Blues pentatonic on taba guitar. What is a pentatonic scale? Brief theoretical introduction
If rock musicians have a musical bible, it begins with a chapter on minor pentatonic scale, over 90% of blues and rock guitar solos use this scale. The minor pentatonic scale, for which guitarists love it, has a clear blues sound. It can play many chord progressions in minor and blues keys. In the article you will find answers to such questions:
- what is pentatonic
- how minor and major scales are indicated in music,
- minor pentatonic scale - what is it, how to play it,
- pentatonic scale in a minor,
- minor pentatonic scale on guitar in 1 box,
- pentatonic boxes with examples from guitar solos.
Definition of minor pentatonic scale
For improvisations in blues and rock, the minor pentatonic scale is widely used. How to get it? Must be thrown out minor scale(as you know, these are seven notes) the second and sixth degrees (for example, from the most popular scale "A minor" you need to throw out the notes "Si" and "F"). As you can see, everything is very simple.
Thus, minor pentatonic scale- this is a minor scale of five notes ("penta" - five), in which there are no 2nd and 6th steps.
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 fretboard.
The minor is denoted by the word "mall", while the major "dur". When designating the key, they are added to the name of the tonic through a hyphen: A minor will be a-moll, and C-major - C-dur.
Now compare a-moll and a-moll pentatonic scale:
It is worth noting that the main position (or box) of the minor pentatonic scale in the key of A minor resembles, as 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 have a question about which fingers to use, then keep in mind that many guitarists use the 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 the left hand during pull-ups and vibrato should wrap around the neck from above, and when hammer-on, pull off and variable stroke - return to normal position. Once you've mastered these phrases, play them in other keys.
The most common riffs in first box of pentatonic which you will be able to play without problems:
AC/DC - "If You Dare"
Rage Against The Machine - "Bombtrack" and "Know Your Enemy"
You should also play solo Aerosmith And Nazareth.
Find these songs and be sure to learn.
Pentatonic boxes. Development of traditional rock guitar technique. Exercises and examples
So you've learned to play first pentatonic box. However, this is only 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.
Pay attention to how the first five boxes of the pentatonic scale look in the key of Am
To learn these boxes, the famous teacher Sergey Popov developed several exercises. Their general principle: "Do much with little." With their help, you will develop the strength and coordination of the fingers of your left hand.
The exercises usually use the first, second and third fingers. Try to place them in such a way that they do not let the neighboring strings sound, touching them lightly. 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 muffled with the edge of the palm of the right hand. Do not strain your fingers and forearm muscles.
Exercise 1- a combination of bend and vibrato. After the bend, play vibrato on the note you were bending to. The entire exercise is played on the 2nd string.
Exercise 2. In it you will practice combining hammers and pools using the 2nd string.
Exercise 3:"Turntable" (looped motif) on 2 and 3 strings. Play it all over the fretboard.
Exercise 4 The same "turntable", but on three strings. In order not to constrain the hand, you do not need to take the first finger.
Ex. 5:"Turntable" on 1 and 2 strings. As in the previous one, the 1st finger does not take 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, is somewhat amorphous, so it is better to use hammer-on, bend, pull-off, etc. By learning how to combine them, you will decorate your game. Of course, you will submit to any chord progressions in blues and minor keys.
Meet me at the concerts, under juicy suspenders in minor pentatonic scale!
P.S. I almost forgot. At the end of the news, a couple of clips using the minor pentatonic solo.
Pentatonic - a sound system containing five steps within one octave, arranged in 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 steps.
The minor pentatonic scale is a natural minor scale without the 2nd and 6th steps.
For clarity, let's depict the receipt of major and minor pentatonic in the diagram:
In addition, if we exclude the 4th and 7th steps from any major diatonic mode, and the 2nd and 6th steps from the minor one, then we will also get the major and minor pentatonic scales, respectively:
| Ionian major: | Lydian major: | Mixolydian major: |
| 4,7 | #4, 7 | 4, 7 |
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| Major pentatonic scale | ||
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| Aeolian minor: | Dorian Minor: | Phrygian minor: |
| 2, 6 | 2, 6 | 2, 6 |
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| Minor pentatonic scale | ||
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Thus, we have the following formulas for the major and minor pentatonic scales:
major: |
IIIIIIVVI |
minor: |
IIIIVVVII |
Below are 2 fingerings of the major and minor pentatonic scales on the guitar fretboard (these fingering forms do not take into account the shift of 1/2 tone on the upper strings, i.e. on the 1st and 2nd) for playing in one position:
For clarity, we will depict these fingerings with the designation of the steps of the pentatonic scale:
If we combine the right and left fingerings, we get the fingerings for playing in one position on all six strings:
Pay attention to the position of the tonic of the parallel major pentatonic scale in the minor one - here it is convenient, using the octave system, to project the combined fingering of the 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 the most widespread among guitarists, therefore, when depicting the pentatonic scale on the entire fretboard, we 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 also depict a parallel major - A:
And it’s better to start studying the pentatonic scale in practice, after all, in the key of C-major and parallel to it, Am-minor. To do this, the above schemes simply need to be moved to the desired position:
And finally, let's see which notes "hit" the C/Am pentatonic scale:
To play the pentatonic scale along the entire neck, 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, which is built from the fifth degree of the major, and to the minor corresponds to a parallel major, which is built from the second degree of the minor. That is, the structural scheme of the major and minor pentatonic is the same, the reference (tonic) sound changes. More clearly in the diagram:
Because within the natural major there are 3 pairs of frets - major and minor (diatonic) modes parallel to them, then on the steps of the natural major mode, 3 pairs of pentatonic scales can be built - 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 fret corresponds to a major pentatonic scale with the IIIIIIVVI structure, and each minor scale corresponds to a minor pentatonic scale IIIIIVVVII. Let's take a look at the example of three-string fingerings:
The pentatonic scale is the most commonly used scale in the blues. Here it is often found with "blues" or "blue" notes (blue notes). Blues notes - these are chromatic III, V, VII steps in the major scale. This is how the major and minor pentatonic scales will look like with the added third degree in major (it is also the fifth degree in minor):
The diagram clearly shows that in major III and in minor V - this is the same note. Now let's note the blues note in the major and minor pentatonic fingerings, for playing in one position:
We will also supplement the step fingering:
The blues note is the opening tone to the second or third degree in a major pentatonic scale (or to the fourth or fifth in a minor).
In fingerings for playing in one position on all six strings, including in boxes, those fingering areas in which the blues note is on the same string with neighboring steps are of greatest interest. Then these three notes are played with the fingers 1-2-3:
This is due to the ability to apply various playing techniques - vibrato, slides, bend, hamer-ons and breakdowns, etc. - in a comfortable position. This is especially reflected in the out-of-box pentatonic fingerings (see below). Also note the characteristic placement of these three notes on the fretboard relative to the tonics of major and minor:
Let's supplement the standard pentatonic fingerings with blues notes:
Let's write out our example with the pentatonic scale on the entire fretboard for the key Fm and parallel A, but with a blue note:
Also note the blues note in the C/Am pentatonic example:
All C/Am pentatonic notes with a blue note:
In the blues, the major harmony is often played with the minor pentatonic scale, hence these "blue" notes appear in the major scale. Blues-note pentatonic scales can also be represented as boxes.
The following are quite commonly used out-of-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 built on the pentatonic scale, do not forget to add "blues" notes. In principle, studying the pentatonic fingering schemes, you can immediately memorize them with a blues note.
The following schemes are the game of the pentatonic scale in the system of octave positions, which are formed by filling in the steps of the pentatonic scale of one of the five octave positions. This is the same technique that was considered for triads and seventh chords.
Purpose of this lesson- understand what the pentatonic scale is, how it can be used in solo guitar playing.
During the exercises of the lesson, we will remember with our fingers the location of the notes and the main tonics in 5 major pentatonic scales. 5 minor pentatonic let's learn to next lesson.
Intentionally looking ahead, I will say: Memorize the pentatonic fingerings and your fingers will themselves play an impromptu solo to any song without falling on off-topic notes.
What is a pentatonic scale?
Pentatonic- these are 5 sounds, a five-sound scale. There are many scales of 5 notes.Consider minor and major pentatonic scales.
In minor pentatonic scales, sounds go through 3, 2, 2, 3, 2 frets. In major, through 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 impromptu solo in the key of "C major" (chords C F G7), you need to select one of the notes "C" 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.
Let's say 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 not 5, but 6 notes. This is not a mistake, the scales end on the same note they start with, but an octave higher. Thus, in the pentatonic scale, 5 notes of one octave and 1 note an octave above are played.It is not very convenient to play all the notes on one string, it is better to play on several strings on four or five frets. Each finger of the hand presses the string in 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.So you can play the pentatonic scale from any note corresponding to the tonic on the guitar neck.
- Improvising solo is even easier if you remember.
What is applique? - It is better to remember the fingerings when playing the pentatonic scale.
Let's start with major pentatonic scales.
Let's beat the music in the key of "A major", chords A, D, E7. Tonic, respectively - "La".
Let's find the note "La" on some string. Let this be the 5th fret on the 6th string.
Let's choose a suitable major pentatonic scale with the tonic on the 6th string:Circles Green colour the tonic is indicated on the diagram.
Play and record music A, D, E7 on your phone recorder, camera or computer, and then turn on the recording and play the pentatonic sounds relative to the root “A” on the 5th fret of the 6th string, listening to the A-major rhythm part.Another option is to include rhythm recording in mp3,
Have you tried playing? Is there a harmony of rhythm and solo?
In 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 memorize the pentatonic fingering.
A super-efficient way to memorize the pentatonic scale: improvising, come up with a solo;
play and record it without errors, for example, just on a phone's video or voice recorder, playing over the music.
There will be duplicates during the recording process. By repeating and practicing playing the solo for a 1.5-minute rhythm part, you will not only perfectly remember the pentatonic fingering, but also teach your fingers to make accurate, error-free movements. Try to learn how to play without looking at the frets..Also, for the chosen “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" at the 7th fret on the 4th string.
Play it and try to remember.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.Pay attention to the fact that in each fingering the tonic occurs in several places. Knowing the 5 major pentatonic scales and the location of the notes on the fingerboard, we can play a solo for music in a major key from any note "A" on it.
As for other notes, the situation is the same with them. - Record music in the key of E major, chords E, A, H7. Tonic, respectively - "Mi".
Play from the tonic over the rhythm each pentatonic scale in turn, trying to remember the location of the sounds in them.
Pentatonic scale that can be played
from "Mi" on the 3rd string at the 9th fret:Pentatonic scale that can be played
from "Mi" on the 6th string at the 12th fret,
from "Mi" on the 1st string at the 12th fret, and also
from "Mi" on on the 4th string at the 14th fret.Pentatonic scale that can be played
from "Mi" on the 4th string on the 2nd fret, and also
from "Mi" on on the 2nd string at the 5th fret.Pentatonic scale that can be played
from "Mi" on the 5th string at the 7th fret, and also
from “Mi” on on the 2nd string at the 5th fret (you can also play the previous pentatonic scale from this note).
Try playing these two pentatonic E's on the 2nd string at the 5th fret. You will get a large fingering from the sounds of 2 pentatonic.Pentatonic scale that can be played
from "Mi" on the 5th string at the 7th fret (you can also play the previous pentatonic scale from this note), as well as
from "Mi" on on the 3rd string at the 9th fret (you can also play from this note the pentatonic scale discussed in this paragraph of the first lesson).Play these two pentatonic scales together.
- Record music in other major keys:
Find on the neck and play from the tonic over each of the recordings of 5 major pentatonic scales separately and together.
- I think you noticed that pentatonic scales have matches in the arrangement of notes. In this way, one fingering can be compiled - a sound scheme that can be used to improvise a solo to music in a major key:
- Memorize this scale by turning on mp3 rhythm parts and playing it from the main notes of different major keys "C major", "D major", etc.
- A bit of theory:
Gamma "C major": C D E F G A B C.
The major pentatonic scale is the major scale without the fourth and seventh notes:
C D E G A CGamma "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 - In the next lesson, we will learn 5 minor pentatonic scales, playing them over the music of minor keys.
Publication date: March 15, 1998
Let's talk about pentatonic scales. The pentatonic scale is a scale consisting of five sounds. characteristic feature pentatonic scales - the absence of semitones and sounds that form tritones (that is, without degrees IV and VII in natural major and without degrees II and VI in natural minor).
Now let's illustrate what the pentatonic scale looks like on the fingerboard. Many of you will probably be able to build pentatonic scales on the guitar yourself, but I still offer five fingering patterns for each of the pentatonic scales so that you can check yourself (fingering - possible variant fingers for performance, or, if you like, "finger").
The tables are the neck of a guitar in front of you, with the strings towards you. Thick strings on the left, thin strings on the right. The red square indicates the main tone of the pentatonic scale, it is called the tonic.
You probably paid attention to the fact that the tables of the minor pentatonic scale completely repeat the tables of the major one, with the only difference that the tonic is now different. Why is this happening? Everything explains the parallelism of tonalities. Who is familiar with this topic - he already understood everything, for the rest I will explain.
You and I got the pentatonic scale by removing from major scale IV and VII steps, but from minor II and VI, so the rule of parallelism of major and minor keys is also suitable for pentatonic. And the rule is: parallel minor is built on the VI degree of the major, keeping all its signs with the key, if any. There is another ratio. You can step back from the major tonic down a minor third and get the minor tonic. In simple guitar terms, step back two frets down the string (meaning down the sound).
Thus, the same pentatonic scale can have two names, depending on which of the steps you take for the tonic. One name will characterize the major mood, the other - minor.
Now to business. Suppose you want to play improvisation in the key of A minor (what else are pentatonic scales for?), for this you need to find the note A on any string, then look at the tables of minor pentatonic scales and find the square on the corresponding string. After that, arrange the rest of the pentatonic notes according to the tonic and start playing everything that hurts.
If you pay attention, all pentatonic scales fit into four frets in width, except for the middle one. Four frets - four fingers in the game at the left hand. I think you guessed what in question. This way, in which each finger is responsible for a note in its own fret, is called positional play. In the case of the middle table, I propose to take the note on the third string, which goes beyond the position, with the first finger (that is, the index finger).
For the uninitiated, I want to offer a certain starting system. Play these pentatonic scales in a scale-like manner from the lowest note to the highest and vice versa to learn the material. During the game, it would be nice to know the name of the pentatonic scale that you this moment play. This will help you find the right pentatonic fingering patterns faster.
After you have mastered these figures in their purest form, you can move on to the options. The simplest and therefore traditional way of playing scales is in eighth notes (meaning durations), when there are equally two notes for each beat of the metronome. One - for a blow, the other - strictly between blows. Consider all this using the example of the A minor pentatonic scale.
Take, for example, the tonic (note A) on the third string. This will be the second fret. Look at the minor pentatonic fingering tables at the beginning of the article. We are interested in the last picture. This is where the tonic is on the third string. Let's take her index finger, we get the second (II) position. We start playing from the third fret of the sixth string - this is the lowest sound of this fingering model.
The bottom line - tablature - is the neck of the guitar. The sixth string is at the bottom, the first string is at the top. On the left are the tuning pegs, on the right is the body of the guitar. The rulers (strings) indicate the number of the fret, respectively, located above the note.
The next option might be a triplet, where the quarter beat (the distance from one metronome beat to another) is divided into three equal parts and your three notes should sound evenly on one beat. The waltz helps a lot here. Remember dance lessons - one, two, three; one two Three. So, each of your "times" should coincide with the beat of the metronome:
So, pentatonic in triplet rhythm:
Now one of the melodic variants of triplet pulsation, after studying which you can come up with your own similar exercises.
To be able to play pentatonic scales on the guitar and not be able to make a bend (bend) - pulling a string - is blasphemy. So let's study.
To begin with, the pull-up can be done on any string and any of the four fingers of the left hand (or right, if you use a non-standard way and play on the right hand). In general, you press the string at any fret, extract the sound (in other words, pull the string), and move the finger that pressed the string across the fretboard in any direction convenient for you. In this case, the string should continue to sound, and the pitch will change. Usually the finger is moved up, but, for example, there is nowhere to pull the sixth string - the neck ends, so we pull down. It should be noted that the band is not just done. The most common use of tone bends, that is, you pull the string until you hear a note that is a tone higher than the original one. You can also use the reverse option, when a sound is extracted from an already tightened string, after which the finger lowers the sounding string to its normal state. Thus, the sound smoothly transitions from high to low. Naturally, these two methods can be combined. They pressed the string, extracted the sound, made a pull-up, released the pull-up, while the string should sound.
Learning to play a band is better in the middle part of the neck; where the string is less elastic and therefore easier to stretch. Let's take for example the A-minor pentatonic scale already known to us, only with the tonic on the sixth string. This will be the first table in the minor pentatonic section and we will play it in the V position, i.e., start from the fifth fret of the sixth string. From the first to the second note of this figure, one and a half tones, so we will refrain from tightening. From the second to the third - tone; you can pull it up (the sixth string - down). Press the second sound with the 4th finger (little finger) and tighten the string until the next note of this pentatonic scale sounds. You can check this by playing a real third sound on the 5th string after tightening. In turn, the third sound can also be pulled up to the sound of the fourth, since there is one tone between them. And so on. If the interval from the note you are playing to the next note in order is 1 tone, you can make a band.
You can do the same with the rest of the fingering models. Of course, this is only material that you can use, and the rest (musical phrases, melodic and rhythmic combinations, etc.) will depend on your imagination, taste, sense of proportion and experience (I mean musical, of course).
The simplest training that is always at hand is a hit on the radio or on a recording. Turn it on and go! The difficulty is to determine the key in which it sounds. I think that if it did not work right away, then after several attempts, empirically, by trial and error, you will be able to merge in a single musical impulse with sounding information. Good luck!
Improvisation is probably the coolest thing for a musician. After all, it's no secret to anyone that just take it and compose on the go beautiful music It is very difficult. And you need to learn this for a very long time through blood, sweat and tears. But where to start? Is there any a starting point in this difficult matter for us self-taught guitarists? I hasten to please you, it turns out there is! And her name pentatonic scale. We have already talked about modes and keys in music, where we mentioned the pentatonic scale in passing. Well, let's start.
Pentatonic
The petatonic scale is a great tool for improvisation. Its peculiarity is that it consists of only five notes and is suitable for almost any harmony. Fingering on the guitar is also not particularly difficult.
Solos and melodies based on the pentatonic scale can be used in a variety of musical genres. It was most widely used in such styles as blues, rock and metal. There are even guitarists who play their solos mostly in the pentatonic scale. For example, the well-known Zack Wild (pictured).
Pentatonic It is a mode consisting of five steps. Actually happens major And minor. A major triad is based on a major triad, and a minor one is based on a minor triad (thanks, cap). The pentatonic scale can be obtained by excluding the second and sixth steps from the natural minor, and the fourth and seventh from the natural major. The pentatonic scale does not contain semitone intervals.
Minor pentatonic formula
1.5 tone, 1 tone, 1 tone, 1.5 tone, 1 tone
Major pentatonic formula
1 tone, 1 tone, 1.5 tone, 1 tone, 1.5 tone
talking in simple terms, the pentatonic scale contains the most basic degrees of major or minor modes. Therefore, it does not have a pronounced sound of any fret. But, if we add to it the characteristic notes of any diatonic mode, then in fact it turns into it. That is, the pentatonic scale is like a foundation or basis. To understand this, let's look at her fingering. There are 5 positions or boxes on the neck.
Now let's compare the fingering of the minor penta with the fingering of the natural minor. The red squares indicate the second and sixth steps.
Yes, that's right, on the 12th fret, the fingering of the E-minor penta. Thus, we have deduced a pattern: the fingering of the major pentatonic scale is the same as that of the minor one, for a note 1.5 tones lower than ours. That is, we take the minor penta 3 frets to the left.
Here, too, everything works with natural frets. If we add the characteristic steps of any major scale to the major penta, then we will get its fingering. Equally true for the Lydian and Mixolydian modes.
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By adding steps of the natural major to the G-major pentatonic scale, we got the fingering of the natural G-major. And it looks like something else. Yes, exactly, if you take the note E as the tonic, then E minor, a parallel minor for G major, also flaunts here. That is, the rule of shifting 3 frets to the left works for natural frets too!
