Using the pentatonic scale to write a raw, high energy solo.

Pop-up instructional video to the left.

It's actually pretty easy to start putting together incredible sounding guitar solos. For this lesson we'll keep it simple and only use the pentatonic scale. If you don't know the pentatonic scale, here's your chance to learn. If you do know the pentatonic scale, skip down and learn how to put it to use writing your own solos!

Spend a lot of time practicing this scale and impress everyone. You can make it look easy, because it is, BUT you have to spend time practicing.

The pentatonic scale

The penta suffix is from the Greek word πεντε or pente, meaning five. There are only five notes in the pentatonic scale, get it? Today we'll only use G major pentatonic or E minor pentatonic (they are the same notes!). I mention the E minor pentatonic because it is so closely related to the E blues scale which simply adds another note. Click here to learn more about soloing with the blues scale.

The pentatonic scale is the bread and butter of many guitarists. It is worth using in conjuction with a normal G major or E minor scale to help fill out the chord progression as needed. 

Lets stick to the first position (and easiest to start with). The parenthesis simply mean that that note can be played there too.

And here is the octave. I would recommend moving up to the octave for the majority of your solos, it sounds great.

You should practice until that scale is second nature.

You should use the G major pentatonic or E minor pentatonic over a chord progressions in G or E minor. A few examples: Sweet Home Alabama, Rock You Like a Hurricane, Knocking on Heaven's Door, Sweet Child of Mine.

Composing licks

Now that you've got the scale down, its time to learn how to build your solo. It takes a couple key things to make up a phrase or lick. At its most basic you need:

1. Notes
2. Rhythm
3. Style 

The notes are going to be derived from the pentatonic scale but in the end you still have to pick and choose. The rhythm is going to come from how you want the phrase or lick to flow. The style consists of vibratos and bends and is very important in getting that rock-god sound.

If you need some style inspiration, just listen to David Gilmour of Pink Floyd play the solo to Comfortably Numb or Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2.

Building a generic lick

First, you're going to want to pick some notes. This isn't too hard to do randomly, which is how you start, but eventually you'll want to play something specific. Ascending and descending is good. Try to sing it as you play it. Here we go:

That's pretty simple. It combines rhythm and note selection to create a pleasing phrase. Let's add some style:

Notice how when I added the style I modified the lick while retaining the basic premise on which its based. Wide bends and vibratos work great in rock licks.

Build your own

This is what you came here to do. I'm sorry but I can't hold your hand on this one, you'll have to do it on your own. But what I will do is all the work to make an MP3 track to jam to. These jam tracks are bare bones guitar, bass and drums that I made very quickly without much attention.

Now JAM!

Head over to the Jam Corner and let loose! The jams are in mp3 format so you can download and do whatever you like with them! 

Bonus tip! ---> Download Audacity and import the jam track. Now create a second track and use a computer microphone to record your solo! Now, head over to the guitar forums and let us hear what you've got!

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