Pentatonic and Blues scales

TGSuzanne
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Sat Nov 21, 2009 3:25 pm

Pentatonic scales are 5 note scales (penta-five, tonic=tone)

There are two types of pentatonics:

Major (here's the pattern based on the note degrees or number of the major scale)

1-2-3-5-6-8

in the key of C this would translate to:


C-D-E-G-A-C

A major scale without a 4th or 7th step.


Here's a minor Pentatonic:

1-3b-4-5-7b-8

or

C-Eb-F-G-Bb-C

This scale is a lot like the Blues scale:

Which is:

1-3b-4-5b-5-7b-8

or

C-Eb-F-Gb-G-Bb-C

Try playing all these different types of scales over a blues progression and see where you might use one scale type over the other.

Learn these patterns in all your keys and you will be ready for any blues jam....

:woohoo:


willem
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Sat Nov 21, 2009 6:06 pm

Hello,,with two of you theory genius we gonna get there..thanks..


leeson
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Sat Nov 21, 2009 6:07 pm

Thanks TGSuzanne!

That's awesome.

If I could do nothing but play the blues I would be forever happy....

Is that irony?

Bill


ffsooo3
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Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:52 am

Hi Suzanne, Here's my question. If someone is playing a I IV V blues progression in A (A D & E) should I be working in the Amajor pentatonic or Aminor pentatonic scale? And which "blues scale" would I use?


rcsnydley
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Sun Nov 22, 2009 8:31 am

ffsooo3 wrote:
Hi Suzanne, Here's my question. If someone is playing a I IV V blues progression in A (A D & E) should I be working in the Amajor pentatonic or Aminor pentatonic scale? And which "blues scale" would I use?
Since the minor pentatonic scale has b3 and b7 you already have 2/3 of the "blues scale". So, in your example you would use the A minor pentatonic scale and it would work great. If you wanted to figure out the b5 (which by the way is played along with and not instead of the "normal" 5th) it would add even more blues flavor.

Ric


TGSuzanne
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Mon Nov 23, 2009 12:38 pm

ffsooo3 wrote:
Hi Suzanne, Here's my question. If someone is playing a I IV V blues progression in A (A D & E) should I be working in the Amajor pentatonic or Aminor pentatonic scale? And which "blues scale" would I use?
I'd use any one of them, but you'd be "safest" using the A blues scale or the Aminor Pentatonic. Once you get used to the sound of each scale, you'll see they aren't too different and you don't "run" the scales when you improvise, you pick what will work over your chords and defines your melody and expression.


ffsooo3
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Mon Nov 23, 2009 5:18 pm

tgsuzanne wrote:
ffsooo3 wrote:
Hi Suzanne, Here's my question. If someone is playing a I IV V blues progression in A (A D & E) should I be working in the Amajor pentatonic or Aminor pentatonic scale? And which "blues scale" would I use?
I'd use any one of them, but you'd be "safest" using the A blues scale or the Aminor Pentatonic. Once you get used to the sound of each scale, you'll see they aren't too different and you don't "run" the scales when you improvise, you pick what will work over your chords and defines your melody and expression.
I guess it's the "naming convention" I'm having trouble with. When playing a I IV V song in "A MAJOR" I wouldn't think "A MINOR" (which is the relative minor of C MAJOR). I would first think, maybe I should play the A MAJOR pentatonic or perhaps the F# MINOR pentatonic (the relative minor of A MAJOR).


rcsnydley
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Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:05 pm

ffsooo3 wrote:
tgsuzanne wrote:
ffsooo3 wrote:
Hi Suzanne, Here's my question. If someone is playing a I IV V blues progression in A (A D & E) should I be working in the Amajor pentatonic or Aminor pentatonic scale? And which "blues scale" would I use?
I'd use any one of them, but you'd be "safest" using the A blues scale or the Aminor Pentatonic. Once you get used to the sound of each scale, you'll see they aren't too different and you don't "run" the scales when you improvise, you pick what will work over your chords and defines your melody and expression.
I guess it's the "naming convention" I'm having trouble with. When playing a I IV V song in "A MAJOR" I wouldn't think "A MINOR" (which is the relative minor of C MAJOR). I would first think, maybe I should play the A MAJOR pentatonic or perhaps the F# MINOR pentatonic (the relative minor of A MAJOR).
A blues scale has a b3, b5 & b7, the major pentatonic scale has none of those. The minor pentatonic scale has a b3 & b7 so it will give the blues feel regardless of the fact that you a playing in a major key. A blues scale is just the minor pentatonic scale with the b5 (the blues note added).

So, if you are playing a song in A major and you want it to be a blues song or have a blues feel you would play an A minor pentatonic scale and you could add the b5 to really give it a blues flavor. And remember the b5 is added to the "normal" 5th not instead of.

Ric


willem
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Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:54 am

ffsooo3 wrote:
Hi Suzanne, Here's my question. If someone is playing a I IV V blues progression in A (A D & E) should I be working in the Amajor pentatonic or Aminor pentatonic scale? And which "blues scale" would I use?
...

I guess it's the "naming convention" I'm having trouble with. When playing a I IV V song in "A MAJOR" I wouldn't think "A MINOR" (which is the relative minor of C MAJOR). I would first think, maybe I should play the A MAJOR pentatonic or perhaps the F# MINOR pentatonic (the relative minor of A MAJOR).
and then Ric wrote:
...
So, if you are playing a song in A major and you want it to be a blues song or have a blues feel you would play an A minor pentatonic scale and you could add the b5 to really give it a blues flavor. And remember the b5 is added to the "normal" 5th not instead of.

Ric
That's a nice point / realization: seems like one the important elements of "The Blues" is that there's a tension between the chords (major sounding) and the lead (minor sounding) -- at least, that's how it seems to me.


mark
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Tue Nov 24, 2009 4:50 am

ffsooo3 wrote:

I guess it's the "naming convention" I'm having trouble with. When playing a I IV V song in "A MAJOR" I wouldn't think "A MINOR" (which is the relative minor of C MAJOR). I would first think, maybe I should play the A MAJOR pentatonic or perhaps the F# MINOR pentatonic (the relative minor of A MAJOR).[/quote]

Thats one of the hardest things to get your head around.
The main thing to remember is that blues (and most blues based rock) doesn't really follow the normal rules of music.

So you are right, normally you would play the A major penatonic over a song in A major. But if it is a bluesy type song you can the minor penatonic over it and that's what gives it it's bluesy sound.


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