Melodic Pentatonic Soloing

In lesson 4 we are taking our first steps into the exciting world of Country lead guitar and soloing! We’ll focus on crafting melodic solos using the Major Pentatonic scale, which encompasses that classic, bright country sound.

We’ll explore how to blend rhythm and lead by first understanding our first scale and then this is the building blocks to start looking at how using the cage system, triads and other chord shapes can guide note choices, building tasteful solos that don’t need to be just flashy or fast!

Starting with the familiar open G chord, we can breakdown its notes to form a scale— the G Major Pentatonic. This relationship makes it easier to see how chords and scales intertwine, providing a simplified way to create music straight away! This way we aren't just learning 1 scale, and then trying to fit it in with a chord progression but rather using each chord to help us!

Experiment with this scale by changing directions, repeating notes, and capturing the vibe of the G major chord sound. You can then add a single note to transform it into the Major Blues Scale, borrowing from the minor pentatonic for extra flavour.

Apply this idea to each chord in the main progression, G, C and D - focusing on the root or octave of each chord to anchor your solos.

Main Play Through

Mastering these shapes is the first step; then, we can explore how the scales connect across the neck for more advanced soloing.

Try this lick in the higher register of the guitar and notice the chord changes in the lick. The scale shapes change which subtly highlights the sound of the chords!