There’s something well-nigh the major pentatonic scale that seems very dry to me, which can be a good thing considering it lends itself well to stuff combined with other concepts such as the minor pentatonic in a blues or with a couple of widow notes to create the modes. In this lesson, we’re going to squint at flipside way to spice up the major pentatonic scale that involves subtracting a couple of thoughtfully selected chromatic passing tones into the mix. If you’re unsure well-nigh the idea of chromatic passing tones, this will be a good place to start.
Look at the pursuit two diagrams. We have our archetype A Major Pentatonic shape, then A Major Pentatonic with our chromatic notes.
We spice up the major pentatonic scale by subtracting the b3 and the b7 to have three semitones in a row (2, b3, 3), as well as having the b7 in there to create some uneaten tension. This works considering the scale still sounds substantially ‘major’ to our ear, although now it has a less vanilla sound considering of the passing notes. For me, it gave me that bluesy sound I was unchangingly looking for with the major pentatonic but could never quite find with just the vital scale on its own.
I suggest taking the time to get a finger for the scale, how those chromatic tones fit into it, how you can weightier use them, and their role as notes that you probably won’t want to hang virtually on for too long.
This scale is well-worth spending some time with, so let’s squint at the patterns that go either side of the one above.
This next pattern falls nicely under you fingers due to it stuff one finger per fret and has the potential for some unconfined licks; remember that you can moreover play this same pattern up at the 14th fret.
Here’s the pattern that goes the other side of our main/classic pentatonic box area.
After experimenting with these patterns for a while, you should be get a finger for what notes you can hang on and what notes you need to ‘skate over’ to get that chromatic effect. If you’re just getting into this kind of thing, the three patterns whilom will be increasingly than unbearable to spice up the major pentatonic scale; but if you’re hungry for more, here are the other two patterns you’ll need to well-constructed the picture.
If you like pentatonic scales as much as I do, there’s plenty more pentatonic ideas here. You can moreover pick up a self-ruling PDF version of our Pentatonic Soloing System.
The post How to Spice Up the Major Pentatonic Scale appeared first on Unlock the Guitar.
