im trying to learn how to play lead guitar but i am stuck in the minor pentatonic box and all of m solos sound the same does anyone have any suggestions

well when you improvise it is natural for your fingers to do the licks they know and are good at.

once you start thinking outside your own licks and creating a melody the solo starts to take shape.

i tend to improvise over the song till i find something that goes well and melodys start coming to me and i work on them.

thanks man that helps a lot i appreciate it

Minor pent sounds too good sometimes and you fall into a rut with it. What I try to do is to use melodic minor or harmonic minor scales to break myself out of the rut.

wassup kkal, welcome to chordbook. bobo and freak, thanks a bunch, i didn't think anyone else was gonna ask the question that kkal did, i was just about to ask it. this helps.

no worries man.

i've come to learn it like this.

you don't make the solo. the song tells you how to make the solo.

writing a solo from nothing is hard. i've had to do that for school, bands etc. the way i prefer is...

the easiest way to write a solo is to have what will be the backing played to you by a recording, another person a computer etc, and then LISTEN and FEEL what should be there. don't go into your standard licks because that will just make all the solos sound the same. you can use your standard licks in solos but i try and use them for more of a way to change to a different section of the solo.

try to write your solo in sections as well. it makes is far easier to remember and you can make it flow better.

NOW THATS A GREAT ANSWER AND THE PERFECT ONE I MITE ADD. THE BEST MUSIC COMES FROM THE HEART . O GUITAR FREAKS ANSWER

cheers man

yes the best music comes from the heart, its true!!!!

that's why you always see really good guitarists like stevie ray vaun just playing and enjoying themselves. i mean, he hardley ever opens his eyes he's so into the music!

Harmonic minor is cool as hell.

I love that off tone that you get, almost like a eerie feeling.

kkal10 wrote:

im trying to learn how to play lead guitar but i am stuck in the minor pentatonic box and all of m solos sound the same does anyone have any suggestions

most guitarists ( at least to my knowledge) face this issue at one point or another.

I am going. I will use E minor/G Major for simplicity's sake.

Ok, so this technique of breaking the box that i will show you is another shape to memorize that will assist you in moving up the neck. It is a repeating two string pattern that looks like this (frets top to bottom, strings left to right):


   E  A  D  G  B  E

0
1
2
3 X
4
5 X  X
6
7 X  X

hopefully this makes sense. notice that i have left out the lowest e played on the open e string an i am therefore starting on "G". this is just to simplify the shape. it might make it easier for know to think of it as a G major for now.

ok, now let us repeat this shape off of each g in the scale, and tag on the low E. so, up the neck through three octaves it would look like this. (note that i have highlighted each minor root,in this case E, in blue)


    E  A  D  G  B  E

0 X
1
2
3 X
4
5 X  X  X
6
7 X  X  X  X
8                 X
9         X  X
10                X  X
11
12                X  X


this shape can be paticularly useful in linking the boxes together and extending them. so, if one was to play this shape up, then the box down at the twelfth fret, and this shape back up from the fiftheenth fret, on could have access to four full octaves , or one note less depending on how many frets you have. if you have 24 frets, the master diagram would look something like this (WITH THE BOX AT THE TWELFTH FRET IN BLUE):

    E  A  D  G  B  E

0 X
1
2
3 X
4
5 X  X  X
6
7 X  X  X  X
8                 X
9         X  X
10                 X  X
11
12 X  X  X  X  X  X
13
14     X  X  X 
15 X              X  X
16
17 X  X  X
18
19 X  X  X  X
20                 X
21         X  X
22                 X  X
23
24                 X  X

if you have 21 or 22 frets, just omit the notes played at the twenty fourth fret, or bend up to them.

so, if this makes any sense, you can see how the boxes can be extended and linked together if you remember this simple two string shape.

there is another way of  breaking the standard box that involves memorizing four other "boxes" that can be used in combination with the teqnique mentioned above.

this would be the master diagram of every note in the e minor pentatonic up to the 24th fret.

     E  A  D  G  B  E

  0 X  X  X  X  X  X
  1
  2     X  X  X
  3 X              X  X
  4             X
  5 X  X  X      X  X
  6
  7 X  X  X  X      X
  8                 X 
  9         X  X
10 X  X          X  X
11
12 X  X  X  X  X  X
13
14     X  X  X
15 X              X  X
16             X
17 X  X  X      X  X
18
19 X  X  X  X      X
20                 X 
21         X  X
22 X  X          X  X
23
24 X  X  X  X  X  X

OK, i know this can be a little confusing. dont worry, i am going to break it into simple pieces. if you will notice, i have highlighted the box you are familiar with in blue. this is the first shape of e minor. i am going to break e minor into other "boxes" (that could be thought of as the "modes" of the pentatonic scale, theoretically) that are just as simple to remember as this one.

ok, so the second "box will start off of the second note in e minor, the "g" at the third fret of the low "E". i have highlighted this, out of the master diagram in blue here:

     E  A  D  G  B  E

  0 X  X  X  X  X  X
  1
  2     X  X  X
  3 X              X  X
  4             X
  5 X  X  X      X  X
  6
  7 X  X  X  X      X
  8                 X 
  9         X  X
10 X  X          X  X
11
12 X  X  X  X  X  X
13
14     X  X  X
15 X              X  X
16             X
17 X  X  X      X  X
18
19 X  X  X  X      X
20                 X 
21         X  X
22 X  X          X  X
23
24 X  X  X  X  X  X

now i will again show the master diagram, with a box played off of the "a" at the fifth fret of the low e highlighted.

E  A  D  G  B  E

  0 X  X  X  X  X  X
  1
  2    X  X  X
  3 X              X  X
  4             X
  5 X  X  X      X  X
  6
  7 X  X  X  X      X
  8                  X 
  9         X  X
10 X  X          X  X
11
12 X  X  X  X  X  X
13
14     X  X  X
15 X              X  X
16             X
17 X  X  X      X  X
18
19 X  X  X  X      X
20                 X 
21         X  X
22 X  X          X  X
23
24 X  X  X  X  X  X

now off of the "B"

E  A  D  G  B  E

  0 X  X  X  X  X  X
  1
  2    X  X  X
  3 X              X  X
  4            X
  5 X  X  X      X  X
  6
  7  X  X  X  X      X
  8                  X 
  9         X  X
10 X  X          X  X
11
12 X  X  X  X  X  X
13
14     X  X  X
15 X              X  X
16             X
17 X  X  X      X  X
18
19 X  X  X  X      X
20                 X 
21         X  X
22 X  X          X  X
23
24 X  X  X  X  X  X

now, off of the "D"

E  A  D  G  B  E

  0 X  X  X  X  X  X
  1
  2    X  X  X
  3 X              X  X
  4            X
  5 X  X  X      X  X
  6
  7  X  X  X  X      X
  8                  X 
  9         X  X
10 X  X          X  X
11
12 X  X  X  X  X  X
13
14     X  X  X
15 X              X  X
16             X
17 X  X  X      X  X
18
19 X  X  X  X      X
20                 X 
21         X  X
22 X  X          X  X
23
24 X  X  X  X  X  X

now, you will notice we are at the octave, and the shapes repeat themselves:

E  A  D  G  B  E

  0 X  X  X  X  X  X
  1
  2    X  X  X
  3 X              X  X
  4            X
  5 X  X  X      X  X
  6
  7  X  X  X  X      X
  8                  X 
  9         X  X
10 X  X          X  X
11
12 X  X  X  X  X  X
13
14     X  X  X
15 X              X  X
16             X
17 X  X  X      X  X
18
19 X  X  X  X      X
20                 X 
21         X  X
22 X  X          X  X
23
24 X  X  X  X  X  X

so, we basically have these five shapes to memorize (one of which you already know)

     

NUMBER 1:

     E  A  D  G  B  E

  0 X  X  X  X  X  X
  1
  2     X  X  X
  3 X              X  X

NUMBER 2:
     E  A  D  G  B  E

  2     X  X  X
  3 X              X  X
  4             X
  5 X  X  X      X  X
 
NUMBER 3:

     E  A  D  G  B  E


  4             X
  5 X  X  X      X  X
  6
  7 X  X  X  X      X
  8                 X 
 
NUMBER 4:

  E  A  D  G  B  E


  7 X  X  X  X      X
  8                 X 
  9         X  X
10 X  X          X  X

NUMBER 5:

  E  A  D  G  B  E

21         X  X
22 X  X          X  X
23
24 X  X  X  X  X  X


If all five of these are momorized, one can play them in combination together to move up and down the neck. number 2 is played three frets higher than number one, number 3 is two frets higher than number two, number four is played two frets higher than number 4, number five is played three frets higher than number four, and number 1 is repeated two frets higher than number five, etc etc.

these shapes can be moved into all different keys. just shift the first minor pentatonic box into the new key, and the other "boxes" or shapes will follow that.

hopefully this makes some sense. if not, please respond and i (or one of the other fine folk on here) will try to clarify.

kkal10,

One idea for adding different sounds to your playing is to add more "tools" in your playing tool box. The tool box is kind of a mechanical, memorized set of notes or finger patterns that we can play to make music. Ideally, once we have learned enough tools, and can play them with enough skill, we can take off those "training wheels" and create our own sounds that use bits and pieces from all the tools we have learned.  The pentatonic scales are just one of the tools. You can learn scales, ascending, descending, intervallic, up and down, partial ascending and descending scales, arpeggios (major, minor, sevenths, augmented, dimished, etc).  As you add those additional things to your skillset, they can be interwoven together and used with the pentatonics in a way that matches your chord progression and adds variety to the sound of your playing.

     

http://www.guitarmore.com/