Runs

[GDan]

I really would like to know how to do fast runs in my solos.
To give you an idea of where Im at I know the major and minor scales, I know them in pentonics and I know the Melodic(or is it harmonic? I forget.) But just playing them really fast dosent sound sound like any of the runs I've ever heard.

I can solo on my own, Im at the point where my fingers usually know where they are going without sticking to the patterns or thinking to much about it and I can play fast enough to do a run but I dont know what notes I should be playing.

Every time I see or hear someone do a run I notice that they dont seem to be sticking to these scales, They usually have some other pattern and If they are playing the scale they are playing the notes in an order that is different from streight up or down.

[pardo]

Hey, I know what you mean - there's a difference between playin a run and just running through a scale.

Something I'd recommend is starting with pentatonics. If ya wanna do a decending run, try goin down 3 notes, up 1, down 3, up 1 down 3, up 1 etc...

That'll at least get ya on the path. You could do the exact opposite ascending - up 3, down 1 etc.

You could also do the same with diatonic scales - the major and minor etc. But then you may start sounding like finger excercises.

I think people have little idiosyncratic things indivudual to them. Little blocks of notes that feel natural to play in a row - sort of a mini lick. Just take this block of notes and plug it into a scale - play that pattern across all 6 strings. I hope that makes sense. That way you're puttin your best foot foward and developing your own style/sound.

Anyway, whatever works for ya. Some of my favorite players don't stick to patterns. When you transcribe their runs, they have no set sequence. I think thats pretty cool.