Pentatonic Scales - Meetup

Pentatonic ScalesLearn the major and minor pentatonic scales, their patterns, when to use them,and why they’re the scale shortcut.Pentatonic Scale NamePentatonic scales contain five notes, which is how it gets its name (Penta 5, tonic tones). There is a major pentatonic scale and a minor pentatonic scale. Theawesome part is that they contain the same note intervals (with differing roots), sothe patterns are the same. You just need to learn a new root note.Pentatonic Scales Are the Scale ShortcutThere are a few reasons that the pentatonic scales are the short cut for the scales.You can learn the same exact patterns for both. You just need to know how theroot note changes in the pattern.You can play the major pentatonic scale over almost any major or dominant chordwithout clashing with the chord.You can play the minor pentatonic scale over almost any minor chord withoutclashing with the chord.Sometimes you can play both scales over the same chord, especially for a bluesysound.Isn’t that an exciting and simple formula for success? This is why pentatonicscales are so popular.Did you know the blues scale is based off the minor pentatonic scale. It just adds one note.Learn more in my blues scale lesson.Play Over Major ChordsPlay the major pentatonic scale over major chords.For example, over C Major you could play the C Major pentatonic scale.Some people claim that you can play the C minor pentatonic scale for a bluesysound. Yes, you can, but you should be mindful of the notes you are playing. Theminor pentatonic scale has a minor 3rd (or b3) while the major chord as a majorthird. This note can clash, but you can bend the minor third up a half step to amajor third, which is a common tactic by blues guitarists.

Pentatonic ScalesPlaying Over Minor ChordsUse the the minor pentatonic scale over minor chords.For example, play A minor pentatonic over an A minor chord.Playing Over Dominant ChordsYou can use both major and minor pentatonic scales, but once again, be cautiousof the minor third when playing the minor pentatonic scale.For example, you can play C Major pentatonic or C minor pentatonic over a C7chord.Dominant chords have a major third and a minor seventh (b7). The minorpentatonic scale has a minor third, which may clash with the chord’s minor third.Once again, bending the minor third up to the major third is a nice bluesy sound.In this case, the minor pentatonic scale contains the minor seventh, so that notesounds great.The Major pentatonic scale does not have any clashing notes.Advanced NoteIf you are a fan of Jimi Hendrix, you know that he likes to play a Dominant7#9chord. The 9 is also called the 2nd. The #9 is enharmonically the same as aminor third (b3). In other words, if you see this chord, it implies that you shouldplay the minor pentatonic scale since it has a minor third.Playing in a KeyI am cautiously going to make a recommendation here. Since the chords change,you can follow my rules below and be safe. All the notes should sound fine. Justremember that some notes will sound better than others depending oncurrent chord.In a major key, play the major pentatonic scale and its relative minorinterchangably. In the key of C, you would play the C Major pentatonic scale orthe A minor pentatonic scale.In a minor key, play the minor pentatonic scale.

Pentatonic ScalesHow to Form the ScaleI just told you that you can use the same patterns, but the difference is where theystart. For example, if you use the C Major Pentatonic Scale, the matching minorpentatonic scale is the A minor pentatonic scale. It is 3 frets or semitones downfrom C. If you know your relative minor scales, A is the relative minor of C. Let’stake a look at two box patterns.Example of a Pentatonic Box Pattern – the Same NotesTake a look at these two popular pentatonic box patterns. You’ll note that they’rethe same except the root note location is 3 frets down for the minor pentatonicscale. If you’re familiar with the CAGED chords, you’ll notice that this box patternrelates to the G form and the E form respectively. I will show you the box patternsfor all the CAGED forms later.G Major Pentatonic Box PatternE minor pentatonic box patternWhat this means is that you need to know exactly five box patterns for bothscales. I will cover patterns in greater depth below.

Pentatonic ScalesForming Pentatonic Scales in ParallelAnother way to form the scale is in parallel, using the same root note rather thanthe relative minor. In my opinion, this is useful for learning the notes of the scalerather than just the pattern. To form the scales in parallel, you can take the majorscale and use the formulas in the table below.For example, the C major scale is C-D-E-F-G-A-B. To form the C Majorpentatonic scale, you would take the 1 C, 2 D, 3 E, 5 G, 6 A. To formthe C minor pentatonic scale, you would take the 1 C, b3 Eb, 4 F, 5 G, b7 Bb. You will notice that the notes are not the same because only the relativeminor pentatonic scale has the same notes. In this case, it is A minor pentatonicwhich is A, C, D, E, G (the same notes as C Major Pentatonic).ScaleMajor PentatonicMinor PentatonicNote Degrees (Based on the Major Scale)1-2-3-5-61-b3-4-5-b7Major Pentatonic Box PatternsThese are the five CAGED box patterns for the Major Pentatonic Scale. Can youpick out the major chords associated with the forms? You’ll notice that all thechord tones are there!G-form BoxE-form BoxC-form BoxA-form BoxD-form Box

Pentatonic ScalesMinor Pentatonic Box PatternsThese are the five CAGED box patterns for the minor pentatonic scale. Noticethat the root note location changes. Because the root note changes, you’ll alsonotice that the “chord form” changes too. The E minor box form is the same asthe G Major box form. Some people avoid teaching CAGED for these boxes toavoid confusion. I think it’s best to associate the chord form, which you shouldknow, to the proper box patterns.E-form BoxD-form BoxA-form BoxG-form BoxC-form BoxSingle-Octave Box PatternsAnother method of learning the pentatonic box patterns is to use single octavepatterns. If you know how to move single-octave box patterns around thefretboard, you can use these two patterns to simplify the learning process.Single-octave MajorPentatonic Box PatternSingle-octave minorPentatonic Box Pattern

Pentatonic ScalesDiagonal Major Pentatonic Scale PatternsThe single-octave patterns can be linked to produce two diagonal patterns, eachrepeated three times. The figure below shows two diagonal major pentatonicpatterns. The two combine to provide a pattern with a root on each string.

Pentatonic ScalesDiagonal Minor Pentatonic Scale PatternsSimilarly, the single-octave minor pentatonic pattern can be repeated to formtwo diagonal scales with roots on every string! Can you identify where thesediagonal patterns fit the box patterns? As an exercise, I recommend finding wherethe box patterns fit into these diagonal scales.ConclusionOnce you know the pentatonic scales, you are ready to play the blues. I highlyrecommend that you check out my 12 bar blues lesson to start improvising. Youcan also incorporate some blues licks. You can find some licks in my Licks, Riffs,and Tricks section.

start. For example, if you use the C Major Pentatonic Scale, the matching minor pentatonic scale is the A minor pentatonic scale. It is 3 frets or semitones down from C. If you know your relative minor scales, A is the relative minor of C. Let’s take a look at two box patterns. Example of a Pentatonic Box Pattern – the Same Notes