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. 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. 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. How to play the g major pentatonic scale on guitar. The versatility and playability of the scale makes it a popular choice for use in guitar soloing and melodies. With its clean, folky sound, the major pentatonic scale is a common scale in folk, blues, country and pop music. The major pentatonic scale shares five notes with the major 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.
There are both pentatonic major and minor the minor is slightly more often used. You can play e minor pentatonic over an em chord or a progression that revolves around em. The pentatonic scale is frequently used in lots of popular music styles. Above is the a major pentatonic scale shown in 5 positions. There are numerous ways of playing a g major pentatonic scale on guitar. A minor pentatonic contains scale degrees 1, b3, 4.
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. If you are stuck in the pentatonic box then this is the way out of it. The major pentatonic scale is mostly used in country, folk country rock, blues and jazz. 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.
How to play the g major pentatonic scale on guitar youtube. This lesson is an introduction to the major pentatonic scale and its basic soloing application. In order to tune your 2nd b string to your 3rd g string, you. Also, the pentatonic scale can be easily turned into the blues scale by adding the blues notes. 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. Cs relative minor pentatonic scale, a minor pentatonic, begins on the 6 th scale degree of the major pentatonic scale shown above. One way to better familiarize yourself with the scale boxes and the pentatonic scale overall is to do scale exercises. 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. 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. 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. A c d e g the pentatonic scale can be played in different positions. 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.
The pentatonic scale is a very powerful tool on guitar. The pentatonic blues scale is a great tool for blues guitar and rock guitar soloing and improvising. Compare these scales c major pentatonic and a minor pentatonic with the c major and a minor scales, respectively. How to play the pentatonic scale beginner guitar hq. We always use the major scale as our reference when naming notes within chords and scales.
The major pentatonic guitar scale is usually played over major chords, and is used in rock music as well as country music. Lets first learn the building blocks of major pentatonic and where it comes from. Intro to major pentatonic soloing 9 major pentatonic. Learn how to play the g major pentatonic scale on the guitar for better solos without. If you start at the g on the 3rd fret of the low e string youll get a g major pentatonic scale. The major pentatonic scale is similar to major diatonic scale 7 notes per octave, but without the fourth and the seventh note. G minor is very much a rock and rollstyle key, and the main example that well be looking at today reflects that. There are three ways youll want to learn your major. The major pentatonic scale uses the 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 notes of the major scale.
What is the most common fingering for the 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. Experiment linking each of the five major pentatonic scale patterns with its neighboring patterns to build up your own extended lines. The pentatonic major scale removes both notes that are traditionally considered dissonant from the major 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. 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. Draw a line to match the major pentatonic to its relative minor pentatonic. How to use the pentatonic scale as major and minor on the. Some people find it easier to think in minor terms, and some find it easier to think in minor and major terms. 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 horizontal scale forms shown to the right are one way around this problem. A minor pentatonic is the relative minor scale of c major pentatonic. This scale is transpositional and can be played in, and should be practiced in, all keys. 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. Learn all 5 patterns of the g pentatonic blues scale and learnitar.
The major pentatonic scale guitar shapes and theory. However the major g pentatonic scale pattern is the exact same pattern in the same fret position. This is in a minor, but the scale pattern is moveable. Show me chords that sound good with a g major pentatonic scale. The a minor pentatonic scale contains exactly the same notes as the c major pentatonic, were just starting from a different place. E d g b e a pentaton c minor scale box 1 glitarsik. Pdf total guitar the ultimate scale book guilherme mauricio. Combining minor and major pentatonic scales guitarhabits. The major pentatonic scale is one of the most widely used scales on the guitar. In the case of the g major scale above, left, its root note is knowledge and.
In the major pentatonic scale, we simply take two of those notes out of each octave. 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. The major pentatonic scale has the 5 notes of the major scale. So even if you hit a nonchord tone at a lessthanoptimal moment these notes will be relatively forgiving. To hear each pattern check out the g pentatonic blues scale tab page coming soon. The a minor pentatonic comes from the natural minor scale. The only difference is which root notes you choose to target. The notes for c major pentatonic are c d e g a, while a minor pentatonic is a c d e g. The 6th note of any major scale is the root of the relative minor scale. 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. However, it starts on the tonic 1st note of the scale of g. A pentatonic scale is made up of five notes per octave penta five.
Chord progressions for pentatonic melodies the essential. 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. This pdf contains the diagrams for all the major and minor pentatonic scales in all keys for guitar in. 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. A minor pentatonic contains scale degrees 1, b3, 4, 5, and b7.
For this example we take the most commonly used position for the minor pentatonic scale. On this page there are easy to follow tabs along with audio at three different speeds. This added note is called the flattened fifth because it is one semitone down from the fifth note of the relative major scale. Minor pentatonic pattern 1 major pentatonic pattern 5 playing this pattern from left to right and up across the strings means you will be playing the e minor pentatonic scale. D minor pentatonic has the same notes as f major pentatonic and so. Scales you can use in the real world, created by a human guitarist.
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. Both the pentatonic major scale and minor scale have the same patterns. These patterns all link together as shown in the above diagram. The scale formula for the minor pentatonic 1 b3 4 5 b7. So basically, as with major scales, the minor pentatonic scale is the relative 6th minor of the major pentatonic scale. As you will see from the first diagram below, if you were to place your finger on the 5th fret of the 6th e. Master the minor pentatonic scale using the whole fretboard. We have just scratched the surface of the marvelous world of guitar scales. Learn the g major pentatonic scale note positions and names on the piano, treble clef and bass. In this example we use the a minor pentatonic scale which consists of the notes. 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. It includes a practice solo in a major with 9 licks that are all broken down.
Middle c midi note 60 is shown with an orange line under the 2nd note on the piano diagram. 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. Click on the required key for scale notes and fret position diagrams in each key. The diagram 1 has root notes on the sixht and fourth string. Ukulele scales and modes by 7 mustknow ukulele scales in standard tuning gcea. How to add some mixolydian flavor to pentatonics guitar.
No doubt about it, this fivenote scale packs a punch. This is just one of many ways you can join scale patterns up to make longer lines. Scale diagrams can also be labeled with either letters or scale degrees. Adjust the start fret option to further highlight a finger pattern for playing the selected scale in a different position on the fretboard. Learn the g major pentatonic scale note positions and names on the piano, treble. A better way to learn the major pentatonic scale on guitar. Essentially well play the g major scale, but leave out the fourth and seventh note out. Jguitars scale calculator will draw scale diagrams showing the fretboard with notes in the selected scale highlighted. Box 10 shows the blues scale, which is the the minor pentatonic with an added note. Note that a minor pentatonic has identical notes with c major pentatonic but in different order. Lets take a look at what makes up this scale and how its applied to the guitar fretboard. G pentatonic blues scale free pentatonic blues scales.
863 14 297 72 1416 1269 1280 748 1302 1286 544 847 297 1511 148 1492 1209 119 1450 221 746 458 1338 212 1516 1120 265 468 1058 914 1004 706 700 739