's the link for the circle of 5ths chart:
http://guitar-vacation-retreats.com/res … chart.html

Merry Xmas all!

Jack

Thanks jack qvr, checking out the link wanting to learn about the 'circle of fifths'. Your post was quite enlightening for a begginer.

Happy New Year,

GuitarZen

GuitarZen wrote:

Thanks jack qvr, checking out the link wanting to learn about the 'circle of fifths'. Your post was quite enlightening for a begginer.

Happy New Year,

GuitarZen

Glad somebody understood it!
Ciao for now - jack