Sequence as a musical device (please share)

[rmsmarr]

Hello

I thought a discussion of sequence here in improvising might be interesting. I apologize if it has already been covered. But I use it some times to a detriment. That being said, I think a little practice with the device can be a good thing.

A simple major diatonic pattern descending

1654
7543
6432
5321
4271

Simply a diatonic 3rd followed by two steps

[bobby d]

Interesting... it sounds like the melody for "smile, you're on candid camera". Not sayin' that's a bad thing, and I'm apparently dating myself. Most of the sequencing I use has become cliche from being used so much by guitarists. 3 note in triplets or 4 note sequences up or down the scale are common.

So what I came up with is to combine them. Play a 4 note sequence in the minor pentatonic scale, but with the feel of triplets. It's confusing at first, and it took me a while to get the hang of it.

[rmsmarr]

Bobby

So you are saying playing eighth notes in four note groups with accent on every fourth note? And it would take four bars of 4 for the accent to fall on the first beat again, creating a 4 bar phrase?

[bobby d]

Yes, I believe you've got it. 3 notes at a time with a triplet feel against a 4 note sequence. This would be even more challenging with 7 note scales, but I haven't really worked on that yet. Here we are in an A minor pentatonic. Note that I put the ^ after the first four sequences of 4 (16 notes).



--8--5------------5---------------------------
--------8-------5---8------5----8----------
-------------------------------7-------------
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------
--5-----------5--------------------------------
-----7--5-------7--5-------7--5----------5-
--------------------------7----------7--5-----
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------^-----------------



Now just keep repeating the pattern down to the 6th string.