Pdf total guitar the ultimate scale book guilherme mauricio. The natural minor is the aeolian mode of the relative major scale. You will almost certainly know the sound of the scale if only from the sound of music song video of the famous song. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in order to memorize the scales in all keys.
The major pentatonic consists of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th notes of a major scale. See more ideas about guitar scales, guitar scales tabs and guitar. Pentatonic guitar magic how to use the simple pentatonic scale to solo over. Above is the a major pentatonic scale shown in 5 positions. So a major pentatonic scale consists of only the 1 2 3. Sitemap guitar scale major pentatonic pattern 15 fingering major pentatonic scale pattern 15 fingering in a major root. So, to play the a major pentatonic scale, position your hands so that your fourth finger will play the note a on the sixth string which means your first finger will be at the second fret of the sixth string. There are three ways youll want to learn your major. If these diagrams dont make any sense to you, dont worry click here for a a brief introduction to the pentatonic scale.
For the a minor pentatonic scale, its a snap to learn in two octaves in the fifth position, and it helps you with your frethand strength. The next lesson will focus on alternate picking exercises using the pentatonic scale forms. This fivenote scale is similar to the major scale, but with the 4th and 7th degrees removed. Once learned, the player can immediately start improvising rock guitar. So essentially your bass runs are going to be across the chord and will be using more than one scale. 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.
One construction takes five consecutive pitches from the circle of fifths. The solution below shows the a 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. Note that a minor pentatonic has identical notes with c major pentatonic but in different order. Essentially well play the g major scale, but leave out the fourth and seventh note out. This makes it easy to transpose the scale into different keys and will help give you a broader view of the concepts.
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. A minor pentatonic contains scale degrees 1, b3, 4, 5, and b7. Premium learning minor pentatonic scales pdf ebook learn guitar. Be sure to change scales as the chords change and listen for the sound differences between the major and minor, get lost in the fun.
In the major pentatonic scale, we simply take two of those notes out of each octave. Compared to the major scale of the same key parallel minor, the aeolian mode has three notes lowered by a half step. The pentatonic scale pentatonic scales have only five notes penta means five. Penta stands for five, meaning the pentatonic scale is a fivenote scale.
Finger one is the key of the major pentatonic say g and the 3rd finger is em. Pentatonic scales are the scale shortcut there are a few reasons that the pentatonic scales are the short cut for the scales. If you want to learn scales then you need to practice them. Try playing minor pentatonic over minor chords and major pentatonic over major chords within the same jam track. The major pentatonic is the basic scale of the music of china and mongolia. The most widely known form is anhemitonic without semitones. The pentatonic scale chose 5 from these notes and created another scale, this is why it is called penta. But instead of starting on the 1, shift the scale down to the 6 notes. If you are playing in a minor key, use that minor pentatonic. Now the mission is to practice the same way that you did in the previous steps.
The aeolian mode starts on the sixth scale degree of the major scale, and is also known as the natural minor scale. The most used pentatonic scale is a subset of the major or its relative minor scale. The solution below shows the a major pentatonic scale on the piano, treble clef and bass clef. How to construct major and minor pentatonic scales music. Whole and a half, whole, whole, whole and a half, whole. The root notes a in these examples are circled so that you can learn their locations. The minor pentatonic scale has a minor third, which may clash with the chords minor third.
Show me chords that sound good with an a major pentatonic scale. Ive written them out in the key of a but they of course work in any key. Lets take a look at what makes the aeolian mode so unique. There will be a lot more stuff to come, so these basic diagrams showing where your fingers should go when you play the major and minor pentatonic scales will be the first of many free resources to come. In this case, the minor pentatonic scale contains the minor seventh, so that note sounds great. D minor pentatonic has the same notes as f major pentatonic and so it goes. Learning scale patterns will help you to advance in your guitar playing. This added note gives the major blues scale its bluesy vibe and separates it melodically from the major pentatonic scale. Often you can use one pentatonic scale, play around with it, and successf ully do a complete solo using just that scale. Now lets combine the notes of the minor pentatonic and major pentatonic scale and create some soloing ideas. You just need to know how the root note changes in the pattern. Complete guide to playing pentatonic scales on bass guitar.
Minor pentatonic scale stage 7 guitar lesson guitar. 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. For a quick summary of this topic, have a look at pentatonic scale. Intermediate guitar lesson major pentatonic scales. The major pentatonic scale has the 5 notes of the major scale. This scale is transpositional and can be played in, and should be practiced in, all keys. Dominant chords have a major third and a minor seventh b7. A major pentatonic scale comes from a major scale by removing the 4th and 7th degrees. Youll remember in the g major scale shape, there are seven notes repeated in multiple octaves. 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. Cs relative minor pentatonic scale, a minor pentatonic, begins on the 6 th scale degree of the major pentatonic scale shown above. The minor pentatonic scale the grand master of all scales learning this scale will help lay the foundations for your career as soloist.
The justinguitar beginners guitar course, a series of over 100 lessons on guitar for beginners. Scale diagrams can also be labeled with either letters or scale degrees. Major pentatonic scale the major pentatonic scale shares five notes with the major scale. That will move the major scale into its relative minor meaning youre now using a minor pentatonic scale. It is thought that the pentatonic scale represents an early stage of musical development, because it is found, in different forms, in most of the worlds music. Another way to find material and exercises in a scale is to approach it from chord voicings. The major pentatonic scale the other grand master of all scales, but its a major scale as opposed to minor. You can play a pentatonic scale by walking your fingers across the neck at any one of these positions, playing 2 notes per string. Draw a line to match the major pentatonic to its relative minor pentatonic. Diagonal pentatonic scale patterns by paul tauterouff.
Text support is on the web site and also in a proper old skool paper book which can be. For example, you could position the pattern at the 3rd fret for a g pentatonic minor scale. The two licks below use notes of both minor and major pentatonic scales. Both of these scales are played in position, which means that each finger plays all of the notes at a particular fret. One is a pentatonic scale, meaning it has five notes, and the other is a major scale, which has 7. You can get more diagrams in the tuning of your choice by using my interactive web app here. Click here for the best pianokeyboard course ive seen on the internet. The pentatonic scale is frequently used in lots of popular music styles.
A minor pentatonic is the same as c major pentatonic, just starting on the a or the c respectively. The last exercise is coming out of playing the minor pentatonic scale as chords. This pdf contains the diagrams for all the major and minor pentatonic scales in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. Your aim here is to be able to play a run from the bb major pentatonic for instance, into the c major pentatonic when the chord changes to c major. The interactive app below lets you generate fretboard charts of pentatonic scales in all keys with custom. Major pentatonic scale pattern 15 for guitar fingering. Click graphic to play audio deactivate arrows on your keyboard for page navigation with alt k. The major pentatonic scale guitar shapes and theory. The first major pentatonic scale shape starts with our g root note on the 3rd fret of the 6th string.
You could play these licks over a iivv blues progression where a7 is the i. What is the most common fingering for the pentatonic scale. Some common songs that utilize the a minor pentatonic scale are. So basically, as with major scales, the minor pentatonic scale is the relative 6th minor of the major pentatonic scale. To use this pattern as a major pentatonic scale, the root of the scale is played by your fourth finger on the sixth string. The lesson steps then explain how to construct the scale using the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th major scale notes. But theres a simpler way start with a major pentatonic scale notes. The 12bar and e major pentatonic scales respectively above, left. Difference between minor and major pentatonic scale boxes. The pentatonic scale, major and minor free piano lessons. The major pentatonic scale is made up of five of those notes 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 of the major scale.
The minor pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly scales used in rock, blues, country and jazz music. Later on we shall take a look at the minor pentatonic. Pentatonic scale has notes that when played generate a pleasant melody, even if it is just the. The minor pentatonic scale by paul tauterouff the minor pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly scales used in rock, blues, country and jazz music. There are a few reasons that the penatonic scales are the short cut for the scales. They are still used all over the world, for example traditional music, country music, blues and metal. To produce a major blues scale, you simply take the major pentatonic scale and add in a blue note, the b3 of the key. The pattern of a major pentatonic scale is 22323, a minor pentatonic scale follows the pattern 32232. The word pentatonic implies that there are five notes in these scales, and that is correct. You can think of this as playing the scale on 3 strings at.
As you will learn, these patterns can be transferred to all keys. A pentatonic scale is a popular fivenote scale that youll need to know for riffs, solos and melodies, especially for rock and blues. The basic pentatonic pattern can be moved up and down the bass neck in order to play the pentatonic scale with any tonic note. For your convenience, i have included a pdf of all the pentatonics. However, the pentatonic scale has a unique character and is complete in terms of tonality. This lesson will help you build licks that move smoothly between the two scales, in a blues context but. 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. If playing in c major use a minor pentatonic also know as c major pentatonic. Stay tuned if these free lessons help you, please donate to keep new ones coming daily. Up until now i had been thinking of the minor pentatonic scale being effectively the same as its associated major, just starting on a different note. Were going to take a look at two very useful scales. Pentatonic scale, musical scale containing five different tones. You can play the major pentatonic scale over almost any major or dominant chord without clashing with the chord.
For this chapter we will be considering minor pentatonic only. These patterns all link together as shown in the above diagram. Using minor and major pentatonic together effectively. 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. Once again, bending the minor third up to the major third is a nice bluesy sound. So even if you hit a nonchord tone at a lessthanoptimal moment these notes will be relatively forgiving. The major pentatonic scale next level guitar lessons. The blues scale is basically the minormajor pentatonic scale with an added note. There are both pentatonic major and minor the minor is slightly more often used. You could play these licks over a iivv blues progression where a7 is the i chord, d7 iv chord and e7 v chord.
If you are playing in a major key, then use the relative minor pentatonic scale. With each of the shapes we learn, there will be a chord. This article and interactive web app help you learn all of the pentatonic scale diagrams. You can also improvise solo on guitar by playing the pattern in the key of the music. In this tutorial instead of using note names ill refer to scale degree numbers 1 7 of the major and minor scales. C d e g a c formula 2 2 3 2 3 now lets look at the complete, 5position diagram of the pentatonic scale. For instance, lets take a look at the c major scale. Use these drawings in the tonal and blues contexts.
So in simple terns the major pentatonic is use over changing the chords if the chords are major and the major scales follow the chords more musical, blusical not really a word, but should be people will state that there is a minor 3 rd which will be 3 half steps or tones difference and this is not wrong it is just a way to say g major is the. As a teacher i find that many of the intermediate or advanced level students who come to study with me may already know the 5 pentatonic patterns or boxes, but tend to have difficulty shifting between the patterns or positions when soloing. The major pentatonic scale d major pentatonic box shape. 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. Mastering pentatonic scale theory welcome to the learning pentatonic scales page at gmc run by yours truly, the professor. Minor pentatonic scale stage 7 guitar lesson guitar for. The major scale is the cornerstone of all western harmony, when we describe other scales it is always in relation to the major scale and the naming conventions for chords and all forms are harmony come from the major scale. Combining minor and major pentatonic scales guitarhabits. Major pentatonic scales are especially common in traditional folk music, country and gospel. In the case of greek modes, there were 7 notes in the scale. Try to follow the picking indication from the video for now and dont forget the pdf download for the lesson as well. The aeolian mode, or natural minor scale, is used in various styles of music and is a great way to introduce modal improvisation and tonality.