Guitar
Scale Runs Part 1 - basic scale run patterns
You should be confident with using guitar scale runs as part of a
larger repetoire of lead techniques. When up to
speed, they sound impressive, yet they're not actually that complicated
to play.
Runs are about making fuller use of scales in an upward or downward
momentum. A scale run is heard as a quick burst of phrasing that has
more of a repetitive, linear pattern than, say, string skipping or
arpeggiation. Each tone is glanced
over rather than emphasised.
This series will take you right from the basics to more complex scale
run patterns. Not only do runs sound
great, they are also great exercise for your fingers. Many guitarist
play runs as part of their warmup regime, getting all four fingers
involved.
Ready? Let's start. You can either watch the video or read through the
lesson (or both!)
Guitar
scale runs basics - straight runs
The most basic run you can play is to simply move up or down a scale's
tones consecutively. Although very linear sounding, you do hear such
runs being used, especially in classical music, and in the right
context this kind of "pure run" of a scale can sound really effective.
What you need to think about is using the run as a lead up (or down) to a note you
wish to emphasise or rest on. This target
note is like a punctuation mark that puts the run phrase
into context. The run is the path that leads the listener to a
destination note.
Let's look at a scale pattern as an example:
That's the Lydian scale in its first position. If we wanted to use this
scale in a solo, we could incorporate a very simple phrase as follows...
So in that example, the straight run was a short, snappy lead up to the
#4th
tone
of the scale - part of Lydian's distinctive flavour. That's the tone I
wanted to highlight, and it was enhanced by using it to punctuate a run.
You don't have to end on a consecutive tone from the run either. For
example...
Just knowing in advance what your target note is will help you put any
run you use into context, making it sound natural and melodic. Of
course, there's nothing stopping you from experimenting with different
target notes and that should be a large part of your scale theory time.
Staggered
scale run patterns
Straight runs are great, but often you can get more expression out of a
scale by staggering the run pattern.
For example, working down a scale, you could take "3 steps forward, 1
step back" which is the example I'm using below with the minor
pentatonic scale. Remember to use strict alternate picking.
So I move down (or up) 3 consecutive tones in the scale, jump back a tone, 3 more forward, one back etc.
You can hear how this also defines the rhythm of the run...
1 2 3
- 1 2 3 - 1 2 3 - 1 2 3 - etc.
Of course, you don't have to go from top to bottom/bottom to top of a
scale pattern. You may find some runs only need to fill a short gap in
your solos to be effective.
Or, moving up
the scale, we could take 4
steps forward and 2
back...
If you can get up to a decent speed with just these two basic run
patterns, and you use them in the context we've been looking at (i.e.
target notes), you'll be surprised at how easy it is to "wow" the
listener.
The run can be used as a lead up to the climax of a lick, where you
apply a bend or wild vibrato and really punctuate the phrase. More on
that another time.
Now, these patterns can get a little (and a lot!) more complex. Up
until now, our "steps" forward and back have been from one consecutive
scale tone to the next/previous. What if, for example, on the steps
back, we were to skip a
tone? Let's take a look, this time using minor pentatonic...
We're now taking larger
steps back in our runs. We're skipping a tone as we move
back, in other words.
The
fingering for this particular exercise is a little trickier, because as
you move down, you'll notice that some movements involve moving from
one string to the next on the same
fret. This involves having to "roll" the finger back to
fret the string directly above and get a clean separation of notes...
Have
patience with this because at first it'll feel awkward. But like with
chords, hammer-ons, bends etc. it's all about repeated action to set in
that muscle memory. Once you get it, you won't forget it!
Notice how the natural rhythm for the above run is different from
before...
1 2 3 4 -
1 2 3 4 -
1 2 3 4 -
1 2 3 4 -
etc.
And it doesn't stop there. In the next part we'll look at more
intricate patterns, for use in heptatonic (7 note) scales.
Keep practising what we've looked at so far, ideally using a metronome
to speed up gradually. See if you can
apply these basic staggered runs to other scales you know.
