Pentatonic Permutations

Take virtuosic facility, unbridled creativity, years of classical study at the Juilliard School, and add influences like Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Patrick Moraz, Gentle Giant, Yes, ELP, Jimi Hendrix, and a generous offering of talent — and what do you have? Keyboard wizard Jordan Rudess, of course! According to Jordan, disciplined practice with a metronome is key to being a successful player: “I learned all of the inversions of every major and minor chord and, over the years, have become comfortable getting to any chord in any inversion quickly,” he says. “This was a foundation for being able to improvise.” Jordan demonstrates his keyboard command and improvisational skills in his organ solo on “Tarkus” from his new solo CD, The Road Home.

We can follow Jordan’s lead and example by extracting material from his “Tarkus” solo and practicing it to further our own musical understanding, fluency, and development. Jordan draws material for this searing performance from the pentatonic scale — a five-note scale — and uses it with power and originality. Play through the below examples and get your prog on!

Mike Worth is a composer for video games and progressive rock keyboardist, based out of Philadelphia. He grew up playing Genesis and Rush, and still thinks that the "Legend of Zelda" theme is one of the great melodies of all time. www.mikeworthmusic.com

These audio and MIDI files correspond to the lessons beginning on page 40 of the March 2008 issue of Keyboard. All files performed by Mike Worth.