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I've been in a pentatonic-ridden plateau for a few years now...

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  • bwetsbwets Frets: 161
    I would say forget scales, work out your solos in your head and then find it on guitar.
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  • ExorcistExorcist Frets: 604
    FWIW looking at it from a different angle, - try mixing up the rhythm of your noodling, so for example, instead of ba - ba - ba - ba - ba - ba -ba, go for baba - ba - baba baba - ba - baba baa (or anything new), and try adding the odd chromatic passing note, and targeting notes to finish the phrase. 
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  • vizviz Frets: 10645
    bwets said:
    I would say forget scales, work out your solos in your head and then find it on guitar.
    Yes
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    edited November 2017
    I find 'Elevated jam Tracks' on YouTube quite useful for this:


    You get a picture with every possible note in each mode and a nice chord sequence to jam over it.
    It's a bit 'learning by rote' but you do pick up some stuff as long as fall completely into aimless noodling.

    Maybe pick a mode (e.g. Dorian, Aeolian) and then just jam over the relevant tracks for a bit?

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  • DontgiveupyourdayjobDontgiveupyourdayjob Frets: 3756
    edited November 2017
    Learning the different scales/modes is great and all, but I've always found it better to find tracks/solos that I like the sound of and work backwards.

    Learn the solo without thinking about the theory, then 'reverse engineer' to figure out how it all works theory wise. Then you can try putting into action what you've learned with your own songs/solos/jams or whatever.

    Great one to start for a Hendrix fan would be the album version of Red House, see how he blends major and minor blue scales effortlessly. 
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  • BRISTOL86BRISTOL86 Frets: 1920
    Exorcist said:
    instead of ba - ba - ba - ba - ba - ba -ba, go for baba - ba - baba baba - ba - baba baa 
    Are you the black sheep of your family?
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  • ExorcistExorcist Frets: 604
    BRISTOL86 said:
    Exorcist said:
    instead of ba - ba - ba - ba - ba - ba -ba, go for baba - ba - baba baba - ba - baba baa 
    Are you the black sheep of your family?
    haha - I am as it happens!!


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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4027
    When I saw the thread title I thought Eric Clapton had joined the forum...
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  • I also avoided modes for years, decades even. Then one day I was jamming with a friend and I decided that the "find the root note of the chord, frantically fumble a pentatonic scale, repeat for next chord" approach would no longer suffice. For the next few months I bought a  Hal Leonard guitar theory book and worked through it patiently until I finally had a solid grasp of all those annoying terms like 'Sus 4 'and 'dominant 7th' chords'. After that, learning modes became quite easy. I now wonder why I found it so daunting all those years... So anyhow, the moral of this story is: If I managed to pull myself out of the Pentatonic quagmire after 20+ years of indolent wallowing in its benignly flatulent stench, anyone can. 
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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14034
    tFB Trader
    nothing wrong with the pentatonic as a base for many to start from - add a flat 5th as required - blend the minor 3rd and major 3rd as required - then add the 6th and 9th - They don't all work all the time and some work better as you move up the scale as against down - just try and find these notes then doodle and play phrases you know, then add or or two additional notes as required - certainly adds a 'jazzy' flavour and/or fusion flavour to blues licks in the style of Robben Ford etc - works for 50's style rockabilly and swing as well - Works for Wes Montgomery as well - remember no rules and that these additional notes don't work all the time, but they are a simple way to embellish what you have
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  • Jimbro66Jimbro66 Frets: 2418

    The trouble with using scales as a basis of what you play is that you can move from one rut to another. By all means learn the modes and then use the CAGED system, or similar, to discover where they are all over the neck. But, as far as creating interesting solos goes, @bwets has given the best advice.

    First of all learn melodies (any songs will do) to the point where you can hit all the right notes, anywhere on the board, without hesitation or fluffing. Then use that ability to create solos in your head, as @bwets suggests, and simultaneously play the right notes. It takes a lot of practice but no more than endlessly learning scales and your solos will be a lot better for it. No more ruts ;)

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