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August 2001

PLAYING THE BLUES (Part 2)

In the last issue we began talking about pentatonic scales. Our subject was the minor pentatonic scale. In this issue, let's take a look at the major pentatonic scale.

First, let's review. The prefix "penta" means "five". The root "tonic" means "tone". So a pentatonic scale has five tones.

The minor pentatonic scale is the same as a minor scale with the 2nd and Flat 6th notes dropped.

Root - Flat 3rd - 4th - 5th - Flat 7th

The major pentatonic scale is similar. In this scale you begin with the major scale and drop the 4th and 7th notes leaving you with:

Root - 2nd - Major 3rd - 5th - 6th

As last time, let's use G as our root note in this example. The notes in the G Major Pentatonic scale are:

G - A - B - D - E

Play both the major pentatonic to the minor pentatonic scales and listen to the difference in the sound.

Beginning at the third fret on your guitar it looks like this (starting from your big "E" string):

E string: G-A [second finger - fourth finger]
A string: B-D [first finger - fourth finger]
D string: E-G [first finger - fourth finger]
G string: A-B [first finger - third finger]
B string: D-E [second finger - fourth finger]
E string: G [second finger]

In this diagram, the diamond-shaped notes are the root.



Once again, find some bluesy sounding songs and try playing these notes over them. Of course, if the song is in a key other than G, you will need to move up or down the fretboard accordingly to play in the right key.

Play these notes in different orders and combinations. Listen to what the guitarist on the CD is doing. You can bend one note up to another which is a staple of blues playing. Or, throw in "incidental" notes that aren't in the scale to add "flavor." But don't camp out on them or it will sound awful. These should be used as passing notes only. "Passing" meaning you play them quickly while you are passing from one note to another.

Experiment with this scale and it will can add "flavor" and "tension" to
your playing.

Until next time,
STAY IN TUNE
Steve


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