Stuck in your Pentatonic box? Check out these lessons from Robbie Laws’ 30 Penta Sonic Blues Licks You MUST Know, in which Robbie shows you the absolute best way to learn all your pentatonic positions in any key, but as you’re learning these positions, you’ll also be adding killer “penta sonic” licks to your vocabulary. So grab your
Blues Lick #12: King’s Thang
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A minor pentatonic box pattern #1.
You’ll start out on the root note A of the D string at the 7th fret with the 3rd finger, then move on up to the G string 5th fret with your index finger. Next, hit the minor 3rd C and continue up to the G string at the 7th fret. Finally, jump up to the B string 5th fret with your index finger and then pivot back to the G string at the 5th fret using the same finger.
Blues Lick #13: Sidewinder
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A minor pentatonic box pattern #1.
This lick is an inspired tribute to the Great Texas blues swing master T-Bone Walker. You’ll be using some of T-Bone’s own quintessential phrasing as well as some of his signature note choices.
Blues Lick #19: Rollin’ With Albert
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A minor pentatonic box pattern #2.
Here you have one of the most classic Albert King licks of all time. Start out with a slide up on the G string from the 7th fret to the 9th frets using your 2nd finger. Then go up to the B string 10th fret with your 3rd finger, to the root note A. Go back to the G string at the 9th fret using your 2nd finger, and take a big jump up to the high E string 8th fret with your index finger. Next, go back to the 10th fret of the B string using your 3rd finger and stay on the B string to drop to the 8th fret with your index finger.
Then go down to the G string with a short chromatic line played from the 9th fret down to the 8th fret and to the 7th frets using a 3, 2, 1 finger combination. Lastly, you’ll drop down to the D string at the 10th fret with your 4th finger performing a 1/4 step reverse-bend, then tag the root note A at the 7th fret of the D string and add some nice vibrato.
Blues Lick #26: Sweet Talkin’
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A minor pentatonic box pattern #3.
You say that you can’t get enough B.B., well then, here you go. B.B. was a great professor of phraseology and feel – just trying to say a lot with a little. This lick exemplifies that approach.
Right out of the gate, we’ll start with a slide on the 10th fret of the D string up to the 11th fret with your 3rd finger, and on up to the G string at the 9th fret using your index finger, followed by a move up to the 11th fret on the G string with your 3rd finger. Boom! There it is, the big A root note played with your 2nd finger, and add some vibrato. To finish, drop down to the G string on the 11th fret with your 3rd finger and then a full bend on the B string 12th fret using your 3rd finger.
Blues Lick #27: Wailing Bends
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A minor pentatonic box pattern #3.
You say that you can’t get enough B.B., well then, here you go. B.B. was a great professor of phraseology and feel – just trying to say a lot with a little. This lick exemplifies that approach.
Right out of the gate, we’ll start with a slide on the 10th fret of the D string up to the 11th fret with your 3rd finger, and on up to the G string at the 9th fret using your index finger, followed by a move up to the 11th fret on the G string with your 3rd finger. Boom! There it is, the big A root note played with your 2nd finger, and add some vibrato. To finish, drop down to the G string on the 11th fret with your 3rd finger and then a full bend on the B string 12th fret using your 3rd finger.
Blues Lick #30: A7 Punctuation
Download the tab & notation for this penta sonic blues lesson.
A minor pentatonic box pattern #3.
This lick is almost too much fun to play, but don’t let that stop you! With the B string getting almost all the attention, you’ll be playing some up tempo triplets.
You’re starting on the 10th fret of the G string, going up to the 11th fret using your 2nd finger, and here you’ll hit the ground running, on the G string going from the 10th fret to the 12th fret, on to the 13th fret, and back to the 10th then repeating that two more times before you get back to the G string 11th fret with your 2nd finger. Lastly, go back up to the B string 10th fret with your index finger bending that root note a 1/4 step and tag the A7 chord.
All of the licks are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. Plus, Robbie generously includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own. After learning Robbie’s approach, you’ll find the confidence to express yourself anywhere on the fingerboard in any key, at any time. Want more? Continue your quest for freedom in the full course.