In this lesson, we are going to revisit extended modal shapes once again. This time, instead of looking for chords, we are going to look for patterns of notes that we can use in a lead type of situation.

Let's take the extended Mixolydian shape as our example this time around.

Extended Mixolydian shape
E3, E5, E7
A3, A5, A7
D3, D5, D7
G4, G5, G7
B5, B6, B8
H5, H7


Immediately, I see a pattern of notes in this shape that lends itself to being a useful picking exercise.


Pattern:
E3id, E5mu, E7pd, A5md
D3id, D5mu, D7pd
-------------- Coming back, we have
D5mu, D3id, A5mu
E7pu, E5md, E3iu


That transition with the pick on D3id to A5mu can be a tricky part to execute. Normally, we would strive to find a way to get our notes to be an even number for the turn around, but that isn't always convenient. So, practice this exercise slowly until you get used to picking through the turn around accurately. Again, I stress the importance of using a metranome here to help keep your hands and brain working in proper time as a team.

I'll leave it to you for homework to examine this shape further on your own to develop your own patterns of notes. Write out the patterns that you find and start incorperating them into your practice sessions. Runs like this can make for nice phrases later when you start getting more into playing lead.

Now, something else you can do is start to pay closer attention to where the standard position of each extended shape is on the guitar neck. You want to start to become very aware, when playing through an extended shape, which extended shape is to the left and to the right of the one you are playing in. The more familiar you get with this sort of mental visualization of patterns, the easier it will be for you to break into lead guitar playing. Sometimes, I spend entire evenings just running through these extended shapes in order up the neck to insure that I keep it all fresh in my head. If I know which shape is to the right or left of the shape I am currently in, I can borrow notes from those extended shapes to construct more interesting patterns to execute. And it's just good practice to improvise by moving in and out of shapes at will and writing out new patterns as you find them for future reference. This way, you will never run out of material to work on in your practice sessions.


Corey J. Bray