I just stumbled on something that is good to practice. Try mixing all the major ideas that I have spoken of in the past. Start by learning to play the whole tone idea I presented in my May 27th, 2004 weblog entry. Learn to play it very fast and then try mixing it with some of the major patterns. Think of the whole tone as an idea you might play over a major chord (or maj9th) maybe? Of course, over a minor chord, I shift the wholetone scale over a fret.
The main idea here is to sit down alone with your guitar and try to make up new ideas after you have learned to mix all the major ideas together. First start with a foundation of how to play over major tonality and then try to play those ideas in all sorts of different order and phrasing. Experiment and try to make unique melody.
The weblog entries that cover these ideas are:
May 27th, 2004
Dec 31st, 2003
Nov 3rd, 2003
Oct 23, 2003