Mastering And Understanding Minor Pentatonic and Blues Scales
Posted by Kay Stanford Jr Kastum at 12:51 PMIn this article we are going to provide you guidance about our basic scale, the Minor Pentatonic scale. Pentatonic is a great scale to learn, particularly for guitar. It is commonly the first scale. It is pretty simple, and it works very well over simple chord progressions, and is a great place to start practicing improvisation for soloing.
The fundamental information about the Minor Pentatonic Scale
Pentatonic scale has 5 notes (hence the Penta- in its name). This is the 1st scale. It is very interesting because most scales you will memorize in the future have 7 notes in them. It has only 2 notes on every string and this makes the pentatonic scale easier to play. The Pentatonic scale includes both major and minor - we will concentrate on the Minor Pentatonic scale in this lesson.
In the scales introduction any scale can be described by a plain numeric formula, and the pentatonic scale can also be portrayed in the same way.
Its formula is: 3 2 2 3 2
Lets see how this acts in an exemplar, e.g. G Minor Pentatonic.
We start with G as our base note, and add every step of the pattern to get the next note:
G + 3 semitones is Bb Bb + 2 semitones is C C + 2 semitones is D D + 3 semitones is F F + 2 semitones is G
Thus there you get G minor pentatonic notes that are G, Bb, C, D, F, G. This formula can be implemented with any other root note for the exact scale entirely depending upon your choice.
Furthermore, you can move these patterns up and down the neck. For example, if you want a minor Pentatonic, then you work it out as follows:
The base note A is 2 semitones up from G, so just move every of these rules up 2 frets and voila, you will find formulas for A minor pentatonic.
Also, the patterns repeat up the neck after the 1st five - therefore if you want to climb up higher, start once again with the 1st rule played with the G root note played on the 15th fret instead of the 3rd fret.
The Blues Scale
Another scale, very closely linked to the minor pentatonic scale is the blues scale which is used in blues. An attitional passing note to the pentatonic musical scale is normally added up by the blues players which is technically known as a flattened 5th - that means an additional note in between notes 3 and 4 of the pentatonic scale. When this note is added to the minor pentatonic scale you get the blues scale. The rule changes when you add that extra note to it and it becomes like this: 3 2 1 1 3 2, and our example G minor Pentatonic becomes G, Bb, C, Db, D, F, G when rewritten as the blues scale.
The Minor Pentatonic Scale in Action
Now we are going to discuss that how to play the Minor Pentatonic and the Blues scale. Both the Pentatonic and the Blues scales are fit for playing Rock and 12 bar blues with. Lets concentrate on 12 bar blues - a very pretty easy concept that is considered as a source of some amazing music over the years.
The chords you apply are a type of I, IV, V progression - what that means isn't really critical at this stage, but the chords you would use with a G minor or Pentatonic scale would be as follows:
G - G - G - G - C - C - G - G - D - C - G - D This chord sequence enables you to play sequences of notes from any of the pentatonic boxes and you will acquire a bluesy kind of improvisation going.
The fundamental information about the Minor Pentatonic Scale
Pentatonic scale has 5 notes (hence the Penta- in its name). This is the 1st scale. It is very interesting because most scales you will memorize in the future have 7 notes in them. It has only 2 notes on every string and this makes the pentatonic scale easier to play. The Pentatonic scale includes both major and minor - we will concentrate on the Minor Pentatonic scale in this lesson.
In the scales introduction any scale can be described by a plain numeric formula, and the pentatonic scale can also be portrayed in the same way.
Its formula is: 3 2 2 3 2
Lets see how this acts in an exemplar, e.g. G Minor Pentatonic.
We start with G as our base note, and add every step of the pattern to get the next note:
G + 3 semitones is Bb Bb + 2 semitones is C C + 2 semitones is D D + 3 semitones is F F + 2 semitones is G
Thus there you get G minor pentatonic notes that are G, Bb, C, D, F, G. This formula can be implemented with any other root note for the exact scale entirely depending upon your choice.
Furthermore, you can move these patterns up and down the neck. For example, if you want a minor Pentatonic, then you work it out as follows:
The base note A is 2 semitones up from G, so just move every of these rules up 2 frets and voila, you will find formulas for A minor pentatonic.
Also, the patterns repeat up the neck after the 1st five - therefore if you want to climb up higher, start once again with the 1st rule played with the G root note played on the 15th fret instead of the 3rd fret.
The Blues Scale
Another scale, very closely linked to the minor pentatonic scale is the blues scale which is used in blues. An attitional passing note to the pentatonic musical scale is normally added up by the blues players which is technically known as a flattened 5th - that means an additional note in between notes 3 and 4 of the pentatonic scale. When this note is added to the minor pentatonic scale you get the blues scale. The rule changes when you add that extra note to it and it becomes like this: 3 2 1 1 3 2, and our example G minor Pentatonic becomes G, Bb, C, Db, D, F, G when rewritten as the blues scale.
The Minor Pentatonic Scale in Action
Now we are going to discuss that how to play the Minor Pentatonic and the Blues scale. Both the Pentatonic and the Blues scales are fit for playing Rock and 12 bar blues with. Lets concentrate on 12 bar blues - a very pretty easy concept that is considered as a source of some amazing music over the years.
The chords you apply are a type of I, IV, V progression - what that means isn't really critical at this stage, but the chords you would use with a G minor or Pentatonic scale would be as follows:
G - G - G - G - C - C - G - G - D - C - G - D This chord sequence enables you to play sequences of notes from any of the pentatonic boxes and you will acquire a bluesy kind of improvisation going.
About the Author:
Zack R is the founder of 50 Blues. If you love the blues, visit 50 Blues to access over 50 professional blues jam tracks. These blues backing trackswill skyrocket your desire for blues playing and practicing.