IT’S HARD TO THINK of anything more embracing to the worldwide guitar community than licks. We all love them for their immediacy, brevity, and audience appeal. This issue we’ve 40 great licks based in that most fundamental of all harmonic terrains; the world of the Pentatonic scale. This five-note wonder comes in various forms (Major, Minor, etc), and with varying intervals (2nds, 3rds, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths). But for many, talk of Pentatonics tends to mean Minor Pentatonic (R-b3-4-5- b7), and Major Pentatonic (R-2-3-5-6).
Drawing upon the CAGED system as a backdrop - afundamental framework to understanding the fretboard, based upon the simple chord shapes of E, G, A, C, and D - our 40 licks cover five short examples in the Major and Minor versions of the keys E, G,…
