Guitar pentatonic scales. Guitar Lessons: Learning the Pentatonic Scale

TO How is the pentatonic scale built? The construction is carried out as follows, consider 4 options. As a first example, let it be em pentatonic scale .

B take any natural, minor scale and throw it away 2nd And 6th notes. For greater clarity, look at the pictures:

We get five penatonic positions: E - G - A - B - D.

N There are rare questions from readers: " What to do with the minor pentatonic scale" ? The answer to such a question simply leads me to a dead end, I guess I should play it, learn it, apply it in the right places, recognize its sound by ear...

E if you throw it out of the blues mode 4th step or as it is also called “Blue note”, we get the same thing. As an example it would be B minor pentatonic scale :

As a result we have: B - D - E - F# - A .

Cmethod No. 3, we build the desired scale by intervals. The method is the most labor-intensive, but also the most useful at the same time. For a better understanding, look at the pictures:

1st interval - minor third.
2nd and 3rd interval - second.
4th interval - minor third.

D To use this method, you need to be fluent in the required intervals, or better yet, all of them. Sooner or later you will definitely need them. Studying intervals is a separate work that is mandatory. IN Otherwise, this method is not for you.

H To find out method No. 4, read the following article, the link is at the very bottom of the post.

IN in this post we learned how to build minor pentatonic scale, in the next lesson we will learn how to build and find out what major pentatonic scale.

If there is a music Bible for rock musicians, it begins with the chapter on minor pentatonic scale, over 90% of blues and rock guitar solos use this scale. The minor pentatonic scale, which is why guitarists love it, has a clear blues sound. It can be used to play many chord progressions in minor and blues keys. In the article you will find answers to the following questions:

• what is pentatonic scale,
• How are minor and major scales designated in music?
• minor pentatonic scale - what is it, how to play,
• A minor pentatonic scale,
• minor pentatonic scale on guitar in 1 box,
• pentatonic boxes with examples from guitar solos.

Definition of minor pentatonic scale

The minor pentatonic scale is widely used for improvisation in blues and rock. How to get it? It is necessary to throw out the second and sixth degrees from the minor scale (as you know, these are seven notes) (for example, from the most popular scale “A minor” you need to throw out the notes “B” and “F”). As you can see, everything is very simple.

Thus, minor pentatonic scale is a minor scale of five notes (“penta” - five), in which there are no 2nd and 6th degrees.

The peculiarity of the guitar is its unique tuning, which allows you to play any scales in the same fingering, therefore, having learned how to play the A minor pentatonic scale, you can play any pentatonic scale, the question will only be in the initial fret on the neck.

Minor is denoted by the word "moll", whereas major – "dur". When denoting a tonality, they are added to the name of the tonic through a hyphen: A minor will be a-moll, and C major – С-dur.

Now compare a-moll and a-minor pentatonic scale:

It is worth noting that the main position (or box) of the minor pentatonic scale in the key of A minor resembles, since it is built around it.

Above is an Am chord. and now pentatonic scale in A minor(a-moll)

Minor pentatonic scale on guitar in 1 box. Exercises and examples

Actually, the above fingering is called the minor pentatonic scale in box 1.
If you are wondering which fingers to use, keep in mind that many guitarists use their ring finger on the first and second strings instead of the little finger.

You can diversify the game with such techniques as hammer-on, bend, pull-off, vibrato, slide. Often, guitarists use the “bend” technique with the first finger - pulling the string up or down. The sound of both strings should merge.

Pay attention to other exercises that will help you practice the minor pentatonic scale and get used to its sound.

Remember that the thumb of your left hand should grip the bar from above during pull-ups and vibrato, and when hammer-on, pull-off and a variable stroke - return to the normal position. Once you have mastered these phrases, play them in other keys.
The most common riffs in first pentatonic box, which you can play without problems:

AC/DC – “If You Dare”
Rage Against The Machine – “Bombtrack” and “Know Your Enemy”

You should also play solo Aerosmith - Cryin" And Nazareth - Right Between The Eyes.

Find these compositions and be sure to learn them.

Pentatonic boxes. Development of traditional rock guitar technique. Exercises and examples

So you've learned to play first pentatonic box. However, this is just the beginning. As a rule, guitarists rarely use only the first box. They have at least 2 or more at their disposal, and in the remaining boxes the first 3 strings are most often used.

Notice what the first five boxes of the pentatonic scale look like in the key of Am

To learn these boxes, the famous teacher Sergei Popov developed several exercises. Their general principle is “do a lot with little”. With their help, you will develop strength and coordination in the fingers of your left hand.

The exercises typically use the first, second, and third fingers. Try to place them so that they do not allow neighboring strings to sound, lightly touching them. If you are not going to play the first string, mute it with the ring finger of your right hand. The 4th, 5th and 6th strings must be muted with the edge of the palm of the right hand. Do not tense your fingers or forearm muscles.

Exercise 1– a combination of bend and vibrato. After bending, play vibrato on the note to which you bend. The entire exercise is played on the 2nd string.

Exercise 2. In it you will practice combining hammers and pulls using the 2nd string.

Exercise 3:“Pinwheel” (loop motif) on 2 and 3 strings. Play it all over the fretboard.

Exercise 4. The same “turntable”, but with three strings. To avoid pinching your hand, you do not need to take it with your first finger.

Ex. 5:“Turnable” on the 1st and 2nd strings. As in the previous one, the 1st finger does not take the barre.

Ex. 6. In this “turntable” you need to play all the notes of each box.

In conclusion

All these exercises will help you play minor pentatonic scale in various keys, using the most popular techniques. The pentatonic scale, played “through and through”, turns out to be somewhat amorphous, so it is better to use hammer-on, bend, pull-off, etc. By learning to combine them, you will decorate your game. Of course, you can master any chord progressions in blues or minor keys.

Meet me at concerts, under juicy suspenders in minor pentatonic scale!

P.S. I almost forgot. At the end of the news there are a couple of clips using the minor pentatonic scale in solos.

Pentatonic scale - a sound system containing five steps within one octave, located at major seconds and minor thirds. The pentatonic scale can also be understood as an incomplete diatonic series.

The major pentatonic scale is a natural major scale without the 4th and 7th degrees.

The minor pentatonic scale is a natural minor scale without the 2nd and 6th degrees.

For clarity, let’s depict the production of major and minor pentatonic scales in the diagram:

In addition, if we exclude the 4th and 7th degrees from any major diatonic scale, and the 2nd and 6th from a minor scale, then we also get the major and minor pentatonic scales, respectively:

Ionian major:	Lydian major:	Mixolydian major:
4,7	#4, 7	4, 7
Major pentatonic scale

Aeolian minor:	Dorian minor:	Phrygian minor:
2, 6	2, 6	2, 6
Minor pentatonic scale

Thus, we have the following formulas for the major and minor pentatonic scales:

Below are the 2nd fingerings of the major and minor pentatonic scales on the guitar neck (these fingering forms do not take into account the 1/2 tone shift on the upper strings, i.e. on the 1st and 2nd strings) for playing in one position:

For clarity, let’s depict these fingerings indicating the degrees of the pentatonic scale:

If we combine the right and left fingerings, we get fingerings for playing in one position on all six strings:

Pay attention to the position of the tonic of a parallel major pentatonic scale in a minor one - here it is convenient, using the octave system, to project the combined fingering of parallel pentatonic scales onto the fingerboard. Despite the fact that the pentatonic scale is a fairly simple scale, in which there are only five notes within an octave, this combined scheme helps to better navigate the fretboard:

Well, now let’s go beyond one position and “apply” the pentatonic scale to the entire fretboard. To begin with, it is worth noting that, for certain reasons, the minor pentatonic scale is most widespread among guitarists, so we, depicting the pentatonic scale on the entire fretboard, will choose the minor one and show it from the first fret of the sixth string, i.e. our pentatonic scale will be in the key of Fm. We will also depict the parallel major - A:

But in practice it is better to start studying the pentatonic scale in the key of C major and its parallel Am minor. To do this, the above diagrams simply need to be moved to the desired position:

And finally, let’s see which notes “fell” into the C/Am pentatonic scale:

To play the pentatonic scale along the entire fretboard, it is convenient to consider it in the form of boxes.

Just as diatonic modes exist in pairs (minor and major), so the major pentatonic scale corresponds to a parallel minor scale, which is built from the fifth degree of the major scale, and the minor scale corresponds to a parallel major scale, which is built from the second degree of the minor scale. That is, the structural diagram of the major and minor pentatonic scales is the same, but the reference (tonic) sound changes. More clearly in the diagram:

Because within the natural major scale there are 3 pairs of modes - major and minor parallel to them (diatonic modes), then on the steps of the natural major scale you can build 3 pairs of pentatonic scales - major and minor parallel to them. Moreover, all pentatonic scales built on the steps of the natural major scale have the same fingering structure. Those. Each major mode corresponds to a major pentatonic scale with the structure IIIIIIVVI, and each minor mode corresponds to a minor pentatonic scale IIIIIVVVII. Let's look at this using the example of fingerings for playing on three strings:

The pentatonic scale is the most commonly used scale in blues. Here it is often found with "blue" or "blue" notes. Blues notes - these are chromatic III, V, VII degrees in the major scale. Here's what the major and minor pentatonic scale would look like with the added third degree in major (aka V degree in minor):

The diagram clearly shows that in major III and in minor V it is the same note. Now let's note the blues note in the major and minor pentatonic fingerings, for playing in one position:

Let’s also add stepwise fingering:

The blue note is the leading tone to the second or third degree in a major pentatonic scale (or the fourth or fifth degree in a minor scale).

In fingerings for playing in one position on all six strings, including boxes, the most interesting parts of the fingering are those in which the blues note is on the same string as the adjacent steps. Then these three notes are played by fingering 1-2-3:

This is due to the ability to use various playing techniques - vibrato, slides, bend, hammer-ons and breakdowns, etc. - in a comfortable position. This is especially reflected in the off-box fingerings of the pentatonic scale (see below). Also note the characteristic placement of these three notes on the fretboard relative to the tonic major and minor:

Let's supplement the standard pentatonic fingerings with blues notes:

Let's write our example with a pentatonic scale on the entire fretboard for the key of Fm and parallel A, but with a blues note:

Also note the blues note in the example with the pentatonic scale in the key of C/Am:

All notes of the C/Am pentatonic scale with a blue note:

In blues, major harmony is often played with a minor pentatonic scale, which is where these “blue” notes appear in the major scale. The blues-note pentatonic scale can also be represented as boxes.

Below are quite commonly used off-box fingerings of the pentatonic scale in its pure form and with the blues III note (aka V in minor):

Let's combine these fingerings into one:

When playing exercises based on the pentatonic scale, do not forget to add “blues” notes. In principle, by studying the fingering patterns of the pentatonic scale, you can immediately learn them with a blues note.

The following schemes are a game of pentatonic scale in a system of octave positions, which are formed by filling one of the five octave positions with pentatonic scale steps. This is the same technique that was discussed for triads and seventh chords.

Purpose of this lesson- understand what pentatonic scale is and how it can be used in playing solo guitar.
During the exercises of the lesson, we will remember with our fingers the location of the notes and the main tonics in the 5 major pentatonic scales. We will learn 5 minor pentatonic scales in the next lesson.

Deliberately getting ahead of myself, I will say: Remember the pentatonic fingerings and your fingers will play an improvised solo on any song themselves, without hitting notes that are off topic.

1. What is pentatonic scale?

   Pentatonic scale- these are 5 sounds, a five-tone scale. There are many scales of 5 notes.

   Let's look at minor and major pentatonic scales.

   In minor pentatonic scales, sounds go through 3, 2, 2, 3, 2 frets. In major ones, 2, 2, 3, 2, 3 frets relative to the previous one. Let me remind you: each fret is a semitone.

   To play, for example, an improvised solo in the key of C major (chords C F G7), you need to select one of the C notes on the fretboard and play the notes according to their location in the major pentatonic scale. “Before” in our case is tonic(root tone) pentatonic scale.
   Let's assume that it will be “C” on the 3rd fret of the 5th string, which means that you need to play a sequence of notes on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th, 15th frets.
   It turns out that there are not 5, but 6 notes. This is not an error; scales end on the same note they begin with, but an octave higher. Thus, in the pentatonic scale, 5 notes of one octave and 1 note of an octave higher are played.

   Playing all the notes on one string is not very convenient; it is better to play on several strings on four or five frets. Each finger of the hand presses the string on its own fret.
   In our case it will be: 5th string 3rd and 5th fret, 4th string 2nd and 5th fret, 3rd string 2nd and 5th fret.

   This way you can play the pentatonic scale from any note corresponding to the tonic on the guitar neck.

2. Improvising solo is even easier if you remember.
   What is fingering?
3. It is better to remember fingerings by playing the pentatonic scale.

   Let's start with the major pentatonic scales.

   Let's play music in the key of A major, chords A, D, E7. The tonic, accordingly, is “A”.
   Let's find the note "A" on some string. Let it be the 5th fret on the 6th string.
   Let's choose a suitable major pentatonic scale with tonic on the 6th string:

   Green circles in the diagram indicate tonic.
   Play and record music A, D, E7 on your phone recorder, camera or computer and then turn on the recording and play the sounds of the pentatonic scale relative to the tonic “A” on the 5th fret of the 6th string, listening to the A major rhythm part.

   Another option is to include a recording of the rhythm in mp3,

   Have you tried playing? Is there rhythm and solo harmony?

   This way you can improvise by playing notes on the 6th string on the 5th and 2nd frets, on the 5th string on the 4th and 2nd frets, on the 4th string on the 4th and 2nd frets, on the 3rd string on the 4th and 2nd frets, on the 2nd string on the 5th and 2nd frets, on the 1st string on the 5th and 2nd frets.

   Play and try to get both your head and fingers to remember the pentatonic fingering.

   A super effective way to memorize the pentatonic scale: improvise, come up with a solo;
   play and record it without errors, for example, just on a phone video or voice recorder, playing over music.
   There will be takes during the recording process. By repeating and practicing playing solo for a 1.5 minute rhythm part, you will not only perfectly remember the pentatonic fingering, but also teach your fingers to make precise, error-free movements. Try to learn to play without looking at the frets.
   

   Also, for the selected “A” on the 5th fret on the 6th string, this pentatonic scale is also suitable.
   Play it over music in the key of A major and try to remember it.

   From "A" on the 7th fret on the 4th string.
   Play it and try to remember it.

   Pentatonic scales that can be played from A at the 12th fret on the 5th string.
   Play first one, then the second scale, trying to remember them.

   Please note that in each fingering the tonic occurs in several places. Knowing the 5 major pentatonic scales and the arrangement of notes on the fretboard, we can play a solo for music in a major key from any A note on it.
   As for other notes, the situation is the same with them.

4. Record music in the key of E major, chords E, A, H7. The tonic, respectively, is “E”.

   Play each pentatonic scale in turn from the tonic over the rhythm, trying to remember the location of the sounds in them.
   

   Pentatonic scale that can be played
   
   
   from “E” on the 3rd string at the 9th fret:
   

   Pentatonic scale that can be played
   from “E” on the 6th string at the 12th fret,
   from “E” on the 1st string at the 12th fret, and also
   from “E” on the 4th string at the 14th fret.

   Pentatonic scale that can be played
   from “E” on the 4th string at the 2nd fret, and also
   from “E” on the 2nd string at the 5th fret.

   Pentatonic scale that can be played
   from “E” on the 5th string at the 7th fret, and also
   from “E” on the 2nd string on the 5th fret (you can also play the previous pentatonic scale from this note).
   Try playing these two pentatonic scales from E on the 2nd string at the 5th fret. You will get a large fingering from the sounds of 2 pentatonic scales.
   

   Pentatonic scale that can be played
   from “E” on the 5th string at the 7th fret (you can also play the previous pentatonic scale from this note), as well as
   from “E” on the 3rd string on the 9th fret (you can also play the pentatonic scale from this note, discussed in this paragraph of the lesson first).

   Play these two pentatonic scales together.

5. Record music in other major keys:

   Find and play the 5 major pentatonic scales separately and together from the root over each of the recordings on the fretboard.

6. I think you noticed that pentatonic scales have similar note arrangements. In this way, you can create one fingering - a pattern of sounds that can be used to improvise a solo to music in a major key:
   
7. Remember this scale by turning on an mp3 rhythm part and playing it from the basic notes of different major keys “C major”, “D major”, etc.
8. A little theory:

   Scale "C major": C D E F G A B C.
   The major pentatonic scale is a major scale without the fourth and seventh notes:
   C D E G A C

   Scale "C minor": C D Eb F G Ab Bb C.
   The minor pentatonic scale is a minor scale without the second and sixth notes:
   C Eb F G Bb C

9. In the next lesson we will study 5 minor pentatonic scales, playing them over music of minor keys.

In addition to the common seven-step frets that we discussed in this article, quite often you can also find a fret consisting of five notes. It's called the pentatonic scale. And today we will talk about the types of pentatonic scale, the principles of its structure, how it is played on the guitar, and also give examples where this scale can be heard.

Types of pentatonic scale

1. Halftone pentatonic scale. It is not for nothing that it received such a name, since the distance between the two notes will be exactly a semitone. You can give the following example of construction: “si-do-mi-fa-sol”. Surely you noticed that the distance between “si-do” is equal to a semitone, as well as the distance between “e-fa”. This type of pentatonic scale can often be heard in Japanese music. For example, the folk piece "Sakura" is a prime example.

Sakura (Japanese folk song)

2. Halftone pentatonic scale. One of the most common types. The sounds of this pentatonic scale can go in perfect fifths. By the way, if you have forgotten information about the main musical intervals, you can read about them. It is immediately worth noting that the distance between adjacent notes can only be in the form of a major second or minor third. This is the main rule! Surely you noticed that in this type of pentatonic scale there are no minor seconds. That is why there is no modal gravity here, and there is no tonal center. This type is used in rock music, pop music and blues in European countries. Let's give an example: “sol-la-si-re-mi”.
3. Mixed pentatonic scale. It is formed by combining the half-tone pentatonic scale and the half-tone pentatonic scale. Let's give an example: “la-si-re-mi-fa.”
4. Tempered pentatonic scale. It is represented by the Indonesian Slendro scale. There will be no tones or halftones. Example: “do-re sharp-fa sharp-la-do.”

Major and minor pentatonic scale

Now we will focus on the subtypes of the halftone pentatonic scale. Their sound is similar to the major and minor that are familiar to us, which is why they received this name.

• Major pentatonic scale. The difference from the natural major is the absence of the fourth and seventh degrees. Let's give an example: “do-re-mi-sol-la”. The construction formula is very simple: major second/major second/minor third/major second. Remember this method and you can build a pentatonic scale from any note on the guitar. The pentatonic scale has a major triad: “do-mi-sol”. Therefore, the sound is very close to the major scale that is familiar to us.
• Minor pentatonic scale. It sounds like a natural minor, only without the second and sixth degrees. It also contains a minor triad. Let's give an example: “la-do-re-mi-sol”. We build according to the following formula: minor third/major second/major second/minor third.

Pentatonic scale in Chinese music

Scientists believe that the pentatonic scale first appeared in China. Even earlier than 221 BC there is evidence of the existence of this fret. Later, two sounds were added to the Chinese pentatonic scale and the well-known seven-step modes were built. However, the degrees of the pentatonic scale have been preserved, have survived to this day and allow you to obtain interesting sounds during improvisation.

Jasmine Flower (Chinese Traditional Music)

For the Chinese, the pentatonic scale is not just a scale, but a whole philosophy. It is believed that when we press any note, we hear not just one sound, but five. These are the overtones around a given sound. In fact, there are many of them, however, our ear can only detect five overtones. Therefore, the Chinese considered this number sacred and the pentatonic scale, which also consists of five notes, is the most important mode for them.

Pentatonic scale on guitar

Now we will look at how to play the pentatonic scale on the guitar. In order to improvise in a major or minor pentatonic scale, you need to practice a lot. Let's first determine what fingering we will play with. Each finger will be responsible for a note in its own fret. Very simple: four fingers - four frets. Thus, you will play by position, which in this situation is a very useful and correct decision.

Play the pentatonic scale first from the lowest note, moving up to the highest and in reverse order. If you master this exercise perfectly, you can move on to more complex variations. Play with eighth notes at first, and as you gain more experience, change the duration.

Minor pentatonic scale on guitar

The pentatonic scale allows you to diversify any guitarist's solo with interesting sounds. The blues pentatonic scale will also serve as an interesting example and teach every guitarist how to improvise brightly. The use of pentatonic scale can be seen in rock music and jazz.

It is believed that the pentatonic scale on guitar is one of the most common and simplest scales. However, to really improvise skillfully and interestingly using the pentatonic scale will require a long time of training and practice.