Pentatonic sequence in 3s: a scale exercise for solos
Box 1 in groups of three notes, as triplets up and back down. Sequences break the habit of running a scale straight up and down, so the notes come out as melodic patterns you can lift straight into a solo. It trains your time as well: the groups have to stay even against the beat.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with the metronome on, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 100 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 100 bpm
- Starts at
- 60 bpm
- Length
- 4 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
How to play it
The first note of each group lands on the beat; count the threes in your head.
Take box 1 of the A minor pentatonic and play three notes up, then start again from the second note and play three, then from the third, and so on to the top. Coming down, the same in reverse. Each group is a triplet, so it takes one beat.
The groups keep starting on a different string from the one before, which makes the picking less predictable than a straight run. Alternate pick it, and listen for the first note of each group falling squarely on the beat.
Mistakes to watch for
- Losing your place in the sequence halfway up. Learn it slowly enough that you could say each group's first note out loud.
- Groups that start early or late against the metronome, which turns triplets into a blur.
- Two notes on the same fret of neighbouring strings bleeding into each other: roll the fingertip from one string to the other.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 60
- 65
- 70
- 75
- 80
- 85
- 90
- 95
- 100
That's 16 loops and about 3 minutes before you're playing at 100 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one.
Questions
How fast should I play Pentatonic in 3s?
The goal is 100 bpm in eighth-note triplets, which is 5 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 60 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
Why practise scales in sequences?
Real solos rarely run straight up and down a scale. Sequences break the scale into small melodic patterns you can use in a solo, and they teach the shape far more thoroughly.
What other sequences are there?
Groups of four, intervals like thirds and fourths, and patterns that go up two and back one are all common. Once the 3s are comfortable, try fours on the same box.