The basic concept is that a given major or minor chord can be played in five positions on the fretboard c,a,g,e,d surrounding each of these chord positions is both a major and minor pentatonic. Were going to take a look at two very useful scales. Dec 04, 2009 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 every key all over the guitar neck. Minor pentatonic patterns on the guitar on the guitar, there are five common scale patterns for pentatonic scales, commonly called box positions ie. G major e minor pentatonic scale guitar scales the pentatonic scale is a favorite of many guitarists and its easy to see why. When the player wants to lighten things up, the major pentatonic is the scale of choice. You can also access our site through your mobile phone. 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.
The pentatonic scale is a major scale excluding the 4th and 7th degrees. Click here for a free printable pdf file of this scale. Many players use them to get out of a rut and expand their music. The major pentatonic scale kevin downings guitar school. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in order to memorize the scales. Its used for improvisation and also to build chord voicings. Here are some free pdfs used to supplement my free video lessons. The scales are used often for composing melodies and for improvisation. Learn the e major pentatonic scale note positions and names on the piano, treble clef and bass clef, with mp3. Clicking here and on the image below will open a pdf file of the guitar major pentatonic scale chart that prints.
Then notate its relative minor scale and its scale degrees. However, it starts on the tonic 1st note of the scale of g. The major pentatonic scale is made from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th notes from the major scale for a given key. Free guitar scales pdf 84 scale and arpeggios chart. This scale has a bright sound which is great for modern country music. How to use the pentatonic scale as major and minor on the. However the major g pentatonic scale pattern is the exact same pattern in the same fret position. If you are playing in a major key, then use the relative minor pentatonic scale.
Jun 18, 2019 the guitar scales chart book is an ebook available as a printable pdf download. 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. The major pentatonic scale the major pentatonic scale is a fivenote scale consisting of five notes from the major scale. Major pentatonic scale the major pentatonic scale shares five notes with the major scale. There are both pentatonic major and minor the minor is slightly more often used. It is an essential reference for all lead guitarists, and contains over guitar scale diagrams. If you have chosen a scale other than the one that is used in these exercises which is number three hundred twenty six3 in the pentatonic scale compendium, often referred to as the major 326 or minor 330 pentatonic scale 4, play the shapes found in the exercises, but replace the. Intervallic patterns in a pentatonic scale scales have a set intervallic pattern or in most cases steps, which begin on the scale s root.
So again, here are the 5 boxes in c major with the major root notes shown in green. Major pentatonic guitar scale learn all five positions. The major pentatonic scale is one of the most used scales in modern and ancient music. Note that the omitted 4th and 7th scale degrees are the ones with semitone relationships against a tonic triad, and the source of the most harmonic motion in the major scale. Also, the pentatonic scale can be easily turned into the blues scale by adding the blues notes. The major and minor scales may be musiceducation stalwarts, but they sound a bit academic when used over chord progressions. Often you can use one pentatonic scale, play around with it, and successf ully do a complete solo using just that scale. 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. Playing the scale in this way removes the large stretches and organizes the notes in a way that is easy to grip, slide and bend. Pentatonic scales for guitar a pentatonic scale has just 5 notes. Diagonal pentatonics ive encountered countless intermediate guitar players who find themselves stuck inside the pentatonic box. Try to follow the picking indication from the video for now and dont forget the pdf download for the lesson as well. It uses the first, second, third, fifth, and sixth steps of the major scale.
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. If you are playing in a minor key, use that minor pentatonic. Immediate download and email link of professional pdf file for the neverlost system. So basically, as with major scales, the minor pentatonic scale is the relative 6th minor of the major pentatonic scale. So, lets examine two modes of the basic pentatonic scale.
The word pentatonic implies that there are five notes in these scales, and that is correct. To understand how this works, look at this example. You can get more diagrams in the tuning of your choice by using my interactive web app here. The pentatonic scale can function as both major and minor on the guitar. Each one connects to the next and continues down and up the fretboard. Using minor and major pentatonic together effectively. Here are pictures and notes of the minor pentatonic scales. Aug 11, 2019 the major pentatonic really is great for happier sounding tunes. The major pentatonic is like a major scale but without the 4th and 7th. You hear this sound all the time in just about every style of music rock, blues, country, jazz, you name it heres a video taking you through some major pentatonic essentials, and i develop these ideas in a. The pentatonic scale pentatonic scales have only five notes penta means five. A pentatonic scale is, as the name suggests, a five note scale.
On an unaltered dominant 7th chord or 7sus4, you can use a minor pentatonic scale starting from the chords 2nd, 5th or 6th. The comprehensive scale catalog is an extensive set of scales that can serve to inspire melodies in your flute playing. Three note per string pentatonics global guitar network. For the most part, im going to deal with pentatonic scales, but you can do blues scales instead if you want. As you will learn, these patterns can be transferred to all keys. These scales are very common in many styles, but not least in pop and rock music. Guitar pentatonic scales the 3 types of pentatonic. For this chapter we will be considering minor pentatonic. These are not lessons, but supplements to my lessons. Click on the image below and click full screen button to expand to high quality major pentatonic scale tab and notation. 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. Here are pictures and notes of the major pentatonic scales. 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. Jun 04, 2014 there note per string e minorg major pentatonic.
Compare these scales c major pentatonic and a minor pentatonic with the c major and a minor scales, respectively. The ebook contains the most important scales for beginners, such as major and minor, but also shows more advanced patterns such as triads arpeggios, seventh chords arpeggios, pentatonic and blues scales. This fivenote scale is similar to the major scale, but with the 4th and 7th degrees removed. How to play the pentatonic scale beginner guitar hq. There are several varieties but here were just looking at the two most common. Many guitar players use the minor pentatonic scale for solos by default, not realising that a whole new world of. The 6th and final note in the diagram is the octave note, named the same as the tonic note, and is the note where the scale starts repeating all the way up the piano keyboard. These are the four most common scales in pop and rock music. Jun 24, 2019 the guitar command guitar scales chart book is a comprehensive reference book for all lead guitarists. Major and minor pentatonic scales avoid significant harmonic dissonance by adverting this tritone.
Scales you can use in the real world, created by a human guitarist. Pentatonic scales are the scale shortcut there are a few reasons that the pentatonic scales are the short cut for the scales. Notice how both an e minor em chord and a g major chord fit. The awesome part is that they contain the same note intervals with differing. Starting on the major 7th introduce these into your playing one at a time. Try playing minor pentatonic over minor chords and major pentatonic over major chords within the same jam track.
Intermediate guitar lesson major pentatonic scales. For rock guitar, youll want to learn to play the pentatonic scale, which supplies you with better melodic fodder. Guitar pentatonic scales the 3 types of pentatonic scales. These systems are box patterns, shifting shapes, and 3octave shapes. Both of these scales are played in position, which means that each finger plays all of the notes at a particular fret. Several typical pentatonic blues licks will be used as a starting point to develop your knowledge of the pentatonic scale.
If playing in c major use a minor pentatonic also know as c major pentatonic. At times full major scales may be inappropriate to play over a given progression, as they may sound a bit stiff. If you dont have a keyboard in home, dont be desperate, we will explain in details how to create this scale. Theyve learned some of the standard box shapes, derived from the caged system, for the major pentatonic and minor pentatonic scales, but now they find they cant break out of those shapes. If you have chosen a scale other than the one that is used in these exercises which is number three hundred twenty six3 in the pentatonic scale compendium, often referred to as the major 326 or minor 330 pentatonic scale4, play the shapes found in the exercises, but replace the.
Check out my free video lessons on my free lessons page. One is a pentatonic scale, meaning it has five notes, and the other is a major scale, which has 7. Before we get started, here are the 5 pentatonic boxes in the way i look at them. There are a total of 430 finger exercises in this book. A pentatonic scale is a five note scale derived from the major scale. Link to pdf file with all 5 positions of the major pentatonic scale. Both the pentatonic major scale and minor scale have the same patterns. You can start with e minor pentatonic, but the same notes and patterns can also produce g major pentatonic. Although the pentatonic scale is not the only scale available for playing rock lead, it is. The only difference is which root notes you choose to target. The minor pentatonic scale consists of the same 5 notes of the major pentatonic. Scale shapes the first chapters teach you how to play minor and major pentatonic scales in three different fingering systems. Caged system to discover how each of our five pentatonic scale boxes can be used in both major and minor soloing. B pentatonic major scale part 1 all notes pattern 1 pattern 2 pattern 3 pattern 4 pattern 5.
One way to better familiarize yourself with the scale boxes and the pentatonic scale overall is to do scale exercises. A major pentatonic guitar scales chart scott van zen guitar. The most used pentatonic scale is a subset of the major or its relative minor scale. You just need to know how the root note changes in the pattern. The major seventh note is a very ify note, especially in rock.
A minor pentatonic blues scale weeping willow guitar. The guitar command guitar scales chart book is a comprehensive reference book for all lead guitarists. Pdf total guitar the ultimate scale book guilherme mauricio. Nov, 2018 pentatonic scales for guitar the essential guide pdf 20 dec there is a major pentatonic scale and a minor pentatonic scale. The 12bar and e major pentatonic scales respectively above, left. Richie blake explains and shows the importance of the pentatonic scale download support pdf for this lesson. The most important of these are both major and minor pentatonic. The pentatonic scale is frequently used in lots of popular music styles. Lets check out which intervals make up these scales, and what that equates to in c. The a minor pentatonic comes from the natural minor scale.
Pentatonic scales are cleaner as far as diagrams so theyre a little easier to work with. The ebook contains the most important scales for beginners, such as major and minor, but also shows more advanced patterns such as triads arpeggios, seventh chords arpeggios, pentatonic and blues scales scales and arpeggios are an important topic to master for those who are learning how to play guitar, so grab this book and enjoy it. The major pentatonic scale guitar shapes and theory. The major pentatonic scale has the 5 notes of the major scale. There are a few reasons that the penatonic scales are the short cut for the scales. Click here for instant access to the 17 page pentatonic scales chart.
D minor pentatonic has the same notes as f major pentatonic and so. Pentatonic and blues scales are effectively equivalent. There are three ways youll want to learn your major. This pdf contains the diagrams for all the major and minor pentatonic scales in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. The major pentatonic scale is a fivenote scale consisting of five notes from the major scale. What you need to be able to do is just decide on a key like c major and go straight there. It is an extremely useful scale that has a very sweet major sound. So major scales are bright happy cheerful sounding scales, and the major pentatonic is just that, happy and upbeat. The musical styles that use the major pentatonic are country, blues, fusion, jazz and rock. 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. Link to guitar pro file of tab for the major pentatonic scale.
Scale compendium, often referred to as the major 326 or minor 330 pentatonic scale 4, play the shapes found in the exercises, but replace the written notes with the notes of your chos en scale. Welcome to lesson 3 of the pentatonic scale, pentatonic blues licks. The pentatonic major scale high spirits flutes, 800. Jun 04, 2014 the pentatonic super highway okay, its not so much a road as it is a pathway through a scale you probably already know, the majorminor pentatonic scale. The guitar scales chart pdf ebook contains all of the most widelyused guitar scales blues, pentatonic, etc. 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 exercises in this book use the major scale, pentatonic scale, blues scale, and chromatic scale. You dont have to use all of these shapes in your playing, but check them out and see which ones sit. The root notes a in these examples are circled so that you can learn their locations. The major pentatonic scale next level guitar lessons. Label the scale degrees of the major pentatonic scales.
The natural minor is the aeolian mode of the relative major 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 major pentatonic scale d major pentatonic box shape. Link to page dedicated to the major pentatonic scale. So even if you hit a nonchord tone at a lessthanoptimal moment these notes will be relatively forgiving. How to play the pentatonic scale on guitar dummies. Oct 04, 2018 download a complete pdf study guide at. For this chapter we will be considering minor pentatonic only. The aeolian mode natural minor is the 6th mode of the major scale. Major pentatonic scales are especially common in traditional folk music, country and gospel. On the middle notes switch between your second and third fingers. You can play the major pentatonic scale over almost any major or dominant chord without clashing with the chord.
Once learned, the player can immediately start improvising rock guitar. Scales and arpeggios are an important topic to master for those who are learning how to play guitar, so grab this book and enjoy it. The catalog is meant to be a tool for exploration of scales. Note that a minor pentatonic has identical notes with c major pentatonic but in different order. The pentatonic super highway global guitar network. In this lesson you will be learning some ways to use the pentatonic scale in a solo. This package contains 120 jazz guitar lines based on diatonic modes as mixolydian, dorian and ionian. Guitar scales printable charts of the most commonly used scales. Guitar scales ebook printable pdf download from guitar command. This scale is perhaps less familiar to most guitarists than the minor pentatonic, but it is equally useful. The only pentatonic scale you need the neverlost system.
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