Pentatonic ScalesSo, I guess the first question is "What is a Pentatonic Scale"? Well putting it very simply. If you go back to your Maths lessons in school you might remember that 'Penta' is a Greek word meaning five or having five. So I'm sure you can guess now that Pentatonic means 'Five Tones' i.e. a scale with 5 notes in it (if you don't count the octave repetition of the first note).
There are two types, Pentatonic Major and Pentatonic Minor. I'll put it out there right away. These scales are used a LOT in Rock music and many guitar teachers teach these scales first because of that. Pentatonic Major
The scale spelling for a pentatonic major scale is: 1 2 3 5 6 8 (remember the 'penta' doesn't include the octave) Don't forget, these scale spelling are always based on the major scale, so going back to our trusy C Major scale which has the notes C D E F G A B C If you leave out the 4th and 7th notes you get C D E G A C As usual there are many fingerings for these scales. I'll stick with the easiest for now. This pattern starts with your fourth finger (pinky if you're from the U.S.) on the root note of the scale on the 6th string. In this case C. Then you just use your first and third fingers to move across to the second string where you use your first and fourth fingers to finish the final two strings. Giving you this pattern. This is a TWO octave pattern with the 5th fret on the 3rd string being the end of one octave and also the start of the second. E --------------------------------------------5---8--- B -----------------------------------5---8------------ G --------------------------5---7-------------------- D ----------------5---7------------------------------- A --------5---7--------------------------------------- E ----8------------------------------------------------ So
C - 8th fret 6th string fourth finger D - 5th fret 5th string first finger E - 7th fret 5th string third finger G - 5th fret 4th string first finger A - 7th fret 4th string third finger C - 5th fret 3rd string first finger (end of first octave and start of second) D - 7th fret 3rd string third finger E - 5th fret 2nd string first finger G - 8th fret 2nd string fourth finger A - 5th fret 1st string first finger C - 8th fret 1st string fourth finger Obviously, this is a moveable pattern, if you move your fourth finger up two frets to D and follow the same pattern then you'll be playing D Major Pentatonic instead.
You'll notice that the fingering image has an additional A on the 6th string this is deliberate and will become clear in the pentatonic minor section below. Next onto Minor Pentatonics. For this one I'll be using A Pentatonic Minor for reasons that, if you've looked at the Major and Natural minor pages you probably already guess, but will become apparent if not. Pentatonic Minor
The scale spelling for a pentatonic minor scale is: 1 b3 4 5 b7 8 (again remember the 'penta' doesn't include the octave) Don't forget, these scale spelling are always based on the major scale, as I said, this time we're going to use A pentatonic minor for this one which has the notes. A Major has these notes. A B C# D E F# G# A and to convert it to Natural minor you have to flatten the 3rd 6th and 7th notes giving you. A B C D E F G A If you leave out the 2nd and 6th notes you get A C D E G A Ah-ha - now we have the same notes as C Pentatonic Major but starting on A rather than C which gives you the following: E -----------------------------------------------5---8-- B --------------------------------------5---8---------- G -----------------------------5---7------------------- D -------------------5---7----------------------------- A -----------5---7------------------------------------- E ----5---8-------------------------------------------- A - 5th fret 6th string first finger
C - 8th fret 6th string fourth finger D - 5th fret 5th string first finger E - 7th fret 5th string third finger G - 5th fret 4th string first finger A - 7th fret 4th string third finger (end of first octave and start of second) C - 5th fret 3rd string first finger D - 7th fret 3rd string third finger E - 5th fret 2nd string first finger G - 8th fret 2nd string fourth finger A - 5th fret 1st string first finger As with the pentatonic major scale, this is a moveable pattern, if you were to move it down to the third fret you would be paying G minor pentatonic.
You'll also note that, as with the pentatonic major there is an extra note. This time it's the C on the first string at the 8th fret. This shows you that the two patterns, C Pentatonic Major and A Pentatonic Minor are exactly the same. All that's happening here is that you're thinking about it in a different way. This is an important thing to get your head around. At a basic level, if you improvise over a chord progression starting with C Major you'd think about it in terms of playing in that key and would therefore use C Pentatonic Major, but if you improvise over a chord progression starting Am you'd think about it in terms of playing in that key and would therefore use A Pentatonic Minor. At some point in the future I'll try and find time to explain that in a bit more detail with examples, but not at the moment I'm afraid. Just try it out and you'll see what I mean. Upwards and onward - Blues scale next. |
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