This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he shares a few ideas for breaking out of repetitive, one-pattern pentatonic phrasing.
“Whenever a major pentatonic scale comes up, I get stuck playing the same shape and end up with phrases like C-D-E-G-A-C going up, or C-A-G-E-D-C coming back down — and that’s it. Got any ideas for breaking out of that?”
This article is for anyone who’s run into that exact wall.
Contents
Where Phrase Ideas Tend to Get Stuck
When you’re stuck for phrase ideas, it’s often because you’re only thinking about movement in one direction.
Example 1
C-D-E-G-A-C — just moving steadily upward.
What if you took everything from the 3rd note onward — E, G, A, C — and dropped it down an octave, like this?
Completely different feel, right?
Example 2
C-A-G-E-D-C — just moving steadily downward.
Now try dropping just the final C down by a whole step:
Again — totally different character.
Here’s an applied phrase built on that idea — could work nicely over a tune like “All of Me”:
How to Think About It Once Phrasing Starts Feeling Repetitive
E shows up in more than one place on the neck.
So does A.
“Yeah, obviously” — you might be thinking. But here’s the thing: once you’ve got a handful of notes lined up in your head, it’s surprisingly easy to forget that those other positions even exist.
When you’re still getting your bearings, it’s important to learn fixed, go-to shapes first. But:
Important
Once you’re more comfortable, start paying attention to “what note am I actually playing right now” —
and when things start feeling repetitive, ask yourself:
“What if I played that same note an octave away?” or “What if I played that same note on a different string?”
Keeping that in mind is a reliable way to break out of one-pattern phrasing.
Recognizing in the moment which alternate position would actually sound better is exactly the kind of real-time decision a teacher can help sharpen.
Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?
This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.
At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.
Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.