Adding chromatic notes
into your guitar solos
by Shawn Bradshaw
An easy way to add a little interest to your guitar solos is
to play the chromatic notes that "fill in the cracks" between
the notes of the scale. Since you mostly use your 1st and 3rd
fingers when you are playing the extended
minor pentatonic scale, the notes that you are going to add
are going to be played with you 2nd finger. The actual fingering
that you use when improvising can vary depending on where you
came from and where you are going. Use this chromatic note as
a passing tone between the other notes in the scale. This means
that you do not want to hold this note for very long, if you do
it will just sound like a wrong note. This added note will create
tension that is resolved when you reach the next note in the scale.
Try the examples below, and do your own experimentation.
A extended minor pentatonic
with added chromatic notes
Learn how to play some of today's top country hits. Songs like "Cowboys and Angels" from Dustin Lynch, "My Wish" from Rascal Flatts, "Austin" from Blake Shelton and more...
