The relationship between these 2 scales is called relative. Major pentatonic scale pattern 15 for guitar fingering. Using the popular major pentatonic scale and its associated four modes as the foundation for the note sequences, thegrimoirium contains every plausible note sequence permutation of the major pentatonic scale 2. In most cases, as long as the chords used in the progression lie within the same key more on this in a minute. The minor pentatonic scale has 5 different shapes, or positions, that can be played on the guitar. The minor pentatonic scale for guitar jazz guitar online. 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. Understanding the major and the minor blues pentatonic.
There are three ways youll want to learn your major pentatonic scale forms. The awesome part is that they contain the same note intervals with. The way i like to look at this scale is that you isolate a group of notes from the natural minor scale the full minor scale by taking the 1st, 3rd, 4th. 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. Minor pentatonic chord progressions in the minor pentatonic scale lesson we learned the intervals that make up the scale and that its basically a minor scale that will work over minor chords. Practice each pattern and memorise the fingering required to play them. Click here to grab your pentatonic scale chart plus more free. The solution below shows the f 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. Its an awesome scale and sounds great, no doubt about it. For your convenience, i have included a pdf of all the pentatonics. You can get more diagrams in the tuning of your choice by using my interactive web app here.
The major pentatonic consists of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th notes of a major scale. It tabs out the pentatonic scales in all 12 major and minor keys. There is a major pentatonic scale and a minor pentatonic scale. Here you will learn the major pentatonic guitar scale. Use the form below to select one or more scales, hit go, and the harmonizer will tell you what chords will sound good when played with the selected scales. The scale is made up of five notes per octave, thats why it has the word penta, meaning 5 in greek.
The a minor pentatonic comes from the natural minor scale. In the next lesson well learn the minor pentatonic scale, which is quite possibly the most popular scale among guitar players. Simply, this means that these two scales go together when playing in the key of a. All you have to do is emphasize the e notes in your scale shapes and they become e minor pentatonic scale shapes. Well, it can but it wont sound as good as using the scale that uses the same notes. Pentatonic scales contain five notes, which is how it gets its name penta5, tonic tones. From minor pentatonic scale to aeolian mode in our last lesson, we created a minor pentatonic tune through visualauditory associations. I dont want to get too deep into the theory of exactly what all that means just yet, as that is all fully explained in other lessons. This pdf contains the diagrams for all the major and minor pentatonic scales in all keys for guitar in.
As guitarists we all love our minor pentatonics but when it comes to using the majors many of us are on more uncertain ground. 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 word penta is greek for five and there are five different name notes in each minor pentatonic scale. Click graphic to play audio deactivate arrows on your keyboard for page navigation with alt k.
Just like there is a relative minor for every major and a relative major for every minor, there is a relative minor pentatonic for a major pentatonic and a relative major pentatonic for a minor pentatonic. This lesson will help you build licks that move smoothly between the two scales, in a blues context but. The pdf is for members only, so youll need to login to download it. Apr, 2018 the minor pentatonic scale is quite possibly the most used and, suffice it to say, overused scale on the guitar. Show me chords that sound good with a d major pentatonic scale. The minor pentatonic scale is probably the most commonly learned, practiced and used scale by guitarists of all genres. Major and minor pentatonic scales avoid significant harmonic dissonance by adverting this tritone. Note that a minor pentatonic has identical notes with c major pentatonic but in different order. The minor pentatonic scale consists of the same 5 notes of the major pentatonic. So a major pentatonic scale consists of only the 1 2 3. How to combine the major and minor pentatonic scales. The 5 minor pentatonic scale patterns learning to play the. In the major pentatonic scale, we simply take two of those notes out of each octave.
The major pentatonic scale has the 5 notes of the major scale. To play the g minor pentatonic scale in the third position, begin with your middle finger on the sixth string, eighth fret and play through the pattern as noted. The minor pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly scales used in rock, blues, country and jazz music. How to construct major and minor pentatonic scales music. Yet they dont have to be completely separate beasts. The minor pentatonic scale consists of the 1, b3, 4, 5 and b7 of the natural minor scale the aeolian mode. This scale is a mustknow melodic device for guitarists exploring the world of improvised music, be it in the jazz genre or otherwise. Aug 07, 2015 the minor pentatonic is the most important scale in blues and rock music. Cs relative minor pentatonic scale, a minor pentatonic, begins on the 6 th scale degree of the major pentatonic scale shown above. Below is a c major scale and its relative minor scale, a minor.
When you reach the second string, youll need to shift your hand up one fret. A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave such as the major scale and minor scale pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancient civilizations. Now its time to use the mayor and minor pentatonic scale, but when i use a mayor pentatonic over a minor blues progression it does not sound right when i use minor pentatonic over mayor blues, it sounds good. Minor pentatonic scale in all keys the key to playin in key. Minor pentatonic pattern 1 the minor pentatonic scale has 5 patterns along the guitar neck that act as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and provide a fret board path of what notes to play in a song or key. 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. This practical guide to using the minor pentatonic. Beginner acoustic guitar lesson tom petty i wont back down. For instance, lets take a look at the c major scale. To begin, lets take a look at the interval structure of the minor pentatonic scale so that you will have an understanding of how this popular scale is built from a theoretical standpoint. This scale will have its root note on the 5th or a string and you can start with your 3rd finger. Chords that sound good with e minor pentatonic scales. Major pentatonic scale diagrams beginning on each of the 12 chromatic tones.
This lesson allows your students to explore their musical creativity through improvisation by developing ideas for melodic lines using the aeolian mode. However, for the purpose of this introductory lesson, i will simply leave you with the scale formula of the minor pentatonic. They are usually the first scales beginner guitarists learn to play. The interactive app below lets you generate fretboard charts of pentatonic scales in all keys with custom. Simply move the minor pentatonic scale 3 frets down and youll. The minor pentatonic scale contains 5 of the 7 notes of the full diatonic scale. This scale is transpositional and can be played in, and should be practiced in, all keys. The red dots indicate a root note and the black dots indicate a note in the scale. Meter, scales, and key signatures because the white keys running from c to the next c an octave higher form a sequence of notes that have minor 2nds only between ef the 3rd and 4th notes and bc the 7th and 8th notes, musicians call that series of notes a c major scale. Since most players are far more familiar with the minor pentatonic scale shapes, this is an easy cheat for getting the major pentatonic notes under your fingers.
A minor pentatonic it is important that if you are going to learn to improvise with this scale that you learn how it sounds. Now lets combine the notes of the minor pentatonic and major pentatonic scale and create some soloing ideas. Use the minor pentatonic for the sections on the 1 and the major pentatonic for the sections on the 4, and alternate back in. This pdf contains the diagrams for all the major and minor pentatonic scales in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. The most important of these are both major and minor pentatonic. A minor pentatonic is the relative minor scale of c major pentatonic. 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 solution below shows the a minor pentatonic scale, on the piano, bass and treble clef. So, let us deconstruct this scale and look at the intervals that make up a minor pentatonic scale. I use the minor pentatonic scale for some time now.
Compare these scales c major pentatonic and a minor pentatonic with the c. For this lesson ive put together a classic rockstyle solo using just the major pentatonic scale. To understand how this works, look at this example. All of the root notes are b because this is the b minor pentatonic scale. Intermediate guitar lesson major pentatonic scales. Cool and unusual applications of the minor pentatonic scale. The major and minor pentatonic scales are perhaps the most used in modern music. Essentially well play the g major scale, but leave out the fourth and seventh note out. Many guitarists get stuck in a rut playing the minor pentatonic scale. Chords that sound good with e minor pentatonic scale s jguitars harmonizer allows you to easily identify chords and scales that will sound good when played together. The major pentatonic scale next level guitar lessons.
Below is a download link for the pentatonic scale pdf. Its build from either the major or natural minor scale. Learn the major and minor pentatonic scales, their patterns, when to use them, and why theyre the scale shortcut. The open strings themselves even make up the notes of the e minor pentatonic scale. The two licks below use notes of both minor and major pentatonic scales. You can start with e minor pentatonic, but the same notes and patterns can also produce g major pentatonic.
Csale e minor box form is the same as the g major box form. The minor pentatonic expanded ii scale now that you are familiar with the minor pentatonic scale in the basic box position and in expanded i form, lets learn the minor pentatonic expanded ii scale. Major scales and key signatures s o, now you can use the letters a through g to name notes on the treble and bass staff and accidentals to create major and minor seconds, aka, whole and half steps if you cant do this yet, stop here, go back to the previous chapters, and practice until you can. 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. Minor pentatonic scales to introduce a novice guitar player to the world of rock music requires that he learn a series of scales, which we can call the tools of the trade. In our previous two lessons, we went over the major scale and the minor pentatonic scale. As you will learn, these patterns can be transferred to all keys. The pentatonic scale can function as both major and minor on the guitar. The sample scale is given in g and all the red notes refers to root note. This is a big difference because this changes the tone center and root note which will make it sound like a completely different scale. The basics of the minor pentatonic scale for guitar soundfly. 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. Printable pdf ebook method containing 40 major jazz guitar licks with tab, standard notation and audio files for beginners and.
Scale diagrams can also be labeled with either letters or scale degrees. Click here for a free printable pdf file of this scale. Minor pentatonic the 5 patterns all of the 5 pentatonic scale patterns overlap in the same way with some being easier shapes to play than others. The minor pentatonic scale is the most widely used scale in rock and blues music. However, it also works over sequences of chords chord progressions.
There are a million ways to express your emotions through the minor pentatonic and use it for your soloing. The images below covers all the major pentatonic scale patterns in all positions on guitar. The solution below shows the a major pentatonic scale on the piano, treble clef and bass clef. The pentatonic scales are a staple of modern rock, blues and pop music. The major pentatonic scale box patterns on guitar fretboard. The key to understanding the minor pentatonic scale guitar. You can also download the chart as a pdf by entering your email here. How to mix major and minor pentatonic scales on guitar. It is similar to the natural minor scale, the alteration is that you need to omit the second and the sixth notes from the minor scale. Later on we shall take a look at the minor pentatonic. Pentatonic scales pdf and instructional video guitar. The 2nd note of any minor pentatonic scale is the root of the relative major pentatonic scale. So this solo is designed to get the major pentatonic sound into your ears, and. Todays lesson focuses on the 5 major pentatonic scale forms.
Before combining them, i remember first learning to solo over the standard 145 blues progression, and my teacher at the time gave me a quick trick for alternating between the minor and major pentatonic solos. Pentatonic scales pdf and instructional video guitar alliance. For this scale, all the notes in the 5th fret are played using the 1st finger, all the notes in the 7th. However it always has that same dark classic minor pentatonic sound. The 5 minor pentatonic scale patterns learning to play.
For this chapter we will be considering minor pentatonic only. Here is the equation of the minor pentatonic, have a look at how it relates to the natural minor scale. The root notes a in these examples are circled so that you can learn their locations. You can play a pentatonic scale by walking your fingers across the neck at any one of these positions, playing 2 notes per string. After pattern 5 the sequence starts again with pattern 1 at the 12th fret for the e minor pentatonic scale. 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. An a minor pentatonic scale is the same notes, just in a different ordera c d e g a.
Common in country music but usable in all genres, combining or mixing your major and minor pentatonic scales gives a whiny, unique tone that can open up millions of new options for your lead playing and blazing solos. Pentatonic scales are great place to start for song writing and improvising. There are both pentatonic major and minor the minor is slightly more often used. 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. The guitar neck diagram shows you the big picture for the b minor pentatonic scale. How to use the pentatonic scale as major and minor on the. Click here for instant access to the 17 page pentatonic scales chart. 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. The major pentatonic scale guitar shapes and theory. This is the only pentatonic scale pattern that requires a position shift. This article and interactive web app help you learn all of the pentatonic scale diagrams. A major pentatonic scale comes from a major scale by removing the 4th and 7th degrees.
Simply move the minor pentatonic scale 3 frets down and youll be playing the notes from the major pentatonic scale in the same key. Hide scales list d major d major pentatonic d minor pentatonic d dorian d phrygian d lydian d mixolydian d aeolian d locrian d blues d harmonic minor d melodic minor d whole tone. You could play these licks over a iivv blues progression where a7 is the i chord, d7 iv chord and e7 v chord. E d g b e a pentaton c minor scale box 1 glitarsik. A c major pentatonic scale consists of the notes c d e g a c. A minor pentatonic contains scale degrees 1, b3, 4, 5, and b7. How to construct major and minor pentatonic scales. Above is the a major pentatonic scale shown in 5 positions. It is now time to learn how to use the minor pentatonic scale, which is a must if you want to learn to play lead guitar and improvise. 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. Apr 16, 2016 the minor pentatonic scale in the 1st position.
The natural minor is the aeolian mode of the relative major scale. The relative minor pentatonic scale and why its so good. If you dont have a keyboard in home, dont be desperate, we will explain in details how to create this scale. If you have any questions on the major pentatonic scale before you move to lesson five, be sure to comment below. Penta stands for five, meaning the pentatonic scale is a fivenote scale. The pentatonic scale is use primarily used for soloing. Using minor and major pentatonic together effectively. You could play these licks over a iivv blues progression where a7 is the i. Basic minor pentatonic scale theory rock house method. Having read the theory behind the pentatonic scales, you should already be familiar with the basic intervals and use of the major and minor pentatonic scale. 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.
The aeolian mode natural minor is the 6th mode of the major scale. The scale were about to learn is used loads in country, blues and rock. The lesson steps then explain how to construct the scale using the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th minor scale notes. We will be using these scale forms in the coming lessons along with the understanding keys lesson material to form a complete picture of pentatonics in. Click here to gain instant access to pdf filled with pentatonic scales. A pentatonic scale, as the name implies, has only five notes. Try playing minor pentatonic over minor chords and major pentatonic over major chords within the same jam track. The pentatonic scale is frequently used in lots of popular music styles. Difference between minor and major pentatonic scale boxes. For a quick summary to this topic, have a look at pentatonic scale. Pentatonic scale has notes that when played generate a pleasant melody, even if it is just the.
The b minor pentatonic scale can be divided into patterns. Combining minor and major pentatonic scales guitarhabits. Strum a g minor chord, then play the notes of the g minor pentatonic scale. The lesson steps then explain how to construct the scale using the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th major scale notes. This ebook may be freely distributed but not copied or altered in any way. Still, this scales importance cannot be underestimated, as it is used in so many genres of music, from rock and blues to country and bluegrass. Both the pentatonic major scale and minor scale have the same patterns. Most guitar players learn pattern 1 first as its an easy pattern to learn. I use this scale for soloing over minor and mayor blues progressions.
D minor pentatonic has the same notes as f major pentatonic and so it goes. This is a g minor pentatonic scale because the first note we play sixth string, third fret is a g note. For a quick summary of this topic, have a look at pentatonic scale. Major pentatonic guitar scale learn all five positions. Notice how both an e minor em chord and a g major chord fit into pentatonic pattern 1 in the open position. They are still used all over the world, for example traditional music, country music, blues and metal. Chords that sound good with e minor pentatonic scales jguitars harmonizer allows you to easily identify chords and scales that will sound good when played together. Sitemap guitar scale major pentatonic pattern 15 fingering major pentatonic scale pattern 15 fingering in a major root. The pentatonic scale chose 5 from these notes and created another scale, this is why it is called penta. The major pentatonic is easy to learn if you already know the minor pentatonic scale.