Pentatonic Sweeps
I started working on an idea about pentatonic sweeps today. It came to me a while ago, but it will need a fair amount of practice before I can do anything with it.
If you stick to 2 notes per string, there are 5 well-known pentatonic scale positions. Each string has a low note and a high note. My idea was to play the low note on one string, the high note on the next string, the low note on the next string, etc. Sweep across the strings, alternating low and high notes on each string. When you reach the limit of the sweep, you can turn it around by playing the 2nd note on the last string of the sweep. Continue alternating in the other direction.
Here's an example with A minor pentatonic on the top 3 strings at frets 5-8. Low to high, the notes are C, D, E, G, A, C'. Sweeping up and down twice as described above would result in these notes:
C G A C' E D C G A C' E D
Alternatively:
D E C' A G C D E C' A G C
This pattern can be used on any group of strings in any 2-note-per-string pentatonic scale position, and there won't be any finger rolls.
I can tell this technique has the potential for serious speed. I'm not sure how I'd use it. Maybe quick pentatonic flurries, but those could get old. We'll see. I have no doubt that this will improve my overall chops. It's fun, so I'll pursue it.
Dave Thomas (18 Feb 2008 at 1:37am)
did you work out what the chords were that these sweeps represent?
I do a similar thing when I am using pentatonincs, although I just sweep fragments of the scale rather than just alt picking them, sometimes you get a nice sequence ...
Joe (18 Feb 2008 at 12:13pm)
Unless you do a tiny fragment, like 2 strings, the sweep will hit every note in the pentatonic scale. So it's more like a different way to play the scale rather than an arpeggio representing a specific chord.
Of course, you could also view it as a 5-note arpeggio, m11 for minor pentatonic (1 b3 5 b7 11), or 69 for major pentatonic (1 3 5 6 9).