EBO Music Studios Online Guitar

EBO Music Studios Online Guitar Lessons
January 2007

Lesson# 1 - Descending C Minor Run

Welcome to the EBO Music Studios Online Guitar Lessons. The monthly lessons will vary in topic and skill and hopefully provide something for guitarists on all levels. This months lesson features a descending scale pattern for the intermediate guitar player. Before we take a look at the lick, lets dive into theory behind the lick. It is derived from the C natural minor scale (C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb C) in the 12th position shown in Figure 1. This lick incorporates a raised 7th which I borrowed from one of my favorite sounding scales, the harmonic minor scale. I love the classically edgy sound of it, so I often incorporate it into my creative process when coming up with ideas for licks. The C harmonic minor (C , D, Eb, F, G, Ab, B, C) is shown in Figure 2. Because of the raised 7th in the harmonic minor scale, it does not lend itself well to Dominant 7th chords, so be careful improvising with it. It works very well over a standard minor chord of the same name (i.e. B harmonic minor over a Bm chord) Lets take a look at this lick. (Figure 3)

At first glance we can see the odd grouping of notes. I cant stress enough the importance of a metronome when learning any music, but especially when it involves tuplets. In this case we have 4 groupings of quintuplets. Each beat contains five 16th notes played in the space of 4. It is very important when playing this to make sure each not receives the same value and they are played evenly. Be sure to start slow and use your metronome. Its very easy to play this incorrectly by playing twenty straight 16ths instead of 4 quintuplet groupings. The lick starts on the 1st string, 11th fret on the Eb and the first 5 notes are picked starting with a down stroke. You may find it more comfortable to start with an up stroke due to the odd note groupings. As we move to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th beats we can see the pattern is the same on all 3 beats and have incorporated a pull-off between the fourth and fifth note of each tuplet. This gives the lick a little more fluidity, but still keeps that strong attack that would not be present from full legato throughout. The "borrowed" note I mentioned earlier occurs on beat two as we hit the B note on the 2nd string 12th fret and is more of a passing tone, but it really adds flavor to this pattern. You may also notice the fingering to this pattern is very convenient and its only uses your 1, 2 and 4 which for me is very natural. This is a fun lick that is fairly easy to learn. Just take your time and learn it slowly. Feel free to be creative and experiment with it in different keys and use the scales to create your own patterns. The most important part to learning new ideas is to assimilate them into your own playing and find your own voice and set free your own creative vision. I hope you enjoyed this first lesson. Please check out the video to hear the lick as well. Thank you for visiting EBO Music Studios.

　Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

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