Pentamodal
Idea

By
Paul Tauterouff

 

Note:
Prior knowledge of the five Minor Pentatonic box patterns and
the 7 modal shapes is helpful for understanding this lesson, but
not absolutely necessary.

Objective:
To help guitarists already familiar with the pentatonic scale
to learn and utilize the modes in their lead guitar playing.


As a guitarist, I am primarily self-taught and didn’t have
any formal music theory training in the early stages of my playing.
The first scales that I learned were the five positions or box
patterns of the minor pentatonic scale. I wrote the diagrams out
by hand, and would play (and draw) them constantly.

When
I was first exposed to the seven modes of the major scale, I did
the same thing; sketched the fretboard diagrams, studied how the
shapes fit together, etc. Even after I had the modal shapes memorized,
I was still having a difficult time actually applying them to
my lead playing. Seven shapes just seemed like too many after
becoming so accustomed to the five box patterns of the pentatonic
scale.

Then
I came up with an idea: What if I divided the modes of the major
scale up into 5 scale chunks, based on the five Minor Pentatonic
box patterns that I was already comfortable with? This way I would
only have to add a couple of new notes to each of the 5 pentatonic
boxes! For lack of a better name, I’ve decided to call this
the Pentamodal Idea.

To
demonstrate, let’s work out an example for a scale which
is commonly used in rock guitar lead playing – the 6th mode of
the Major Scale, Aeolian mode (a.k.a. the Natural Minor scale).
The following examples are in the key of A minor.


Here is our 1st Pentamodal shape, Aeolian Mode:


Aeolian
Mode w/ A Minor Pentatonic box 1 notes circled


We will skip Locrian, the mode that would normally follow Aeolian,
since its first note (B at the 7th fret of the low E string) does
not align with our A Minor Pentatonic scale box patterns.

This brings us to Pentamodal Pattern #2, Ionian Mode:

Ionian
Mode w/ A Minor Pentatonic box 2 notes circled


Note: Keep in mind that even though we may have
skipped over the Locrian Mode, its notes are still available for
us to use in our soloing via patterns 1 and 2, we just aren’t
thinking of it as its own individual shape or box pattern.


Continuing in order, Pattern #3 consists of the
Dorian shape:

Dorian
Mode w/ A Minor Pentatonic box 3 notes circled


Next is Pattern #4, which includes the Phrygian
mode:

Phrygian
Mode w/ A Minor Pentatonic box 4 notes circled

We
will skip the mode that would normally follow Phrygian, (Lydian)
because its first note does not align with the Minor Pentatonic
scale box pattern in our A Aeolian-based example.

This
brings us to our 5th and final pattern, using
the Mixolydian mode:

Mixolydian
Mode w/ A Minor Pentatonic box 5 notes circled


Key Points:

1.
Remember, we’re still playing all of the notes of the
seven modes, we’ve just chosen to break them up into 5
box patterns – like our minor pentatonic scales.

2.
The above patterns will also work for a C Ionian (Major) root,
since it is the relative major of A Aeolian Mode.

3.
Depending on which mode we choose to be our #1 (root) or parent
scale, different modes may be skipped over. For example, if
A Dorian minor was our #1 scale, we would skip Phrygian (at
B, the 7th fret of the low E string) and Lydian would be our
#2 shape, at the 8th fret (the C note).

4.
This is a “quick-and-dirty” method for assimilating
the modes into your playing. Once you become familiar with using
these shapes, I highly recommend also working out and memorizing
the three note-per-string patterns for the modes. Box patterns
are great for breaking ideas into small, easily digestible pieces,
but you don’t want to be limited by them either.


I hope this lesson helps you to begin to implement modal sounds
into your playing.

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you enjoyed this article I invite you to sign up for my free newsletter
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©2008
Paul Tauterouff All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

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Paul Tauterouff is a professional guitarist/ teacher in New York
and is co-manager of the Tom Hess Music Careers Mentoring Program.
Paul is currently working on several instructional projects and
two CD’s for 2008 release. Visit Paul’s website at
http://paultauterouff.com