Tip: The Stardust Pattern

Darrin Koltow Blog Practice Tips for Guitar, Scales and Modes for Guitar

Let’s look at a simple but pleasing pattern to break up the monotony of the standard scale pattern. We can call this the Stardust pattern. These are all eighth notes.

|-8-5-6---5-------|-----------------|
|-------8---6-8-5-|-6---5-----------|
|-----------------|---7---5-7---5---|
|-----------------|-----------8---7-|
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|

-----------------|-------------|
-----------------|-------------|
-----------------|-------------|
-8-5-7---5-------|-------------|
-------8---7-8-5-|-7---5-------|
-----------------|---8---6-8-5-|

|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------5---7-|
|---------------5-|---7-5-8-7---8---|
|---5---7-5-8-7---|-8---------------|
|-6---8-----------|-----------------|

---------------5-|---6-5-8----|
---5---6-5-8-6---|-8----------|
-5---7-----------|------------|
-----------------|------------|
-----------------|------------|
-----------------|------------|

If you want to continue working with this pattern, you might try these additional exercises: transpose to another major scale pattern; start on a different note; jump by a perfect fourth instead of a third.

Thanks for reading.

This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News – March 1, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.