The whole point of legato is that it's meant to flow. It should sound more fluid than your standard picked patterns. So here's a legato pattern that I think makes the most of that, and it's a bit less common than the usual ones.
It's inspired by Mark Tremonti, who's been my favourite guitarist for a long time. I'll explain what he does, then give you my more structured version of it.
The usual legato patterns ▶ 0:50
One of the more common legato patterns goes like this: a pull-off from the little finger to the first finger, then second, little, second, first. As frets, that's 10, 7, 8, 10, 8, 7 on one string. It's a really popular pattern and it sounds cool, but it's a little generic.
Another option is to take a scale and play each note once, picking only the first note on each string. Or don't pick at all and start each string with a hammer-on from nowhere. Again, quite interesting, but there's more you can do.
What Tremonti does ▶ 1:34
Tremonti plays a shape on one string and comes back the way he came, for example 5, 7, 8, 7, 5. Then he moves to the next string in the scale and does the same kind of thing, starting from the top note and pulling off, for example 8, 6, 5 on the B string. He runs that pattern across every string.
The interesting part is that he plays these in groups of five or seven, sometimes both, and forces them into a four or eight note grouping. It goes off the grid a bit and gives a really unusual flow. My more formulaic brain doesn't love that, so here's a version you can lock into 16th notes.
The pattern: three notes, then two ▶ 2:39
You need a three-note-per-string scale shape for this. Here's the A minor shape I'm using:
Here's how the pattern works:
- On one string, play notes 3, 2 and 1 of that string, highest to lowest. Pick the first one, then pull off, pull off.
- Move to the next string down and play only notes 2 and 1. Hammer on to note 2 from nowhere, then pull off to note 1.
So it's pick, pull-off, pull-off, hammer-on, pull-off. Five notes. On the high e and B strings that's 8, 7, 5 on the high e, then 6, 5 on the B.
Then you start the next group on the string you've just landed on, playing all three of its notes this time: 8, 6, 5 on the B, then 5, 4 on the G. That overlap is a little tricky. Then 7, 5, 4 on the G to 5, 3 on the D, 7, 5, 3 on the D to 5, 3 on the A, and the same again from the A to the low E.
e|-8-7-5---------------------------------------------| B|-------6-5-8-6-5-----------------------------------| G|-----------------5-4-7-5-4-------------------------| D|---------------------------5-3-7-5-3---------------| A|-------------------------------------5-3-7-5-3-----| E|-----------------------------------------------5-3-|
I think that's a bit more interesting than your standard descending legato runs.
Playing it ascending ▶ 4:06
You can also play the pattern going up. It's harder to do with legato, especially if you're not going to pick every note, so there are a couple of options:
- Pick every time you change string. This is the more manageable version.
- Pick only the very first note and do everything else with hammer-ons and pull-offs, if you're feeling bold. I messed it up a bit when I tried it, so that one takes some practice.
Counting it as 16th notes ▶ 4:43
Make sure you count it as 16th notes: 1 e and a, 2 e and a, 3 e and a, 4 e and a, 1 e and so on. Each group is five notes, so it overruns the groups of four and the start of each group lands in a different place in the beat.
That's what gives fives their interesting, tumbling feel. It's quite hard to count and play at the same time, actually, so start slowly with a metronome and only speed up once you can keep the count going.
Why it needs three notes per string ▶ 5:08
These ideas get quite hard if your scale shape has only two notes on a string, because it throws the pattern off. So if you don't know your three-note-per-string shapes yet, it's worth learning them for the A minor scale first. The Fretboard Navigator is handy for working out where they sit in other keys.
Get the first five-note group clean and in time, then add one group at a time until you can run all the way down to the low E. Have a play around with it in other shapes too.
