The pentatonic scale is frequently used in lots of popular music styles. This is because this scale is really the blues scale with one note missing. This scale is a mustknow melodic device for guitarists exploring the world of improvised music, be it in the jazz genre or otherwise. The open strings themselves even make up the notes of the e minor pentatonic scale. In this exercise we play our major pentatonic scale over the entire range of our instrument up and back down again. Different pentatonic scales for guitar altered pentatonics. It is very common, however, add the note that falls between the 4th and 5th scale degrees, thus creating what some refer to as the blues scale. Get your free instant download of the pdf version of this guide now. Simply move the minor pentatonic scale 3 frets down and youll.
The scale is made up of five notes per octave, thats why it has the word penta, meaning 5 in greek. I can take notes from this scale to create a solo or melody. For this chapter we will be considering minor pentatonic only. The e minor pentatonic scale the e minor blues scale. A minor pentatonic it is important that if you are going to learn to improvise with this scale that you learn how it sounds. We will begin by improvising melodies using only the black notes of the piano. The pentatonic scale, major and minor free piano lessons.
E minor pentatonic is an often used scale by guitarists as it includes all the open strings making it easy to play. If you are stuck in the pentatonic box then this is the way. Pentatonic scales are very common and are found in musical cultures all over the world. You can also download the chart as a pdf by entering your. By combining pentatonics with fuller, seven note scale phrases, you instantly give your solos more variation and, because most pentatonic scale patterns use just two notes per string, you can inject quick runs that sound less linear and. Below in tab is the a pentatonic minor scale in its most popular pattern the e minor scale pattern with its root on the 5th fret. D f g a c i major degrees i iv v bvii all notes oattern i oattern 2 pattern 3 pattern 4 svstem i d pentatonic minor scale step pattern. For example, the relative minor of c is a minor, and the notes which form c major pentatonic and a minor pentatonic are the same. A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five pitches per octave, in contrast to a heptatonic sevennote scale such as the major and minor scales.
So, let us deconstruct this scale and look at the intervals that make up a minor pentatonic scale. That will keep your root note of the minor pentatonic scale the same as the major pentatonic scale but theres a simpler way start with a major pentatonic scale notes. The basics of the minor pentatonic scale for guitar soundfly. This note can clash, but you can bend the minor third up a half step to a major third, which is a common tactic by blues guitarists. The minor pentatonic penta five scale is a five note scale with no second or sixth degrees. Scales for jazz improvisation minor pentatonics youtube. Each one connects to the next and continues down and up the fretboard. I have quite a few students who are fans of playing the blues. Heres a little something that ive been working with in the studio this week. Knowing the five positions is certainly something you should have at your disposal but nows the time to start thinking about using the scale. Learn these 5 fingerings, one at a time, up the neck. Apr, 2018 the minor pentatonic scale is quite possibly the most used and, suffice it to say, overused scale on the guitar.
Which means that youll need to start using the major pentatonic scale in a totally different way then youre used to using the minor pentatonic scale. Technically, a pentatonic scale could be any 5 tone scale, but in practice when guitarists refer to the pentatonic scale, 99% of the time they are referring to the minor and major pentatonic scale. If you listen to popular music, youve heard the pentatonic scale. Using minor and major pentatonic together effectively. Free minor pentatonic blues scale chart saras music studio. Once you know the five major pentatonic scale shapes, you automatically know the five minor pentatonic scale shapes. Printable downloadable major pentatonic scale guitar chart. To know how to play the major pentatonic we leave the three most common fingerings for this scale in the bass. The pentatonic scale consists only of 5 tones and it exists in a major and minor type. Debussy, pentatonicism, and the tonal tradition pdf.
The a minor pentatonic comes from the natural minor scale. The lesson steps then explain how to construct the scale using the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th minor scale notes. Open d tuning major and minor pentatonic shapes diagrams. If the root note was on the 5th fret of the 6th string, which is an a note, the scale would be an a minor pentatonic scale. This, and every, scale can be thought of in terms of a formula that shows how the scale can be derived from the notes of the major scale which is the reference point for most things music theory related. The minor pentatonic scale of a key can be found and played in the same pattern 3 frets below the major scale. Caged does a great job of associating major chords with pentatonic scale positions, but you. Guitar scales printable charts of the most commonly used.
Pdf a biological rationale for musical scales researchgate. Still, this scales importance cannot be underestimated, as it is used in so many genres of music, from rock and blues to country and bluegrass. Major pentatonic scales in open position closed mobile major pentatonic scales forms horizontal. The minor pentatonic scale consists of the same 5 notes of the major pentatonic. As with all other guides in these series, we will focus in playing the scales on saxophone, specifically, how to finger the major pentatonic scale on the saxophone. The lessons on this page are geared towards helping you build a strong understanding of each of the various pentatonic scales, how they are built, how they are related and how they relate to chords and arpeggios when. The solution below shows the a minor pentatonic scale, on the piano, bass and treble clef. How to tell when you can use the e minor pentatonic scale in a way that musically works and. Using minor and major pentatonic together effectively minor and major pentatonic work great together in major keys and can say a lot more than if you were to just use one scale. The fretboard is shown with the lowest pitch string at the bottom and the highest pitch string at the top unless youve tuned your instrument differently. Once you are familiar with the intervallic characteristics of the scale, it should be very easy to play in any key. It is similar to the natural minor scale, the alteration is that you need to omit the second and the sixth notes from the minor scale.
Often when this scale is used in improvisation, you can use your 3rd finger instead of your 4th on 1st, 2nd, and 6th strings. Min6th pentatonic scales in positions it is also available as a pdf download. In this lesson youll learn the one scale that is responsible for about 95% of all the blues licks you hear the minor pentatonic and minor blues scale. Now take that previous base that we did and be happy using the g minor pentatonic in it.
This is under construction but will be done in the coming weeks. Here are the 5 standard 2 notes per string positions for the a minor pentatonic scale. Since our weather has been so blue up here, i thought it might be fun to work on our improv skills with minor pentatonic blues scales. A minor pentatonicblues scale weeping willow guitar. Here you will find scale diagrams for the five patterns of the minor pentatonic scale and tips on the fingerings for each however, i repeat, you will be best learning these patterns in context over the first two blues lead guitar modules essential blues lead guitar and all over blues lead guitar which is all about using all five patterns all over the neck. The seventh scale degree is a half step away from the tonic. It is actually a major arpeggio with the 2nd and 6th added. Ive started writing up all the notes i give to guitar students so rather than getting a photocopy of something i wrote in the back of an envelope when i was 19 and figuring all this stuff out myself i can just print off or hyperlink to resources when i need to give stuff out.
The major pentatonic scale consists of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th notes of the major scale. Well take a closer look at each of the new patterns below. And in this exercise you become knowledge about the keytones on the fingerboard and which notes you can play in a solo without playing out of tone. The accompaniments assume that there are at least two players. The minor pentatonic scale is made up of these scale degrees. The pentatonic scale of first degree, for example, in the previous base that we worked with, the first degree was g, so you will use the g minor pentatonic scale. Note that a minor pentatonic has identical notes with c major pentatonic but in different order. That makes the scale an g minor pentatonic scale with the notes g, bb, c, d, and f. The minor pentatonic scale is a five note scale based on the natural minor but without the 2nd and and sixth scale degrees. A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic. Two notes per string the pentatonic is an ideal scale for the beginner and experienced pro alike because it only has two notes per string. The blues scale is arguably the most essential touchstone of popular.
Major and minor pentatonic scales avoid significant harmonic dissonance by adverting this tritone. Fingering of the major pentatonic scale for electric bass. Here is an overview of all the charts and other resources that are available on this site to view and also to download. As you will learn, these patterns can be transferred to all keys. The root notes a in these examples are circled so that you can learn their locations. Mastering pentatonic scale theory welcome to the learning pentatonic scales page at gmc run by yours truly, the professor. These are the five forms of a c major pentatonic scale or an a minor pentatonic scale. Guitar major pentatonic scale chart printable pdf subject. If you are playing a rock or blues song that is in the key of a, then you could use this scale pattern to play lead in the. Minor major minor pentatonic in triple compound duple meter 6. These notes create a pentatonic 5note scale that is easy to see, and can be. How to turn the minor pentatonic scale into the minor blues scale.
The e minor pentatonic scale is a useful and fun guitar scale to know. Minor pentatonic scales to introduce a novice guitar player to the world of rock music requires that he learn a series of scales, which we can call the tools of the trade. The major pentatonic bass scale, as its name indicates, pentafive has 5 notes and is major. E d g b e a pentaton c minor scale box 1 glitarsik. The diamond shows the major root and the open circle shows the minor root. The minor pentatonic scale for guitar jazz guitar online. A blues scale once again it is important that if you are going to learn to improvise with this scale that you. This scale is most commonly broken up into whats known as the five pentatonic positions as shown in the diagrams below. A tab example has been provided for each of the new patterns. If you were looking for minor pentatonics, here is the saxophone minor pentatonic scales guide. This lesson will help you build licks that move smoothly between the two scales, in a blues context but you can use what you learn in any style. As the name would suggest, the minor pentatonic scale contains 5 notes.
The 5 minor pentatonic scale patterns learning to play the. Here is the second installment of my scales for jazz improvisation series. Even better, the minor pentatonic works well over both major and minor chord progressions. The natural minor is the aeolian mode of the relative major scale. The minor pentatonic scale formula is 1, b3, 4, 5, b7. In the diagram below the first pentatonic scale pattern is shown together with four more patterns. The root note is used to name the particular key that this scale is played in. The minor pentatonic scale is probably the most commonly learned, practiced and used scale by guitarists of all genres. The scale itself is the same as the minor pentatonic with the addition of one extra note. What we are going to do in this lesson is break it down, rip it apart and put it all back together again.
Although various hemitonic pentatonic scales might be called minor, the term is most commonly applied to the relative minor pentatonic derived from the major pentatonic, using scale tones 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 of the natural minor scale. Jan 31, 2014 free minor pentatonic blues scale chart. Try playing up and down the a minor pentatonic scale while playing the songs audio sample above. When we hear the seventh scale degree in the context of a piece of.
The minor pentatonic scale uses the 1a, 3c, 4d, 5e, 7g notes of the scale. Chapter 6 major scales and key signatures 1 the seventh scale degree ti is a step below the tonic, so following the previous logic it should be called the subtonic. You can also look up the scale chart that i made here. There are both pentatonic major and minor the minor is slightly more often used. This popular scale is frequently the first scale a guitarist.
Applying the minor pentatonic scale to the fretboard. Pattern 2 overlaps with pattern 1 so that the bottom notes of pattern 2 are the same as the top notes of pattern 1. To derive the minor pentatonic scale from the natural. D minor pentatonic has the same notes as f major pentatonic. The 14 most common and usable guitar scales printable and ready to use 1. Strum a g minor chord, then play the notes of the g minor pentatonic scale. Minor pentatonics and how it relates to the blues scale for guitar sheet music sample pdf to be used with audio above and the video lesson below. Com the 5 patterns of the major pentatonic scale for guitar. Pentatonic scale has notes that when played generate a pleasant melody, even if it is just the.
Comping with pentatonic scales now there is a ocean of online, magazine, and video lessons about how to comp with pentatonic scales. D minor pentatonic has the same notes as f major pentatonic and so it goes. You can use this pentatonic scale harmonically just as you might use it melodically. Since there are five notes in a pentatonic scale, there are five different forms that we can use to play the scale if we start on each different note. The notesintervals for the minor pentatonic scale can be found all over the fretboard. Show me chords that sound good with a d minor pentatonic scale. The minor pentatonic scale has a minor 3rd or b3 while the major chord as a major third. A minor pentatonic scale diagrams a minor pentatonic fretboard diagram. The solution below shows the a minor pentatonic scale, on the piano, bass and treble clef the lesson steps then explain how to construct the scale using the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th minor scale notes for a quick summary to this topic, have a look at pentatonic scale. Well, the probably most used scale in improvising is the pentatonic scale. Lesson 8 the e minor blues scales dvd 3 in this lesson. Jun 28, 2016 this is a g minor pentatonic scale because the first note we play sixth string, third fret is a g note.
Scale charts are often written vertically like chord charts. Now, we will look at the major and minor pentatonic scales, and see how. The minor pentatonic expanded scale 2written by david taub now that you are familiar with the minor pentatonic scale in the box position and in an expanded 1 scale, lets learn the minor pentatonic expanded 2 scale. Minor pentatonic can be seen as a stripped down version of natural minor, dorian and other minor scales.
Knowing the minor pentatonic in all five positions is not really knowing the scale. The 2nd note of any minor pentatonic scale is the root of the relative major pentatonic scale. The five pentatonic scales are modes of the same set of notes, the only difference. The most important of these are both major and minor pentatonic. On a minor chord, you can use a minor pentatonic scale starting from the chords root, 2nd, or 5th. R 11 5 b7 b3 b3 1f 5 r 11 11 b7 b3 3f r 11 5 5 b7 5f b3 r 5 7f 11 b7 b7 b3 9f r r 11 5 b7 b3 r 11 5 12f b7 b3 b3 5 r 11 11 b7 b3 15f r 11 5 5 b7 17f b3 r 5 19f 11 b7. This is a g minor pentatonic scale because the first note we play sixth string, third fret is a g note. The scales and arpeggios are split up into 3 main categories. Pentatonic patterns for improvisation sample preparatory exercises below is an example of what i call pentatonic exercise 1 in the key of c major.
This jazz guitar method is an ebook available as a pdf with standard. Since most players are far more familiar with the minor pentatonic scale shapes, this is an easy cheat for getting the major pentatonic notes under your fingers. Now lets play the g minor pentatonic scale in the second position. A minor pentatonic contains scale degrees 1, b3, 4, 5, and b7. If we take the notes in our major pentatonic scale, and start on the 6th scale degree of the major scale, youll be playing in the relative minor. A minor pentatonic guitar scales guitar scales chart. A brief lesson on how to extend the minor pentatonic scales to diversify your soloing technique. Clicking here and on the image below will open a pdf file of the guitar major scale chart that prints nicely. Master the minor pentatonic scale using the whole fretboard. Minor pentatonic master pattern 4 graehme floyd 2018 and, there we go. There are three ways youll want to learn your major pentatonic scale forms. For example, in an a minor blues scale, the added note would be d sharp. Heres a quick rundown on the pentatonic boxes, and how they relate to the caged system. The diagram below shows all the notes in the g minor pentatonic from frets 3 through 15.