In this lesson we’re going to look at the Time guitar solo, a classic from David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. If you just take a casual listen to it, it may not seem like much is going on. But when you look deeper into what’s being played, you see there are some really effective ways to get a lot of mileage out of a single scale.

In this lesson we’re going to look at the application of the major scale by learning the Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door guitar solo by Slash of Guns N’ Roses.

Pentatonic scale extensions open up the door to a variety of new uses for the scale and expands your knowledge of the scale up and down the fretboard.

One of the easiest ways to learn your way around the fretboard is by applying licks to each scale position. You take something you already know how to play and apply it to the different positions on the fretboard.

In previous lessons we’ve learned about the CAGED system for learning guitar chords and scales. Another system that is useful for learning scales is the 3 notes per string system.

When we first learn the pentatonic scales, it’s typically done position by position. We learn one pattern, then the next, and so on. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, but if we don’t expand on it we’re bound to feel trapped in the “box”.

In the lesson Navigating Major Scale Positions on Guitar by Using the Root Note, we learned how to use the root note of the major scale as an anchor point to move between scale positions on the guitar. In this lesson, we take a look at the root note patterns of the minor scale positions.

One of the challenges we face as guitar players wanting to incorporate leads into our playing is being able to move between scale positions. We learn all of the patterns, but typically rely on one or two boxes for our leads.

The harmonic minor scale. A staple in classical music and a fan favorite of the neoclassical shredders, it’s sinister sound catches the ear.