help with ascending fours in A minor pentatonic

lets say i am going from C-D-E-G to D-E-G-A...to play note D i have to use the 3rd finger for both Ds...while doing this i have to find a pivot(which is the E on higher string) on the higher string to go back to the lower string, but this creates a bit of sound which should not be there. i am guessing the solution is to mute the higher E(in this case) by using the right hand finger or soft pressure release on the left hand finger pressing the E...is any of the approaches correct or is there a better way to sound clean? am i doing it completely wrong? i donot want to go on practicing wrong 'things'...please advise on what would be appropriate.
much in need of help and the same will make a huge difference to my understanding so thanks for any contribution.
gaurav.

i am a beginner. please ignore anything that i must have avoided.

Hey, there! Pentatonic in 4s can be tricky. :)

Originally Posted by: gshuk13lets say i am going from C-D-E-G to D-E-G-A...to play note D i have to use the 3rd finger for both Ds...while doing this i have to find a pivot(which is the E on higher string) on the higher string to go back to the lower string ...[/quote]
You can do it that way & I'll offer suggestions on that later. For now, consider that you can play the same note in more than one place on the guitar. So, any time you find something difficult, look for another option. For example, if I have to play pentatonic in 4s fast, I typically shift positions so I can use the same picking patterns & muting. Like this:

|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------5-7-------7-10----|
|------5-7-------7-10--5-7------7-10----------|
|-5-8-------8-10------------------------------|

This means that you have to shift positions, but the trade off is that the picking & muting is greatly simplified.
[QUOTE=gshuk13]... but this creates a bit of sound which should not be there. i am guessing the solution is to mute the higher E(in this case) by using the right hand finger or soft pressure release on the left hand finger pressing the E...is any of the approaches correct or is there a better way to sound clean?

Yes, you've got the right idea. You need to mute slightly with your picking hand palm & you've also got to keep in contact with the strings on your fretting hand fingers. Soft pressure release as you mention is key here! The idea is to release pressure on the string to stop the note from ringing, but still maintain contact with the string to keep it from making unwanted sound.

The only solution here is lots & lots of repetitious practice. And then more practice. :)

Also, Ben's tutorial on fast pentatonic patterns might be helpful!

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1959

And my tutorials on drilling the pentatonic patterns in different ways might provide insight!

https://www.guitartricks.com/instructor.php?input=155014#Pentatonic_Shapes

In particular these:

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=185
https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=737

Hope this helps! Please ask more if necessary & best of success with it!

thanks a lot christopher! got all the answers(more in fact and it all made sense) i was looking for and some words of assurance too! thanks for the effort taken to be as detailed in your answer as you were. means a lot to me. thanks again.

You're welcome!

Originally Posted by: gshuk13 got all the answers(more in fact and it all made sense) i was looking for and some words of assurance too!

Good deal. Glad it made sense. That's definitely what we're after. :)

Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegelYou're welcome!

Good deal. Glad it made sense. That's definitely what we're after. :)

Thank you for another helpful thread! I was actually having the same issue in my practice.