Free Guitar Lesson - Adding Pentatonics To Open Chords

Here’s a really cool and simple way to add pentatonic’s to chords and to sound a bit like Jimi Hendrix. Lets play it first and then analysis what we are doing after. The 3 chords we will use is an open G, an open C and a D which is a C shaped slid up 2 frets (not a traditional D but sounds great).

So on the G section what you are actually doing is playing in theory is a G major pentatonic (same as an E minor pentatonic). Think of it as the 4th position minor, if that makes sense!
The C section is pretty much the same but this time you’re playing a C major pentatonic (same as an A minor pentatonic in the first position).
The D section is the same as the C section, but moved up 2 frets so again its a D major pentatonic.

Homework:
First of all try playing the full scale, so not just the 3 strings as shown above! Then try changing the scale around by missing out notes, adding string bends, double stops, vibrato, slides and anything else that takes your fancy, but keep it in time and be creative.
Try playing this progression – Gx2, Cx1, Gx1, Dx1, Cx1, Gx2.
Now swap the chords around, so perhaps start on the C and try and build up a song from there.

Timing Suggestion – 4 on the chord, 6 on the lead section. Use alternate picking to get the pace up.