Noodling.

Some random thoughts I had Sat nite. I just don't always stick to the planned exersize.

I find sitting with my guitar after stress (almost every day lately, did the home inspection today on my home, so step by step, the move is progressing, but stress, lol).

So I find some time and sit down to my guitar intending to do a study exersize drill, right now it's a couple fairly simple exersizes, 1/8 note strumming, with a percussive chuk at 2 and 4. Coming along, both on my little strat and my guild, suprisingly was initially harder than it should have been, sigh.. And major scale drilling, as the major scale is the monarch of the fretboard, I have been deliberately calling the notes in the pattern as r, 2 , 3 etc thru 7 then root again, doing it in G, so 3rd fret 6 strng root, keep it in line with Improv loop study. (An adaption I made on the Improv Loop study, to enforce the notes per position, make more moveable ultimately, etc. Yes, I've noticed that the g arpeggio is part of the major pentatonic scale. filed for future exploring.

So a couple of items intended to study for a bit each day.

And a simple song adding to my playlist, my recall of John Denver's "Eagle and Hawk" strum song has come back, :) drilling the sequences and cadences a bit with that song as well, it's kind of a 3/4 then 6/8 waltz feel, and I like the descending sound of the "e" chord shape in the intro/outro sliding down the neck.

I'm bad tho about sticking to my intentions..

I start out with good intentions, I do, I really do. But lately have been deterioriating into just a "noodling" session, which is actually quite relaxing, so obviously I needed that, but was not the initial intent. The noodling session is usually with a 1, 5, 4 chord sequence, or some variant, usually in G or maybe in C. Sometimes I strumm, sometimes I fingerstyle some random pattern/s. Mood of the day.

And I often try tossing in little pentatonic runs at points that feel right.

Yeah, I should be working with my looper. Also with the metronome, tho I'm working on the leg/foot to tap, so some progress is, at least on the rhythmn part. Heck, even tapping the foot while focusing on a strumm, or note pattern is a challenge, lol. Then add the metronome. but looking forward, always reaching for improvements, even small steps.

So far mostly just chord progressions and sometimes embellishments, (sus 2, sus 4 stylings, open chords, then up the neck in bars etc) then maybe a little melody shoehorned into the mix. Relaxing, enough variation to not be boring. And is suprising how many other chords can fit into the basic pattern. Can spend much time doing this, lol.

Now that's all out of the way, the reason for this. Tonight I realized, with a G scale progression, 1 5 4, the Gm pentatonic scale seemed to work (pattern with g on low e string). Huh. The 1 5 4 sequence, is a G, D and C, not minor.

Sounded good enough (yeah, to me, but as I was the one making the noise, I might be biased).

So the Major pent, is 1, 2, 3, 5, 6.

minor pent starts at major scale note 6, and so the uncertainty starts. I know the minor scale is just a mode from the major, but guess I'm just not there yet maybe, so just push off the need to "grok" for a bit, lol. Time to sketch it out for illumination. Always works. Done enough and the information finally sticks :). Well usually lol.

So to make sense of the minor pentatonic over a major chord sequence. Much opportunity to learn more, it appears will be never ending, and that's probably good lol).

I should be keeping my scribbles and notes searching for illumination, in a notebook, like the infamous Dr's Jones in "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade". lol.

Anyway, aside from questing for Illumination, hoping all have a great weekend!

Allan Lauchlan