{"id":147784,"date":"2025-05-23T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=147784"},"modified":"2025-05-22T09:27:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T16:27:17","slug":"learn-to-play-simple-but-musical-solos-with-just-five-notes-in-open-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/learn-to-play-simple-but-musical-solos-with-just-five-notes-in-open-position\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn to Play Simple but Musical Solos with Just Five Notes in Open Position"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Guitar Soloing Basics | Part 1 | Build a Blues Solo with Only Five Notes\" width=\"1290\" height=\"726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p-iII1IplRA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To the uninitiated, guitar soloing can be both alluring and a little daunting\u2014it seems to require a whole different kind of knowledge and facility on the fretboard than playing rhythm does. While it\u2019s true that solos can be fast and complex, they certainly don\u2019t have to be. You can build great, musically satisfying solos from very simple elements, just as you can create great songs from just a few chords. Take inspiration from Neil Young\u2019s epic guitar solo in \u201cDown by the River,\u201d where he plays the same note no fewer than 38 times (!) in a row. Nothing fancy about that, but in context it\u2019s totally gripping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Welcome to a new Basics series that offers entry points into the world of soloing\u2014for newcomers to lead playing as well as those looking to strengthen their foundations. With soloing, it can be discouraging to try to go straight from zero (strictly a rhythm player) to 60 (full-on shredder). Instead of racing into the tricky stuff, we\u2019ll take it slowly in these lessons, looking at building blocks of solos like scales, chord shapes, and phrasing, starting right in the familiar territory of open position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For this first installment, we\u2019ll go into the musical realm where so many of us take our first steps in soloing: a classic blues progression in E and the pentatonic scale. While this lesson is rooted in a specific style, the concepts apply to any type of music, as we\u2019ll explore throughout this series. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Blue Notes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In essence, soloing involves picking from a set of notes that fit with the music you\u2019re playing over, and putting them together into sequences and phrases\u2014just as when you speak, you are drawing on words you know and combining them to make sentences. There are several ways to build a vocabulary of notes for soloing. In this lesson we\u2019ll use one of the most common: the minor pentatonic scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The minor pentatonic, true to its name, has just five notes: 1 (the root), b3, 4, 5, and b7. The numbers are scale degrees, and they lay out a pattern that applies to any key. Take a look at <strong>Example 1,<\/strong> which shows the minor pentatonic scale in E in open position. The notes are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1 b3 4 5 b7<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>E G A B D<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Play the scale up and down, and notice the fret pattern: on strings 6, 2, and 1 you play the open string and the third fret; on strings 5, 4, and 3 you play the open string and the second fret.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Break It Down<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now let\u2019s play pieces of the scale, as in the next series of examples. Take these one measure at a time. Play the examples as written, then follow the patterns I\u2019m using and make up your own using other notes in the scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <strong>Example 2a<\/strong>, play part of the scale on just two strings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <strong>Example 2b<\/strong>, play four notes again but change direction. In the first measure, for instance, ascend the scale for three notes, then descend.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <strong>Example 2c<\/strong>, skip over scale notes, as in the first measure, where you jump from E (1) to A (4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far we\u2019ve played only quarter notes; now let\u2019s bring in eighths. In keeping with the blues groove we\u2019ll be using, play with a swing feel\u2014so a pair of eighth notes sounds like the first and third notes of a triplet (refer to the video, and also see Here\u2019s How in the March\/April 2025 issue for a guide to swing feel). In <strong>Example 2d<\/strong>, play a pair of eighth notes on beat 2; in <strong>Example 2e<\/strong>, play the eighths on beat 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Use Phrases and Patterns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now comes the good stuff: using these notes to create actual solos. We will play over a 12-bar E blues progression that I have recorded with a simple shuffle rhythm. In the video you can see the rhythm part by itself, then you\u2019ll find it inset along with each solo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s important to note we are using an E minor pentatonic scale, but the key is actually E major: the chords are E, A, and B7. Playing (or singing) notes from a minor scale over a major key progression creates a harmonic tension that\u2019s fundamental to blues\u2014and blues-influenced styles like rock and bluegrass.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But let\u2019s get rolling, and play some solos that use only notes of the open position E minor pentatonic. Two core principles are at work in the solos that follow, and we\u2019ll continue to apply them through this whole series of lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Play phrases<\/em>. Think of your guitar during a solo as a vocalist. Sung melodies aren\u2019t a continuous stream of notes; there\u2019s a line, a pause, then another line, and so on. Aim for that quality in your solos, with lines\/phrases separated by space.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Create patterns. <\/em>Every time you play a series of notes, you create a pattern\u2014a particular sequence of pitch and rhythm. When you\u2019re soloing, try repeating and playing off of the patterns you create. That\u2019ll make a huge difference in tying your solos together musically.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Take Flight<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For our first solo, <strong>Example 3<\/strong>, start small and use only the four scale notes on the G and D strings (open and second fret). Is it possible to play a credible solo with just four notes? Let\u2019s see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Play the opening phrase in the first three bars, while the chords change from E to A and back to E. Then stop\u2014and leave the rest of bar 3 plus bar 4 open, just as a blues singer might do. Starting in bar 5, repeat the opening phrase exactly, this time over an A chord going to E\u2014and then take another extended pause. The final phrase, starting in bar 8, doesn\u2019t repeat the earlier phrases precisely but uses similar patterns: the same note played three times on the beat, for instance, and a pair of eighth notes on beat 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While this solo isn\u2019t tricky, in my book it is legit for sure\u2014and sounds musical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take another pass in <strong>Example 4<\/strong>, this time using scale notes on the bottom three strings only. Start the opening phrase on beat 2, and repeat it exactly beginning in bar 5. The last phrase uses different notes but follows a very similar rhythmic pattern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <strong>Example 5<\/strong>, focus on strings 1\u20133, again playing a series of three phrases that use similar rhythms and melodic shapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Down to the Roots<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So far in these solos, we haven\u2019t paid particular attention to the chords we are playing over, as they cycle through E, A, and B7. In our final solo in this lesson, we\u2019ll respond to those chord changes in an easy but impactful way: by playing the root of each new chord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These root notes are already in our minor pentatonic scale. Look back at the scale in Ex. 1, and you will see there are E notes on the open sixth string; fret 2 of the fourth string; and the open first string. There are A notes on the open fifth string and fret 2 of the third string. And there are B notes on fret 2 of the fifth string and the open second string.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So in <strong>Example 6<\/strong>, each time the chord changes, play the root of the new chord right on the downbeat. In other words, play an E on beat 1 of measures 1, 3, 7, and 11; an A note on beat 1 of measures 2, 5, and 10; and a B note on beat 1 of measure 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hitting these chord tones is a great way to lock your solo in more tightly with the progression and underscore the changes in the harmony. This is another idea we\u2019ll continue to develop through this series.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that you\u2019ve worked through these examples, put away the tab, cue up the rhythm track, and start improvising your own lines. Happy soloing! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"758\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-1-3.png?resize=758%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Step Into Soloing, Part I guitar notation and tablature, page 1\" class=\"wp-image-147787\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-1-3.png?resize=758%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 758w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-1-3.png?resize=370%2C500&amp;ssl=1 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-1-3.png?resize=768%2C1037&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-1-3.png?resize=222%2C300&amp;ssl=1 222w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-1-3.png?w=1084&amp;ssl=1 1084w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 758px) 100vw, 758px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"756\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-3-5.png?resize=756%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Step Into Soloing, Part I guitar notation and tablature, page 2\" class=\"wp-image-147788\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-3-5.png?resize=756%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 756w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-3-5.png?resize=369%2C500&amp;ssl=1 369w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-3-5.png?resize=768%2C1041&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-3-5.png?resize=221%2C300&amp;ssl=1 221w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-3-5.png?w=1084&amp;ssl=1 1084w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 756px) 100vw, 756px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"502\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-6.png?resize=1024%2C502&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Step Into Soloing, Part I guitar notation and tablature, page 3\" class=\"wp-image-147789\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-6.png?resize=1024%2C502&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-6.png?resize=500%2C245&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-6.png?resize=768%2C376&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-6.png?resize=300%2C147&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AG353-BASICS-SOLOING-EX-6.png?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/store.acousticguitar.com\/products\/no-353-july-august-2025\" name=\"magazine\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 150px; height: 198px; margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/001_353_Cover-150px.jpg?w=1290&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Acoustic Guitar magazine cover for issue 350\"><\/a>\n<p style=\"font-family: sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px 0px;\">This article originally appeared in the <a href=\"https:\/\/store.acousticguitar.com\/products\/no-353-july-august-2025\">July\/August 2025<\/a> issue of <em>Acoustic Guitar<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to a new Basics series that offers entry points into the world of soloing\u2014for newcomers to lead playing as well as those looking to strengthen their foundations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":147785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"Welcome to a new Basics series that offers entry points into the world of soloing\u2014for newcomers to lead playing as well as those looking to strengthen their foundations. ","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[1968],"ppma_author":[1559],"class_list":["post-147784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lessons","tag-july-august-2025"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_1992-photo-jeffrey-pepper-rodgers.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":1559,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"jeffrey-pepper-rodgers","display_name":"Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/About-Us-8.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/About-Us-8.jpg"},"author_category":"","user_url":"https:\/\/www.jeffreypepperrodgers.com\/","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":"Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, founding editor of <em>Acoustic Guitar<\/em>, is a grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and author of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3P3hwn9\"><em>The Complete Singer-Songwriter<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/store.acousticguitar.com\/collections\/instruction\/products\/beyond-strumming\"><em>Beyond Strumming<\/em><\/a>, and other books and videos for musicians. In addition to his ongoing work with <em>AG<\/em>, he offers live workshops for guitarists and songwriters, plus video lessons, song charts, and tab, on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/jeffreypepperrodgers\" target=\"blank\">Patreon<\/a>.\r\n"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147784"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147957,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147784\/revisions\/147957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147784"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=147784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}