One way to better familiarize yourself with the scale boxes and the pentatonic scale overall is to do scale exercises. The pentatonic scale is frequently used in lots of popular music styles. Intro to major pentatonic soloing 9 major pentatonic. Pdf total guitar the ultimate scale book guilherme mauricio. Technically, any 5note scale that you choose will be a pentatonic scale, but the most common kind is the type you discover when you improvise on the black keys. The solution below shows the gb major pentatonic scale on the piano, treble clef and bass clef the lesson steps then explain how to construct the scale using the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th major scale notes for a quick summary of this topic, have a look at pentatonic scale. E d g b e a pentaton c minor scale box 1 glitarsik. G pentatonic blues scale free pentatonic blues scales. Experiment linking each of the five major pentatonic scale patterns with its neighboring patterns to build up your own extended lines. Scale diagrams can also be labeled with either letters or scale degrees.
Draw a line to match the major pentatonic to its relative minor pentatonic. The major pentatonic scale is mostly used in country, folk country rock, blues and jazz. This is in a minor, but the scale pattern is moveable. The only difference is which root notes you choose to target. Combining minor and major pentatonic scales guitarhabits. To hear each pattern check out the g pentatonic blues scale tab page coming soon. Essentially well play the g major scale, but leave out the fourth and seventh note out. This is just one of many ways you can join scale patterns up to make longer lines. This scale is transpositional and can be played in, and should be practiced in, all keys.
G minor is very much a rock and rollstyle key, and the main example that well be looking at today reflects that. Something that cannot be said of the two notes of the major scale that are not included in the major pentatonic scale the 4th and 7th. This added note is called the flattened fifth because it is one semitone down from the fifth note of the relative major scale. Master the minor pentatonic scale using the whole fretboard. The major pentatonic scale is similar to major diatonic scale 7 notes per octave, but without the fourth and the seventh note. Cindy moorhead i would like to show you some ideas i use to add some flavor to my solos when im using a pentatonic scale. Learn the g major pentatonic scale note positions and names on the piano, treble clef and bass. 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. These patterns all link together as shown in the above diagram. Lets take a look at what makes up this scale and how its applied to the guitar fretboard. Note that a minor pentatonic has identical notes with c major pentatonic but in different order. However the major g pentatonic scale pattern is the exact same pattern in the same fret position. What is the most common fingering for the pentatonic scale. 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.
So even if you hit a nonchord tone at a lessthanoptimal moment these notes will be relatively forgiving. Compare these scales c major pentatonic and a minor pentatonic with the c major and a minor scales, respectively. As the name denotes, major pentatonic is a major scale with just five tones like every scale, major pentatonic can be given a whole and half step interval formula that tells us the distance between each tone in the scale starting on a given root 1. The major pentatonic scale shares five notes with the major scale. A c d e g the pentatonic scale can be played in different positions. A minor pentatonic is the relative minor scale of c major pentatonic. The major pentatonic scale is one of the most widely used scales on the guitar. Ukulele scales and modes by 7 mustknow ukulele scales in standard tuning gcea. In a soloing context, the g minor pentatonic scale can be played over a few different keys including g minor, bb major and g major.
How to play the g major pentatonic scale on guitar. The major pentatonic scale has the 5 notes of the major scale. In the case of the g major scale above, left, its root note is knowledge and. G major pentatonic scale diagrams g major pentatonic fretboard diagram. A minor pentatonic contains scale degrees 1, b3, 4. 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. The notes for c major pentatonic are c d e g a, while a minor pentatonic is a c d e g. Both the pentatonic major scale and minor scale have the same patterns. While i feel the pentatonic scale is extremely useful and great in its most basic form, sometimes those five notes arent enough to make the statement i. The only difference is that the tonic first note of the scale of the minor pentatonic is 3 semitones half steps below the tonic of the major pentatonic.
Also, the pentatonic scale can be easily turned into the blues scale by adding the blues notes. Click on the required key for scale notes and fret position diagrams in each key. Compare these scales c major pentatonic and a minor pentatonic with the c. It includes a practice solo in a major with 9 licks that are all broken down.
Above is the a major pentatonic scale shown in 5 positions. In order to tune your 2nd b string to your 3rd g string, you. No doubt about it, this fivenote scale packs a punch. For example, rockin in the free world by neil young centers on an em chord, and the notes of e minor pentatonic work over it. With its clean, folky sound, the major pentatonic scale is a common scale in folk, blues, country and pop music. Lets first learn the building blocks of major pentatonic and where it comes from. Cs relative minor pentatonic scale, a minor pentatonic, begins on the 6 th scale degree of the major pentatonic scale shown above.
There are many things to know if you want to master lead guitar and soloing, but this introduction lesson should have given you the basics for exploring more advanced topics, such as alternate picking, guitar scales exercises for dexterity and speed, arpeggios and so forth. In this example we use the a minor pentatonic scale which consists of the notes. Middle c midi note 60 is shown with an orange line under the 2nd note on the piano diagram. A pentatonic scale is made up of five notes per octave penta five. The 6th note of any major scale is the root of the relative minor scale. Learn all 5 patterns of the g pentatonic blues scale and learnitar. How to use the pentatonic scale as major and minor on the.
How to play the pentatonic scale beginner guitar hq. This scale shape will feel more even as you play it because there are two notes on every string. For this example we take the most commonly used position for the minor pentatonic scale. Learn the g major pentatonic scale note positions and names on the piano, treble. There are three ways youll want to learn your major. The pentatonic blues scale is a great tool for blues guitar and rock guitar soloing and improvising. The a minor pentatonic comes from the natural minor scale. Penta stands for five, meaning the pentatonic scale is a fivenote scale. Chord progressions for pentatonic melodies the essential.
Learn how to play the g major pentatonic scale on the guitar for better solos without. Jguitars scale calculator will draw scale diagrams showing the fretboard with notes in the selected scale highlighted. A better way to learn the major pentatonic scale on guitar. So basically, as with major scales, the minor pentatonic scale is the relative 6th minor of the major pentatonic scale. Some people find it easier to think in minor terms, and some find it easier to think in minor and major terms.
The pentatonic major scale removes both notes that are traditionally considered dissonant from the major scale. In the major pentatonic scale, we simply take two of those notes out of each octave. The major pentatonic scale guitar shapes and theory. The a minor pentatonic scale contains exactly the same notes as the c major pentatonic, were just starting from a different place. A major pentatonic scale as a starting point can be found on the 4th, 6th, 9th, 11th, and 14th fret respectively as the first fret on the different positions. We always use the major scale as our reference when naming notes within chords and scales.
Major pentatonic scales in open position closed mobile major pentatonic scales forms horizontal scale forms although the scale forms above make it relatively easy to see how the scale relates to the underlying chord, they do not always o. This pdf contains the diagrams for all the major and minor pentatonic scales in all keys for guitar in. How to add some mixolydian flavor to pentatonics guitar. On this page there are easy to follow tabs along with audio at three different speeds. The major pentatonic scale uses the 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 notes of the major scale.
If you start at the g on the 3rd fret of the low e string youll get a g major pentatonic scale. The horizontal scale forms shown to the right are one way around this problem. The pentatonic scale is a very powerful tool on guitar. The solution below shows the g major pentatonic scale on the piano, treble clef and bass clef the lesson steps then explain how to construct the scale using the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th major scale notes for a quick summary of this topic, have a look at pentatonic scale. If you are playing in g major, use e minor pentatonic scale also know as g major pentatonic you have probably noticed that the pentatonic scale can be either a major or minor scale. A minor pentatonic contains scale degrees 1, b3, 4, 5, and b7. However, it starts on the tonic 1st note of the scale of g. D minor pentatonic has the same notes as f major pentatonic and so. The root notes in this case a, are shown by the black dots, the other notes in the scale are shown by the red dots. In this lesson i am going to demonstrate how you can make a variation on the trusted minor pentatonic scale that has a lot of advantages when dealing with tonic minor, half diminished chords and altered dominants. There are both pentatonic major and minor the minor is slightly more often used. If you are stuck in the pentatonic box then this is the way out of it. As you will see from the first diagram below, if you were to place your finger on the 5th fret of the 6th e. You can play e minor pentatonic over an em chord or a progression that revolves around em.
Another good thing for you to practice is to open how to play intervals on guitar fretboard lesson and try to understand the intervals used in major pentatonic. The major pentatonic guitar scale is usually played over major chords, and is used in rock music as well as country music. How to play the g major pentatonic scale on guitar youtube. Show me chords that sound good with a g major pentatonic scale.
The scale formula for the minor pentatonic 1 b3 4 5 b7. The shapes of the major pentatonic scale are exactly the same as those of the minor pentatonic scale, except the root note is located else where. Box 10 shows the blues scale, which is the the minor pentatonic with an added note. There are numerous ways of playing a g major pentatonic scale on guitar. Adjust the start fret option to further highlight a finger pattern for playing the selected scale in a different position on the fretboard. This lesson is an introduction to the major pentatonic scale and its basic soloing application. The major pentatonic scale shares the same notes as its relative minor counterpart so although the diagrams might seem familiar its important to take note of where the root notes differ for the major pentatonic positions as opposed to minor pentatonic. 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. Scales you can use in the real world, created by a human guitarist. We have just scratched the surface of the marvelous world of guitar scales. The diagram 1 has root notes on the sixht and fourth string. The versatility and playability of the scale makes it a popular choice for use in guitar soloing and melodies.
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