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Topic starter
24/11/2003 4:54 am
I've been playing guitar for 20 years now and most of it by myself recording at home and playing my lead over the top, listening to a song and learning it etc.. you know. I can find it easy enough to walk into a room and play along with whatevers been played. Im OK not great. I learnt the Pentatonic scale along with the majors ,the mixolydian , dorian etc. but always came back to the Pentatonic which I use for song in Minor Keys and obviously the Blues. I understand the five progression of the pentatonic fluently and can transpose them in any key for blues and minor chords/songs and when it comes to a song in a major Key, well Im stuffed. I still use the Pentatonic over the Major ie "sweet Home Alabahma DCG, I use the E pentatonic. Im not sure how the cycle of fiths works but can someone tell me what Key pentatonic scale I should be playing to a song that is dominant to Major chords? PS: I cant read a note of music? Have a great day.
Cheers
Tony
24/11/2003 9:56 am
You can use either the major or minor pentatonic. They're essentially the same fingering, three frets apart... you'd play E major pentatonic or C#m pentatonic.
Either one works... using the minor pentatonic over a major progression will sound more 'bluesy' because of the b3.
Tom
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
26/11/2003 1:35 pm
You can use either the major or minor pentatonic. Â They're essentially the same fingering, three frets apart... you'd play E major pentatonic or C#m pentatonic.
Either one works... using the minor pentatonic over a major progression will sound more 'bluesy' because of the b3.
Tom
What confuses some people is that the notes used in the C#m Pentatonic are the same as those used in the E Major pentatonic.
The way I find it easiest to remember is that there is one set of five patterns common to each key signature - that way you don't have to get your head around the "three frets different" bit and can concentrate on making sure you emphasis the correct roots.
And, you can learn it all based on 6th string roots.
A :-)
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Topic starter
27/11/2003 6:06 pm
I have been playing guitar over 30 years, currently in a Classic Rock band. I've never gotten too much into theory etc..., mostly go by ear.
If I understand your question, you want to know what to do with Dominant Chords. Well you can't always strictly adhere to a Pentatonic Scale. For instance, what is the difference between an E and E7 chord?, the flat7th D. The E Minor Pentatonic includes this, but the E Major Pentatonic does not. But that should not stop you. You could use the E Major Pentatonic but include a D note. This will work especially well if you start or end your phrase with this note. I have heard this called Target Notes. It's really very simple, you look for the note(s) that give a Chord it's particular flavor (the flat 7th in the case of 7th chords). This will add tremendous color to your solos. You will hear the chord changes in your solos.
Hope this helps.
27/11/2003 7:22 pm
For most music, rock, country, folk and such you'd use a pentatonic in the same key as the chords, i.e. if the chords are G,C,D and Em you'd use the G major pentatonic. If the chords are Em, D and B7, you'd use the E minor pentatonic. And so on...
However, there is an exception in that blues are often played in the parallel minor. That is, over a blues in E (E, A and B7), you could use an E minor pentatonic or its spitting cousin, the E minor blues scale (pentatonic + b5).
The clashing of major and minor thirds, perfect and diminished fifths gives a characteristic blues sound.
--
Helgi Briem
hbriem AT gmail DOT com