Pentatonic Scale Legato Workout

Hey everyone! Here's the next episode of Scales & Tales with a Pentatonic Scale Legato Workout that will improve your fretboard awareness, legato technique, and frethand dexterity/strength at the same time - so let's dive in!
This lesson revolves around a legato workout I've had for a while that centers around the ever-popular pentatonic scale. This idea begins with the common "box" fingering in a high fretboard position, and then it gradually moves down the neck and works the individual positions along the way, until you've finally reached the scale fingering/position that you started with, only it's one octave lower by the end of the entire cycle of the workout.
This is a great technique-boosting concept, as it challenges your frethand strength, fingering dexterity, and coordination, while also challenging your knowledge/awareness of the five positions of the pentatonic scale across the fretboard. This type of "double-edged" workout is great, as you're working on your performance technique and skill, while also working on your knowledge of the fretboard and scale positions at the same time.
If you've been searching for a guitar workout that will give your fingers and brain a real challenge - this episode is totally for you! Give this episode a view, leave some comments/feedback, and please subscribe to Late Night Lessons - THANK YOU!
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[@uncleremus5046]

There is nobody close to you 🍺’ski with your lessons & content. From all us struggling bedroom hacks TY!!!

[@PerryCodes]

Absolutely agree!

[@yurithasmo]

You're one amazing teacher and player! I love your videos, so inspiring and fun to watch! ROCK ON!

[@423Bruce]

Crazy! I was just about to get some free time and spend it searching your videos for a few legato exercises. Lo and behold...

[@russelstrings9978]

Hi Dave, read elevator article. I punched a filing cabinet at work . Cast 4 weeks, rehab 4 weeks, surgery, bone marrow harvested from somewhere, cast 4 more weeks, rehab 4 weeks. Held a pick when the cast was put on. Bought a Squire so cast wouldn’t scratch my vintage Pauls and Strats 0:12

[@louiekariofillis8516]

Started practicing this, this afternoon. What a great exercise. Thank you D 🍻🤘

[@greg77hot]

Thanks Dave ... Just what I needed today !

[@theshallowsea]

Great workout David ! Always inspiring lessons 🙏

[@voronOsphere]

I definitely need to improve both my legato and my Pentatonic fretboard mapping, David! Thanks!

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Best way to understand scales and the note names is to write them down on fretboard charts. I did this in the 70's, and have known every note on the guitar since. I started with all seven diatonic modes, and over the years I just kept doing that for every new exotic scale I learned. Now you can find all of that with a quick search, but physically writing them down from only knowing where the steps of the scale, really etches them into memory. Here's a great exercise for legato: in one position on one string (like 5th fret high E string), keeping one finger per fret, first trill between the 4th and 3rd fingers (this is the hardest ofc, so be careful and stop if and when you feel pain), then trill from the 4th to 2nd finger, then from the 4th to 1st finger. This exercise is intended to be difficult, so again stop if you feel pain. The 4th finger is the weakest, just how weak comparatively is different per person. But I designed this in particular to make that difference in strength a lot less (Note: there must be others who invented the same exercise, and likely long before I did in the early 80's, I just don't know of any). Anyway, this will help greatly to even out your legato and make it easier to flow through it. Also, I didn't when I started and sure wish I had, practice hammers "from nowhere" with your first finger, or better still learn to play legato ala Alan Holdsworth where every note up or down scales, etc is hammered on (no pull offs). That's Holdsworth legato is Far beyond my level though. lols Have fun.😊

[@jeffdubuque3755]

@@aylbdrmadison1051 great advice thank you.

[@drewflax]

Great lesson. Thanks, David.

[@uberjam-sam8512]

Great lesson. It's not easy to find that place that's a doable, useful challenge. Adding the flat 5th is helpful for me as it forces me to better know scale degrees in real time. Adding the major 3rd is another option. And then changing chords but keeping the same position. So maybe a I-IV-V in F moving across the fretboard. Saying all this is to help me internalize this technique further (I'm sure you've thought of all this and then some). Haha Thank you for your consistently great and challenging lessons!

[@stephenmiller5023]

Happy Tuesday David , & thanks as always for your videos 👍👍

[@MarkBreton]

This is going to just be awesome once I start getting a hold of it. Thanks!!

[@jamesmarcin4787]

Great workout lesson. Definitely will be making this part of my practice session.

[@easter_sunday]

These have been great lessons. Sometimes I'll try them with a pick, and sometimes with my fingers. (I've developed this technique where I hold the pick with my middle finger and will use my thumb, forefinger and ring finger to do the fingerpicking). This one could be really fun with a few rolls here and there!

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

If you're holding it the crook of the finger joints like I do, I found out when I first started doing that if you use a larger pick that fits the length of that finger from joint to joint, you can still comfortably use the middle finger to pick also.

[@leontamer]

Best lesson about pentatonic legato ever! Thanks man! 🍻😎🤘🏻

[@zmaninpgh]

Great video! I love your videos

[@anshould]

Wowwwww this was really informative, fretboard knowledge++

[@STAMPER-DESIGN]

Thank you!

[@RF944]

WOW! Cool lesson once again. Thanks

[@pauldritsas6047]

Awesome stuff David you rock bro.!!!

[@frogderby]

Started playing playing about 3 years ago and have the 5 boxes down, but man, this lesson is really putting it all togather for me. Great exercise! Thanks Dave!

[@mikeivey8471]

Excellent video !!! Thank you !!!

[@Burkhimself]

Killer. Gonna work on this.

[@skipneumann1]

Love the idea!

[@HenryMittnacht]

Fantastic!

[@kenny3485]

Outstanding!! Thanks so much!!

[@tallpaul1020]

Love the workouts and exercises!!! Thx Dave, keep up the great work 🎸

[@stratocumulusnimbostratus328]

Great stuff, well explained, will give it a whirl thanks

[@jasonbidwell]

Thanks for another great lesson.

[@backtoshallabal6662]

I remember my guitar teacher "Joe" an Italian guy, I'll never forget. I remember he said he had one student who somehow hurt himself by spraining his wrist/fingers, and had to get surgery just to fix it. His mother was threatening to sue the music school which also taught piano and vocals. Good memories!

[@nathangiuliano2301]

Great lesson

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

The pentatonic scale is one note away from an arpeggio. It's the magic scale that connects hexatonic, diatonic, and octatonic scales to arpeggios.😊

[@oceancrosby4578]

Yep, first position pentatonic minor, and its fifth position pentatonic major. Great workout David, thanks for the licks.

[@PedroSilvaMusic]

Great workout 🤘🤠🤘

[@breathtimebreath4934]

Thank you soooooo much!!!! 🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m not worthy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@bustercrack788]

I am working on my legato at the moment and have recently invested in Guitar Pro so this has come at a great time thankyou . Oh and one other thing - he was good enough for Ozzy and Ian Gillan too so why are we not sharing the love for Bernie Torme. Come on DB - you know you want to ! 👍

[@johng2880]

This has been a very timely refresher for me. I had gotten a little lazy about remembering all those patterns and this is a great way to re-entrench them into my noggin.

[@PawpawJamz]

Good stuff, Man. 👍

[@jeffgarrison7056]

HAHAHA!!! Love the "Budget Animations!!!"

[@ngdguitar5081]

I have the same metronome. It's great!

[@Locknar77]

Great exercise! Probably going to move it to G minor to start, as the next time I intentionally play in F minor may be the first. Thanks!

[@justaguy2365]

Love that Vela!!

[@esteban1487]

I got that same metronome. it is usually neglected lol

[@ronaldpapa8182]

That guitar is absolutely beautiful!

[@MickH60]

Just something to think about. You're a good teacher and explain things well, I am not a beginner but was thinking about this lesson if a beginner, or someone with less ability was looking at it. I think for these "easier" type video's, to make them a bit more accessible, you should pick an open string tuning like E minor, A minor, or even D minor {for the drop D guys}, as these keys are very common for less experienced guitarists, and is where they would go to start noodling.. Does that make any sense ? I'm an almost 50 year player that's completely self taught , and over the years I've explained things like this to plenty of guitarists, I always went to A,D, E as they were very common places for average guys to play, once understood they can basically move them to any key.... 😉

[@MikefStktn]

Great lesson and rundown as always. I started looking for other workouts in different shapes and came across an 18 year old kid named Max Ostro. I can see you doing a breakdown from him in the future. Honestly I wouldn't know where to begin with that kid...

[@tyson1ize]

😝😝😝🤪 thanks David !!

[@KerryLiv]

Legato boot camp ~ (Shhh, I started at 45bpm, blame it on position # 3) ~ but well worth it

[@waynegram8907]

LATE NIGHT, you should look into doing a lesson about taking MODES and converting them to Pentatonic modes. Like how to bending pentatonic notes into landing on modal target notes and essential modal notes that define the mode. Pentatonic Modes are more useful like how Ritchie Blackmore did in Raindow live concerts would use Harmonic Minor Pentatonic scale or Phryrigan Dominant pentatonic scale to add in those modal notes. Making riffs and licks based on harmonic minor pentatonic scale and the phrygian dominant pentatonic scale it more useful in classic heavy metal rock which you should do a lesson about.

[@toneconsultant]

David, I'm watching this and I love it so thank you, but I swear, you don't make mistakes. Can you fake a mistake? It would help.

[@blakerogers7079]

Will you please make a video showing your set up and how you mic/record your videos?

[@jamesdobrovnik]

Neato

[@tomfoolery2082]

My metronome is so old it doesn't have a place for a battery. It winds up like an old alarm clock . Not even kidding . But it works .

[@fabghassem]

⚡️🎸💥

[@JnWayn]

It would be nice to know what fingering you use. You did mention not using impractical fingering but at the same time you said to not use the middle finger, however i find that for some positions the middle was more practical. It's possible that this is just because my hands are maxed out at this exercise. I just wanted to raise the point, and maybe others were thinking the same

[@T.C.H.C_2011]

What's up with the display on your amp? i was thinking of getting one of those...

[@BruceHarrell-qf7nz]

Love the guitar!! Care to let us know make and model?

[@stevec9972]

Looks like a PRS s2

[@jeremiahadams2302]

When at 90BPM, how many notes per beat? Are you playing 8th or 16th notes? I’m terrible with a metronome so any help would be great.

[@LateNightLessons]

Hey - it's 16th notes, so 4 notes per beat/click. 1-2-3-4

[@Biteyourownteeth]

are you doing down up down up ?

[@austinsandefer649]

Wish there was some tablature. 👍👍

[@ramseyomery]

the hidden easter egg is seeing how you finger the pentatonic

[@rocker8692]

FUKIN Davis Mutha Fukin Brewster in the house

[@headlesssoldier]

ugh. too much talking !

[@LateNightLessons]

Ugh. Not enough listening!

[@HappyHermitt]

Thank you!