Wide exploration riff — A minor
A full descent from the octave down to the root and back up, followed by a string-skipping variation exploring the same box from another angle: 8 bars in the A minor pentatonic.
Tips
Once the riff feels stable, add a slow metronome and increase it in steps of 5 to 10 BPM, without ever sacrificing steadiness.
Understanding this type of exercise
What this riff trains
An exercise in seeing the whole picture: the same position 1 approached first linearly, then with string skips, so you stop seeing it as a plain ladder to climb up and down.
Practical tips and common mistakes
- String skips are worked in the picking hand first, unfretted, naming the target string out loud.
- Mute the skipped-over string with a flat fretting-hand finger, or it rings as soon as it's brushed.
- Keep the exact same fingering as the linear version: the path changes, not the position.
- Advanced level: don't chase speed until the skips are clean at a slow tempo.
Tablature
Fretboard position
root note other scale note
The same exercise in other keys
- Wide exploration riff — E minor
- Wide exploration riff — C minor
- Wide exploration riff — G minor
- Wide exploration riff — D minor
- Wide exploration riff — B minor
- Wide exploration riff — F minor
- Wide exploration riff — F# minor
- Wide exploration riff — C# minor
- Wide exploration riff — G# minor
- Wide exploration riff — D# minor
- Wide exploration riff — A# minor
Related sheets
- Blues in A (12 bars) — alternating bass fingerstyle (Level 5)
- Wide exploration riff — D# minor (Level 5)
- Blues in A — fast shuffle (Level 5)