Aeolian 5ths & 6ths

Martin Goulding looks at a sound common in rock and metal styles due to its first-choice status for playing over progressions based in a minor key.

The 10th part in our series follows on from our last lesson, where we worked through a multiple element ‘master exercise’ in E Aeolian, and with the associated chord, scale, arpeggio and intervallic pattern in 3rds and 4ths arranged in positions 1 and 4. This month we’ll revisit the same idea using 5ths and 6ths. In order to develop both legato and alternate picking approaches to scale and arpeggio playing in tandem, this month we’ll practice the Aeolian mode using a legato approach, with the minor 7 arpeggio executed using the sweeping technique in combination with hammer-ons and pull-offs. All intervallic patterns will be played as usual using alternate picking starting on a downstroke.