I NTENSEGUITA R
Tapped Dominant Pentatonics
Hey folks, and thanks
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another installment
of Intense Guitar.
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this month’s topic, I’d
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tapping. You can tap, pull-
off, hammer-on; tap, pull-off,
pull-off; and hammer-on,
hammer-on, hammer-on. Try
experimenting with this scale
and its fingerings in place of
the minor pentatonic or blues
scales. It works very well over
the V chord of a progression
and will bring a new “flavor”
to your musical soundscape.
These scales will attract listen-
ers’ attention if you use them
sporadically – for example,
only over the V chord. Try it!
These are only suggested
fingerings and not to be set
in stone. Experiment with
other fingerings that may
be more conducive to your
particular style of playing.
Remember that it’s always
good to try out other finger-
ings, as you may run into
something you may have
never thought about.
This month’s question
comes from Jordan
Barnes of Rio Rancho,
New Mexico. Jordan
attended a clinic I gave
recently and asked, “I
saw you tapping something that was very
similar to the pentatonic shapes you wrote
out, but they sounded more dominant and
“Eastern” than the ones written out. Do
you also use dominant pentatonic patterns
for tapping as well? If so, could you please
write out some fingerings for me?”
That about wraps it up for
this month. Good luck in
your intervallic ventures and
we’ll see you next month in
Intense Guitar. As always,
“Who dares wins!”
you (and everyone else) to check out. Note
that the root notes are circled on the chart.
Jordan, you are spot on with that – I also
tap out dominant pentatonics, as well as
minor and major pentatonics. Nice observa-
tion! Now I’ll write out some patterns for
Now, we’ve gone over dominant pentatonic
scale fingerings before, but we haven’t
tapped them out. Our fretting fingers will
remain the same, so I hope that you have
those patterns down pat – if not, you may
want to revisit those scale fingerings. But
now we’ll introduce the picking/tapping
hand into the picture and get even more
intervallic. If you recall from last month,
there are three different ways to approach
Toshi Iseda
Toshi Iseda is an alumnus of the prestigeous Berklee
College of Music and the American Conservatory of
Music. He has been featured in Guitar Player, Guitar
World and Guitar/Guitar One magazines, and is a former
instructor at the National Guitar Workshop and the
American Institute of Guitar.
toshi@toshiiseda.com
intseguitr@aol.com
toshiiseda.com myspace.com/toshiiseda
