Melodic sequences of five? (Guitaristic or otherwise)

General Music Discussion
#1

I realise I have a hard time jamming / writing shred licks at tempos around 140-150 bpm. At these tempos the most natural subdivision for fast picked runs is quintuplets (5 notes per beat @144bpm = 4 notes per beat at 180bpm).

The only thing I have under my fingers is the “circular 10s” pattern (see e.g. Petrucci’s Erotomania solo among others):

-----------4-5-7-5-4-
-7-5-4-5-7-----------

which, if you think about it, is the kind of thing that just comes out by itself if you wiggle your fingers on any 3nps scale shape :smiley:

Do people know any other cool quintuplet patterns (bonus points if they are not impossible on the guitar)?

1 Like
#2

If you go 5,7,8 on the G string, 5,7,8 on the B string and 5,7,8,5 on the high E string, there’s ten notes. Now, if we go 5,7,5,8,7 on the D string, and repeat that on the G, B, and high E strings, we’ve got twenty notes.

1 Like
#3

Not near my guitar right now. Anyway.
Maybe simple minor scale run? Like
---------5-7-------------7-8-…
5-7-8-------7-8-10--------…

…-------------8-10-------------------10-12-14-15~~~
…8-10-12-----------10-12-13--------------------

by the way one of my most used licks is a similar run but in 6tuplets. Though quintuplet variation seems to fit more in a conception of USX which I’m struggling now. Hmm … gonna try it once I get home

1 Like
#4

Also almost infinite number of pentatonic/blues scale runs. Like
--------------------------------------5-8-5~~
--------------------------------5-8-------
----------------------5-7-8------------
---------------5-7----------------------
------5-6-7-----------------------
-5-8----------------------------

Though I am not sure about playability

---- update -----

By the way you may take shifting fours and make them quintuplets:
7-9-10-9-7-6-7-9-7-6-…

Though after repeating it 3-4 times my fingers start twisting…

As an example of using this I came up with this stuff (though it’s hard to consider as ‘lick’ since it has complex chord progression):
3rd: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------4-5-7–
4th: ---------------------------------------------------------------------4-5-7--------
5th: 7-9-10-9-10 -6-7-9-7-6 -5-7-8-7-5 -4-5-6-5-4 -3-5-7----------------
for chord progression like i-V-vii-IV-VI

1 Like