Confession #44 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 3)

In Confession #43 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 2) we looked at Pentatonic Pattern #2.  In this week's confession, we'll look at Pentatonic Pattern #3.

There's no TAB or video for this week, but next week, when we explore Pattern #4, we'll see how you can link up Pattern #1 and Pattern #4 in a cool way.


Major Pentatonic Pattern #3

Here is major pentatonic pattern #3 in the key of C.  I've coloured the root notes red for easy reference.  I've also shown pattern #2 in the diagram so you can see how the two patterns are connected.  The dashed notes on the left belong only to pattern #2.  The notes in the middle are common to both patterns. The notes on the right belong only to pattern #3.

You could play this in 9th position by using fingers 2 and 4 on the sixth, fifth and fourth strings, and then fingers 1 and 4 on the third string.  Once you get to the second string you'd switch to 10th position by using fingers 1 and 4, and then fingers 1 and 3 on the first string.

However some players like to use just fingers 1 and 3 for Pattern #3.  Experiment and see what works best for you.


Minor Pentatonic Pattern #3

Here is minor pentatonic pattern #3 in the key of A minor.  Again, I've coloured the root notes red for easy reference and I've also shown pattern #2 in the diagram so you can see how the two patterns are connected.

Next Week's Confession - Pentatonic Scales (Part 4)

Confession #41 - 12 Bar Blues!

Last week we learned pentatonic pattern #1 (see Confession #40 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 1)).  This week we'll put that pattern to use over a 12 bar blues chord progression.


12 BAR BLUES

The 12 bar blues is a standard chord progression used frequently in, yes you guessed it, blues music.  It is also frequently used in rock and roll.  As you may have already guessed, the progression is 12 bars long.  At the end of the 12 bars, the progression is repeated again and again throughout the song.

Basic 12 Bar Blues

At its most basic, the progression consists of the I, IV and V chords of whatever key you happen to be playing in, organized like this:

|  I   |  I   |  I   |  I   |
|  IV  |  IV  |  I   |  I   |
|  V   |  IV  |  I   |  V   |

See Confession #14 - Know What Chords to Play!  if you aren't sure what the roman numerals mean.


In the key of A, the I, IV and V chords are A, D and E, so the progression would be:

|  A   |  A   |  A   |  A   |
|  D   |  D   |  A   |  A   |
|  E   |  D   |  A   |  E   |

Dominant Sevenths

It is also very common for the 12 bar blues to be played using all dominant 7th chords like this:

|  I7  |  I7  |  I7  |  I7  |
|  IV7 |  IV7 |  I7  |  I7  |
|  V7  |  IV7 |  I7  |  V7  |


See Confession #13 - Learn More Barre Chords! for examples of some dominant 7th chord fingerings.

As we'll learn in a future confession about harmonizing the major scale in sevenths, technically you change key every time you change chords when you play a 12 bar blues this way.

Quick Change

Another common variation is to play the IV chord or the IV7 chord in the second measure, like this:

|  I7  |  IV7 |  I7  |  I7  |
|  IV7 |  IV7 |  I7  |  I7  |
|  V7  |  IV7 |  I7  |  V7  |

This is referred to as the "quick change".  You'll hear the quick change in the Blue Brothers version of Sweet Home Chicago.


MOVEABLE RIFF

The first two measures of the TAB below introduce a riff that is played in 5th position and is based (mostly) on the A minor pentatonic scale.

The riff also includes the "flat-five" or the "blue note" (6th fret of your fifth string) which is not technically part of the scale, but is often used with it.  I'll talk more about the blue note in a future confession.

When the chord changes to a D in the 5th measure, the riff follows the chord.  The riff is identical except that it now it starts on a D instead of an A.

This could be done by staying on the fourth and fifth strings and moving up to 10th position, but its easier to shift to the third and fourth strings.  When a riff follows the chords like this, it is called a moveable riff.


VIDEO AND TAB

Here's a video demonstration of a 12 bar blues in the key of A using the moveable riff in the TAB below:

Here's the TAB for the song.  In the third and fourth measures I have shown the suggested fingerings for playing the riff.  I have also shown suggested fingering in the twelfth measure.  This is what works for me.  If it doesn't work for you then try a different fingering.

12 Bar Blues in the Key of A
(Click to Enlarge)

Have fun playing this one!

Next Week's Confession - 7th Chord Cheat Sheet!

Confession #40 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 1)

Pentatonic scales are very commonly used in rock and roll, so you'll want to have a good understanding of them. Fortunately, they are not that difficult to understand or to play.  That's one of the reason for their popularity.

THE MAJOR PENTATONIC SCALE

Penta comes from the Greek language, and means 5, so penta-tonic means 5 tones  Thus a pentatonic sale has, yes you guessed it, 5 tones.

Which 5 tones you ask?  Well, take the C major scale (see Confession #8 - Learn the Major Scale!) and leave out the F and the B and you get the C major pentatonic scale:

[The numbers below the note names are the scale formula (see Confession #27 - Learn the Minor Scale!)]


C Major Scale

C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8
  W   W   H   W   W   W   H

The numbers below the note names are the scale formula (see Confession #27 - Learn the Minor Scale!)


C Major Pentatonic Scale

C - D - E - - - G - A - - - C
1   2   3       5   6       8
  W   W    H+W    W    W+H

Major Pentatonic Pattern #1

You may have already learned this pattern.  If not, take the time to learn it as Pattern #1 is very commonly used.

Major Pentatonic Pattern #1
(Click to Enlarge)

Observe that the root note C is at the 7th fret of your sixth string.  The A at the 5th fret of the sixth string is part of the scale, but I've shown it in dashed lines as it is below the root note.


THE MINOR PENTATONIC SCALE

Let's do the same thing again, but this time start with the A minor scale (see Confession #39 - Back to the Minor Scale!), which is the relative minor scale to the C major scale.

A Minor Scale

A - B - C  - D - E - F  - G  - A
1   2   3b   4   5   6b   7b   8
  W   H    W   W   H    W    W


A Minor Pentatonic Scale

A - - - C  - D - E - -  - G  - A
1       3b   4   5        7b   8
   W+H     W   W    H+W     W


Minor Pentatonic Pattern #1

Again, this pattern will probably look familiar.

Minor Pentatonic Pattern #1
(Click to Enlarge)

Observe that the root note A is at the 5th fret of your sixth string.

I've also shown the Am pentatonic extended box.  We'll discuss where these notes come from in a future confession.  For now, ignore the notes in the dashed lines.

You're probably thinking to yourself, "It's the same pattern as the major pentatonic scale!"  And you would be correct.  The A minor pentatonic scale is the relative minor scale to the C major pentatonic scale, so they do use the same notes.  The difference is which note you treat as the root note of the scale.
So how do you know which scale is which?  If you want to play the minor pentatonic scale, then the root note is under your index finger. If you want to play the major pentatonic scale, then the root note is under your fourth finger.  Note that minor and index both have the letter i in them.  This is the trick to remembering which scale is which.


OBSERVATIONS

Observe that there are only two notes per string, which makes these pentatonic scale patterns easy to play.  This is part of the reason they are so popular!

Observe that by eliminating the notes F and B, we eliminated the half steps from the standard major and minor scale.  If you can remember this fact, then you can easily build a pentatonic scale in any key,  Write out the major or minor scale for that key, and then eliminate the half steps. Boom! There's the pentatonic scale. That's easier then remembering the scale formula.

Next Week's Confession - 12 Bar Blues! 

Confession #26 - One Minute Jam!

Last week's confession, Confession #25 - Fret Hand Muting!, provided the rhythm guitar tab for a track I wrote called One Minute Jam.  The rhythm guitar part illustrated the use of staccato phrasing and string clicks.


One Minute Jam!

Here's an audio-only YouTube video of the recorded track featuring rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass and drums.  The tempo is approximately 102 beats per minute.

Here's the tab for the lead guitar part:

One Minute Jam - Lead Guitar
(Click to Enlarge)

Almost all the notes for the lead lines are coming from the A minor pentatonic scale (there's one B in there, which belongs to the full A minor scale).  Last week we learned that this song could be in the key of G or the key of D, so why am I using the A minor pentatonic scale?

I didn't put much thought into it at the time I wrote it.  My thinking was that the rhythm guitar is hitting an A major chord on beat 1 of each measure, and that playing a minor pentatonic scale over a major chord is a common rock technique.  From there, I let my ear decide.  If it sounded good, then it that's all that mattered.

Looking at it from a theory perspective, here are the notes of each of the three keys:

• G - A - B  - C - D - E - F#
• D - E - F# - G - A - B - C#
• A - B - C  - D - E - F - G 

Thus, the notes that can cause a conflict are F / F#, and C / C#.

If we avoid the F in the A minor scale (there are no F's in the lead lines), then all we are left to worry about is the C and C# conflict.  And this isn't actually a worry because the C / C# conflict is one of the desirable tensions created by playing A minor pentatonic over an A major chord.

Don't be afraid to try something "outside the box", which in this case happened to be "inside" the A minor pentatonic box.  :-)

Next Week's Confession - Use a Capo!