The minor pentatonic scale consists of the same 5 notes of the major pentatonic. There are a few reasons that the penatonic scales are the short cut for the scales. The tonalities are called relative major and relative minor. Music theory 1 is a guitar lesson course for anyone brand new to music theory. Learn to use the major pentatonic scale to play smoking leads in major keys. 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. A pentatonic scale is like any other scale notes separated by intervals, but it contains just 5 tones, hence the greek word pentatonic, which simply means five. It is a warm contrast to the minor pentatonicblues scale and is often used right next to the minor pentatonic to suddenly lift a solo into a happier, major territory. And its not that you want to know all music theory. Its a little strange to get used to at first, because the patterns are the same as for the minor pentatonic, but the root note is different huh. A little bit of theory perhaps the best way of looking at this scale is to see it as a subset of the major scale.
Learn how to solo with mixed blues scales by combining the major and minor pentatonic scales with the dominant scale. So even if you hit a nonchord tone at a lessthanoptimal moment these notes will be relatively forgiving. We start with a basic major pentatonic scale guitar pattern, then introduce additional fretboard patterns that will allow you to play major pentatonic scales all over the guitar neck. Now, after fretboard theory i love the system, understand how it fits with the major scale, its arpeggios, and how to use it. You just need to know how the root note changes in the pattern. The right kind of music theory gives us a better understanding of the scales we play and why we play them. In my attempt to explain guitar scale theory, ill use enough theory to thoroughly discuss the concept while avoiding. The 5 major pentatonic scale shapes positions guitarhabits.
Click on the required key for scale notes and fret position diagrams in each key. Major pentatonic licks for guitar fundamental changes music. As the name suggests, a pentatonic scale is a 5note scale. This book and video course will supercharge your creativity and strengthen your understanding of music. 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. With its clean, folky sound, the major pentatonic scale is a common scale in folk, blues, country and pop music. The two most common pentatonic scales are the major pentatonic and minor pentatonic scales. Mastering pentatonic scale theory welcome to the learning pentatonic scales page at gmc run by yours truly, the professor. Every paragraph and page points to other books by author in an obvious. Guitar pentatonic and blues scales fundamental changes music. Mastering pentatonic scale theory guitar masterclass. Major and minor pentatonic scales on the guitar online guitar. There are three ways youll want to learn your major.
Page 1 hi, and welcome to pentatonic scales for guitar a pentatonic scale has just 5 notes. Guitar players often ask me what makes pentatonic scale patterns major or minor. My theory course is the best on the web and one of the very few paid parts of the site and its awesome if your theory is lacking and you wanna fix it thats the place to go. There are many different ways of playing an a major pentatonic scale on guitar. The trick is to find interesting and effective exercises to make your fingers remember those scales. The major pentatonic scale is mostly used in country, folk country rock, blues and jazz. Which you can find by taking the major pentatonic scale, for example the c major pentatonic scale, and playing the same notes but starting from the 5th note of the scale, in this case the a. May 09, 2014 the major pentatonic scale is mostly used in country, folk country rock, blues and jazz.
It frees you to enliven your solos and songwriting with bold, new ideas and techniques that will help create your personal style. Just so you are aware, most books and other people call it a pull off but i think its a dumb term, because what you do is flick it off, so im going to call it that. Today is not too easy to become rich just playing the pentatonic scale. Pentatonic and blues scales covers the essential guitar theory for the minor.
May 20, 2015 my theory course is the best on the web and one of the very few paid parts of the site and its awesome if your theory is lacking and you wanna fix it thats the place to go. Guitar pentatonic and blues scales fundamental changes. Although it is in the minor family of chord and scale qualities, it can be played. Learn the 3 simple rules for building a major scale. Jul 09, 2018 that should certainly give you enough of a start that will provide the inspiration to fill in most sections of a song. I thougt this book 25 major pentatonic licks for blues guitar by joseph alexander is very well written in easy to understand language.
Easily master pentatonic scales in minutesquickly and easily learn to play pe. The pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly used in all styles of music. Well find out how theyre constructed and how both can be used in your own guitar playing. Various positions of the major pentatonic scale pattern 15 for guitar with the fingering on the guitar neck. Every pentatonic key can have one of two possible tonalities. The last scale that we will explore in this section of the blues guitar theory guide is the mixolydian scale. Each major pentatonic scale has a relative minor pentatonic scale attached to it. The pentatonic scale, major and minor free piano lessons. Contains guitar theory, pentatonic licks, exercises and sequences. The trick is to find interesting and effective exercises to make your fingers remember those scales one recommendation i can make here is william lea. King of all guitar scales blues scale feature guitar lesson what is the blues scale.
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. The shapes of the major pentatonic scale are exactly the same as those of the minor pentatonic scale. But, just enough to help give meaning to fretboard movement. In pentatonic scale pattern one as i teach it in my fretboard theory guitar theory program the first note is always the relative. A pentatonic scale is made up of five notes per octave penta five. Welcome to video four of the lead guitar quickstart series. The fifth mode of the major scale system, this 7note scale is commonly used by country and rock players as they solo over blues chords and chord progressions. Although the pentatonic scale is not the only scale available for playing rock lead, it is. Guitar scales handbook helps you get out of your rut and expand your playing throughout the guitar neck. Music theory 1 guitar course scales lesson 8 youtube. This is a very helpful page for learning the major pentatonic scale for guitar. C d e g a c formula 2 2 3 2 3 now lets look at the complete, 5position diagram of the pentatonic scale. The best way to practice any guitar scale is to memorize.
D major pentatonic positions on the guitar online guitar books. Sep 26, 2018 the pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly used in all styles of music. A very easy to use lesson in basic major scale theory. The blues scale is a minor, hexatonic scale with the scale degrees 1 3 4 5 5 7 named after the american music genre blues from which it originates. Major pentatonic scale pattern 15 for guitar fingering. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read guitar scales major pentatonic. In this lesson, well be learning the major pentatonic scale, which is very versatile and used in many music genres. The versatility and playability of the scale makes it a popular choice for use in guitar soloing and melodies. The scale were about to learn is used loads in country, blues and rock.
The pentatonic scale chose 5 from these notes and created another scale, this is why it is called penta. My pentatonic lead guitar studies are 55 pages of must know musical information that really works built around the pentatonic scale. C major pentatonic positions on the guitar online guitar books. This book provides the pentatonic scale fingerings, diagrams, lessons and licks that every guitarist needs to know. Pentatonic scales for guitar the essential guide hal. Pdf e book lead guitar licks lesson pentatonic scales rock. No doubt about it, this fivenote scale packs a punch. In this short lesson youll learn everything you need to know to get started playing and using the major pentatonic scale in your guitar solos. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. 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. Major pentatonic guitar scale and songs guitar music theory. If youre familiar with playing guitar riffs and solos, you know that, in some cases, notes fall outside of common pentatonic and major scale patterns. How to play the pentatonic scale on guitar dummies. If you take the first, second, third, fifth and sixth notes of any major scale, you have a major pentatonic scale.
If playback doesnt begin shortly, try restarting your device. You can also think of it as the pentatonic major scale plus the 4th scale degree. The answer is that the pentatonic scale is either major or minor depending on which note is functioning as the tonic, which means primary pitch called root when dealing with a chord. Soloing with mixed blues scales guitar music theory courses. Im trying to build this site up to be a valuable resource for guitar students and teachers. The major pentatonic scale is one of the most widely used scales on the guitar. Heres a lesson that walks guitarists through learning to play the major and minor pentatonic scale in five positions, all over the guitar fretboard. The c major scale is our starting point because this scale does not contain altered notes better known as sharps or flats and, sharps and flats are collectively referred to as accidentals this doesnt mean much to guitarists, which is why understanding music theory makes more sense on the piano. You can hear how this scale sounds by playing the tab below. Learn to master both major and minor pentatonic scales in all 12 keys. The major pentatonic scale is similar to major diatonic scale 7 notes per octave, but without the fourth and the seventh note. Online guitar books guitar lessons by genaaron diamente. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading guitar.
In what order should i learn the scales for guitar. 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. You can play a pentatonic scale by walking your fingers across the neck at any one of these positions, playing 2 notes per string. All blues soloing for jazz guitar tab music bookcd scales licks concepts. Recall that most scales in western music contain 7 notes e. Learn to play major and minor pentatonic scale patterns and licks all over the neck play guitar in 14 days. The images below covers all the major pentatonic scale patterns in all positions on guitar. Chord progressions for pentatonic melodies the essential. Well also go over a muting technique in this lesson, so you can play a clean sound with every note.
Guitar theory is an area of study that explains how you can play, improvise, and compose popular music on the guitar fretboard and why certain elements of music go together the way they do. Pentatonic scale has notes that when played generate a pleasant melody, even if it is just the. Pentatonic guitar magic how to use the simple pentatonic scale to solo over chords from blues to rock tojazz. Its designed to give you a good overview of the basic building blocks for. The tonic is determined by what youre playing over. Guitar major scale pattern 1 five pattern system guitar. Can somebody recommend a good book on pentatonic scales for. That should certainly give you enough of a start that will provide the inspiration to fill in most sections of a song. The hexatonic major scale is basically the major scale minus the 7th scale degree. Major pentatonic licks for guitar fundamental changes. For an in depth lesson on the theory behind the major pentatonic scale, read the post on pentatonic scales. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
The following scale pattern can be used to play the major. The major pentatonic scale is a wonderful, simple way to add colour to your blues playing. Pentatonic and blues scales covers the essential guitar theory for the minor pentatonic scale, major pentatonic scale and the blues scale and highlights the characteristics of each scale with useful licks and exercises. The pentatonic major scale removes both notes that are traditionally considered dissonant from the major scale. Dive into guitar theory by exploring a fretboard diagram showing notes along the 6th and 5th strings. In this lesson, we are going to discuss the theory behind pentatonic scales and look at how to play them up and down the neck.
The major pentatonic scale is the most commonly used guitar scale when playing a guitar solo in a major key. Nov 08, 2019 on this page youll find a complete guide to playing the major pentatonic scale on guitar. With a tonic note of a the notes of a pentatonic minor scale are. The major and minor scales may be musiceducation stalwarts, but they sound a bit academic when used over chord progressions. On this page we take a look at the two main pentatonic scales used in guitar playing. Companion to the blues scale guitar lesson and chart. Jun 19, 2019 1octave c major pentatonic scale in guitar tab. What are some good music theory books for someone who wants to be a selftaught guitar player.
Playing the major scale legato require a better level of the technique because you most often have 3 notes on each string and so have to make two hammer ons or flick offs in a row but that is good. This is because most players learn the minor pentatonic scale first and assume that the pentatonic is always applied that way. And remember, full major scales work nicely in the same song where youve used pentatonic melodies, so feel free to do as you hear in theres a reason. The difference between major and minor pentatonic scales. There is both a major and a minor pentatonic scale which, as the name. 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.
For rock guitar, youll want to learn to play the pentatonic scale, which supplies you with better melodic fodder. The major pentatonic scale is often overlooked and misunderstood by guitar players. Similar books to pentatonic and blues scales for guitar. A must know set of basic theory to get you started off on the right theoretical foot. You can play the major pentatonic scale over almost any major or dominant chord without clashing with the chord.
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