Remember to take your time and play each scale in turn. However, it starts on the tonic 1st note of the scale of g. This pdf contains the diagrams for all the major and minor pentatonic scales in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. You can get more diagrams in the tuning of your choice by using my interactive web app here. This page contains all the notes on a 5 string bass guitar fretboard as well as all the scales in tab form and charts. Expanding on pentatonics to create modes high country guitar.
This article and interactive web app help you learn all of the pentatonic scale diagrams. You will be able to play in any key in 5 different positions by learning these patterns. In this lesson, we are going to look at another scale the minor. Youd think that if the major pentatonic scale were good for one thing, it would be for playing over major chords. Nov 08, 2019 on this page youll find a complete guide to playing the major pentatonic scale on guitar. Oct 21, 2015 major pentatonic is probably the most commonly used major key scale, so its a good place to begin with scales. There are a few reasons that the penatonic scales are the short cut for the scales.
You just need to know how the root note changes in the pattern. In this tutorial instead of using note names ill refer to scale degree numbers 1 7 of the major and minor scales. In case you missed it, last week i did a lesson on guitar modal scales and how they overlap. Students then have a page to write their own melody.
If playing in c major use a minor pentatonic also know as c major pentatonic. No doubt about it, this fivenote scale packs a punch. 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. The file extension pdf and ranks to the documents category. Students first learn the fingering for the c pentatonic with a warmup scale and melody. How to combine the major and minor pentatonic scales. Pdf total guitar the ultimate scale book guilherme mauricio. The musical styles that use the major pentatonic are country, blues, fusion, jazz and rock. Guitar scales printable charts of the most commonly used scales.
Click here for a free printable pdf file of this scale. Simply, this means that these two scales go together when playing in the key of a. D minor pentatonic has the same notes as f major pentatonic and so. Pentatonic scales pdf and instructional video guitar alliance. In other words, the major pentatonic is present in all 3 of the major modes. The pentatonic scale is frequently used in lots of popular music styles. 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. Free printable guitar scales 14 most commonly used scales.
Want to link to this website page for free guitar patterns. If youre interested in learning the difference between the major and minor pentatonic scales, then you arrived at the right page. How to construct major and minor pentatonic scales music. Guitar pentatonic scales the 3 types of pentatonic scales. On this page there are easy to follow tabs along with audio at three different speeds. Cs relative minor pentatonic scale, a minor pentatonic, begins on the 6 th scale degree of the major pentatonic scale shown above. Some decades before, some musicians use to earn millions just playing this scale. This is in a minor, but the scale pattern is moveable. The most important of these are both major and minor pentatonic. The pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly used in all styles of music. The pentatonic scale is use primarily used for soloing. This week im going to revisit the pentatonic scale.
The younger sibling to the major scale, the major pentatonic scale has only five notes. Use the download button below or simple online reader. Page 1 hi, and welcome to pentatonic scales for guitar a pentatonic scale has just 5 notes. 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. It also happens that the 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 make up a major pentatonic scale. For this chapter we will be considering minor pentatonic only. Have your students compose their own song in the three page workbook. To hear each pattern check out the free e minor pentatonic scale tab page. The pentatonic scales are a staple of modern rock, blues and pop music. Clicking here and on the image below will open a pdf file of the guitar major pentatonic scale chart that prints. For your convenience, i have included a pdf of all the pentatonics.
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. Finger one is the key of the major pentatonic say g and the 3rd finger is em. 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. Note that there are three major pentatonic scales contained in the seven notes of a c major scale. Click on the image below and click full screen button to expand to high quality major pentatonic scale tab and notation. Major pentatonic scale the major pentatonic scale shares five notes with the major scale. The only differences between the major modes are the 4th and 7th. Once youve got a handle on this material dont hesitate to contact anvil guitar instruction to learn how to augment and adapt these licks with notes from the full major and minor scales and with notes from arpeggios as well.
Clicking here and on the image below will open a pdf file of the guitar major scale chart that prints nicely. Link to guitar pro file of tab for the major pentatonic scale. Below is a download link for the pentatonic scale pdf. We focused on major scales, because they are in a sense, the master scale. You can play the major pentatonic scale over almost any major or dominant chord without clashing with the chord. The hexatonic major scale is basically the major scale minus the 7th scale degree.
Note that a minor pentatonic has identical notes with c major pentatonic but in different order. Sep 26, 2018 the pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly used in all styles of music. They are usually the first scales beginner guitarists learn to play. Although the pentatonic scale is not the only scale available for playing rock lead, it is. One of my readers, tim, sent me an email right after that lesson went live and asked about the same concept using minor pentatonic scales so like i always. The guitar major scale is happy upbeat and useful in a variety of styles of music. Pentatonic guitar magic how to use the simple pentatonic scale to solo over chords from blues to rock tojazz. With its clean, folky sound, the major pentatonic scale is a common scale in folk, blues, country and pop music. This book provides the pentatonic scale fingerings, diagrams, lessons and licks that every guitarist needs to know. They are still used all over the world, for example traditional music, country music, blues and metal. Bass guitar scales made easy learn guitar for free. Rock blues licks scales and applications in pdf ebook format shipped to you on a plain nonlabeled cd for you to label any way you wish. This scale is perhaps less familiar to most guitarists than the minor pentatonic, but it is equally useful.
Pdf guitar scales major pentatonic download full pdf. On this page we take a look at the two main pentatonic scales used in guitar playing. This is another method for visualizing the fretboard and having the ability to solo in key as i explained in the 2 lessons on how to solo using the full diatonic scale over the entire fretboard. The word pentatonic implies that there are five notes in these scales, and that is correct. Show me chords that sound good with an e major pentatonic scale. So basically, as with major scales, the minor pentatonic scale is the relative 6th minor of the major pentatonic scale. To play the minor pentatonic scale in a certain key first locate the note on the low e string and use pattern 1 as your reference point. Bass guitar scales pdf free download bass scales are successions of notes with a relationship between them and it is necessary, for any instrument, to know and master them in ours concretely, they will allow us to create bass lines or to improvise in an efficient way.
These are the five forms of a c major pentatonic scale or an a minor pentatonic scale. There are both pentatonic major and minor the minor is slightly more often used. The diamond shows the major root and the open circle shows the minor root. Learning scale patterns will help you to advance in your guitar playing. If you are playing in a major key, then use the relative 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. If you dont have a keyboard in home, dont be desperate, we will explain in details how to create this scale. Because of its simplicity, this bass guitar scale is excellent for playing straightahead rock and roll music as well as blues. The 14 most common and usable guitar scales printable and ready to use 1. A c major pentatonic scale consists of c, d, e, g and a notes. The major pentatonic scale is made from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th notes from the major scale for a given key. The natural minor is the aeolian mode of the relative major scale. Guitar scales printable charts of the most commonly used. The a minor pentatonic comes from the natural minor scale. The pentatonic major scale removes both notes that are traditionally considered dissonant from the major scale. Label the scale degrees of the major pentatonic scales. Link to free printable guitar scales pdf file with all 5 positions of the guitar diminished scale.
Fastest way to nail the pentatonic scale shapes 1 to 5. So major scales are bright happy cheerful sounding scales, and the major pentatonic is just that, happy and upbeat. The major diatonic bass guitar scale aka the major scale. The major pentatonic scale is one of the most widely used scales on the guitar. It tabs out the pentatonic scales in all 12 major and minor keys.
The major pentatonic scale d major pentatonic box shape. Heres a lesson that walks guitarists through learning to play the major and minor pentatonic scale in five positions, all over the guitar fretboard. A better way to learn major pentatonic on guitar youtube. This makes it easy to transpose the scale into different keys and will help give you a broader view of the concepts. The major pentatonic scale guitar shapes and theory. The scale includes five notes only within an octave unlike the major and minor scales that have seven notes within an octave. What you need to be able to do is just decide on a key like c major and go straight there. However the major g pentatonic scale pattern is the exact same pattern in the same fret position. Once learned, the player can immediately start improvising rock guitar.
Lets take a look at what makes up this scale and how its applied to the guitar fretboard. Or to put it yet another way, you could use the same major pentatonic scale in the ionian, lydian, or mixolydian modes. 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. When the player wants to lighten things up, the major pentatonic is the scale of choice. For rock guitar, youll want to learn to play the pentatonic scale, which supplies you with better melodic fodder. Pentatonic scales and the caged system lead guitar. D major pentatonic scale guitar exercises and beginner lesson. Major pentatonic guitar scale learn all five positions. There are many different ways of playing a c major pentatonic scale on guitar. Pdf e book lead guitar licks lesson pentatonic scales rock. On this page youll find a complete guide to playing the major pentatonic scale on guitar. 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.
The guitar major pentatonic scale has a bright sound that is just right for country. The versatility and playability of the scale makes it a popular choice for use in guitar soloing and melodies. You can also improvise solo on guitar by playing the pattern in the key of the music. Both the pentatonic major scale and minor scale have the same patterns.
Minor pentatonic shapes guitar scale overlapping life. A major pentatonic scale comes from a major scale by removing the 4th and 7th degrees. You can also think of it as the pentatonic major scale plus the 4th scale degree. Particularly the minor pentatonic scale and how it overlaps notes in its parent major key. The big difference between the pentatonic and the major and minor scale is that the pentatonic contains no semitones. Its used for improvisation and also to build chord voicings. Feel free to add variations and different rhythms to echo. Various techniques are used such as bends, slides and hammerons. The major pentatonic scale has the 5 notes of the major scale. The major pentatonic is like a major scale but without the 4th and 7th. Free scale patterns for guitargreatly advance your guitar. And it is not hard to discover the reason why everybody uses and abuses of this scale.
Link to guitar pro file of tab for the guitar diminished scale. Well, sure, i wish i knew or was taught it 40 years ago when i started playing. The major pentatonic scale next level guitar lessons. Try playing minor pentatonic over minor chords and major pentatonic over major chords within the same jam track. Link to pdf file with all 5 positions of the major pentatonic scale. We start with a basic major pentatonic scale guitar pattern, then introduce additional fretboard patterns that will allow you to play major pentatonic scales all over the guitar neck. Mar 19, 2015 fastest way to nail the pentatonic scale shapes 1 to 5. 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. This printable method is available as a pdf file containing 40 easy dominant jazzblues guitar. In our previous two lessons, we went over the major scale and the minor pentatonic scale. Simply click this address then copy it by pressing ctrlc or rightclick mouse and. The minor pentatonic penta five scale is a five note scale with no second or sixth degrees.
In this lesson you will be learning some ways to use the pentatonic scale in a solo. 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. There is a lot of discussion about the glory of the caged system. Major scale 5 patterns or in pdf minor scale 5 patterns or in pdf pentatonic major scale 5 patterns or in pdf pentatonic minor scale 5 patterns or in pdf blues scale 5 patterns or in pdf. Several typical pentatonic blues licks will be used as a starting point to develop your knowledge of the pentatonic scale. This guide maps out various pentatonic and blues scales including. It uses the first, second, third, fifth, and sixth steps of the major scale. Then notate its relative minor scale and its scale degrees. Pentatonic and blues scales there is document pentatonic and blues scales available here for reading and downloading. A pentatonic scale is a five note scale derived from the major scale.
Link to page dedicated to the major pentatonic scale. The minor pentatonic scale consists of the same 5 notes of the major pentatonic. For a reference page with all pentatonic scale forms with the roots for both major and minor highlighted, click the button below. How to play the pentatonic scale on guitar dummies.
Link to page dedicated to the guitar diminished scale. The pentatonic scale pentatonic scales have only five notes penta means five. So again, here are the 5 boxes in c major with the major root notes shown in green. This popular scale is frequently the first scale a guitarist. We are now going to expand the scale two frets in each direction. Lets build on the minor pentatonic scale that you learned in page one of this lesson. Click here for instant access to the 17 page pentatonic scales chart. Well find out how theyre constructed and how both can be used in your own guitar playing. Scale diagrams can also be labeled with either letters or scale degrees. The pdf is for members only, so youll need to login to download it. Welcome to lesson 3 of the pentatonic scale, pentatonic blues licks.
Improvise with major, minor, pentatonic, harmonic, diminished. 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. In the previous lesson we discussed what scales are, why theyre important, and the many benefits of learning them well. The major pentatonic scale is one of the most used of the pentatonic scales family. A minor pentatonic contains scale degrees 1, b3, 4, 5, and b7. If you are playing in a minor key, use that minor pentatonic.
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