scales, pentatonic etc...

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dabluesman

dabluesman

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Ok, I've been playing the guitar for 7 years or so. Though up until about 2 years ago all I knew were power cords and the tab's that I figured out in mag's. About 2 years ago a good friend showed me the pentatonic scale, I am a natural with this scale, I understood it instantly. The day after he showed it to me, I was playing it up and down from low E to high E and back with all three octives of the root note. Within a week I could play stay in it while following the cord changes. Then sometime after that I figured out how to play the whole scale from one octive to the next by going up the neck and up the strings (instead of staying in the "box".) I also figured out the "BB King box", I think of it as an addition to the top end of the pentatonic box. I'm not literate on the actual terms for this stuff, I have done it all by ear. If any of this stuff doesnt make sense please bring it to my attention and I'll try to explain in more detail what I mean. What I'm getting at is I feel that I've got the pentatonic scale down, major and minor (I think of the differences in these two as one is the standard "box" and other is kinda before the "box" or to the left of it but still hits the same notes, ok?) but what else can I do with it? I need to know of other scales that work well with the pentatonic and I'd like to figure out those quick hamer-on/pull-offs with bends combos like Skynyrd and Kenny Wayne Shepherd do to make kind of a climax in the solos. Any help would be great! Thanks!
 
dabluesman,

Real quick, a couple of cool things to do:

(1) Add a major third to the box. This works if you're playing off the one chord or the five chord. One extra note, right in between two others; in G it would be the B (5th string, 2nd fret, third string, 4th fret, and first string, 7th fret). Try trilling between the flatted third (one half-step below) and the major third -- you might even be doing this already. That major third/minor third tension is one of the signature elements of da blues.

(2) Add a flatted 5th. In G this would be Db (5th string, 4th fret, third string, sixth fret, and 2nd string, 2nd fret. This adds a nice bluesy spice and it's a little more of an angular, modern flavor. You usually don;t linger on this note but pass through it on the way to the 4th (one half-step below).

With these two extra notes and the blues box, you can -- dare I say -- rule the world. Of course it's all in the phrasing -- you can rule the world with one note if you play it just right...

-AlChuck
 
Lets see If I can chart this..

X=roots
x=notes to be played inbetween roots (other notes in the scale)

Lets say this is in the key of A

| 5| 6| 7| 8
e-X-------x
B-x-------x
G-x----x--x
D-x----X---
A-x-x--x---
E-X-------x

This example (above) is the way I learned the pentatonic blues scale from the root on the low E to the 8th fret on the high E (to say, in the key of A.)

| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9|10
e-X-------x-----x
B-x-------x-----X
G-x----x--x--x---
D-x----X--------x
A-x-x--x--------x
E-X--------x----x

This one shows the pentatonic "box" with the BB King Box added (notice 8th to 10th frets on e, B, & G with a root note on B/10) I figured it out by playing SRV's Texas Flood.

| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17
e-X-------x-----x-----x---------x-----X
B-x-------x-----X--------x---x--x-----x
G-x----x--x--x--------x------X--------x
D-x----X--------x-----x--x---x--------x
A-x-x--x--------x-----X---------x-----x
E-X-------x-----x--x--x--------x------X

This one is supposed to show how the pentatonic scale copies its self up the neck from root note to root note instead up going up the box. Like walking the scale up the neck and then go up a string. Anyway, I dont have any problem playing it but putting it down on a chart like this is a bit different.

| O| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5
e-x--x----x-----X
B-x--x----x-----x
G-x--x----X-----x
D-x--x--x-------x
A-X-------x-----x
E-x-------x-----X

This one is Open pentatonic scale in A up to the 5th fret where the first example at the top would take over.

This is pretty much it, I can play the scale in any key this way. So, would that major third and flatted 5th you mentioned be like where the scale has three notes in a row on three consecutive fretts on the same string? Sorry, I'm not sure what major 3rd and flatted 5th are by deffinition.

Well, so much for posting my first tab's. I hope it helps get my point across.


[This message has been edited by dabluesman (edited 07-13-2000).]

I've been able to see this on a "real" monitor. The charts looked like crap. Now that I was able to see it, I fixed it up. I hope this helps :)


[This message has been edited by dabluesman (edited 07-13-2000).]
 
Geeesh, it's hard to tell from those text diagrams, but it looks like you've already got those notes in there. You confused me when you said "pentatonic." That's five notes. You've already got those extended notes, so I haven't helped you at all!

-AlChuck
 
If you add 2 notes to the major pentatonic(IV and VII) you have the major scale,useful for songs with more than 3 chords.If you add 2 notes to minor pentatonic(II and VI) you get natural minor scale,sounds cool for minor key bluesy songs like "Thrill Is Gone" or Santana stuff.Cheers!
 
I like to concentrate on a mixlydian sound. That is...playing a scale based on the fifth of the chord. An example would be to play in D major over a G7 chord but for it to sound "right" you have to eliminate certain notes...like this. (x's are the notes you play and o's are other notes in the scale you don't play. Hope this isn't confusing cause i'm doing it without my guitar in hand.

5 6 7 8 9 10
E x x o
B o x x
G x o x
D x x
A x o x
E x x o
 
Try this again!

I like to concentrate on a mixlydian sound. That is...playing a scale based on the fifth of the chord. An example would be to play in D major over a G7 chord but for it to sound "right" you have to eliminate certain notes...like this. Play the x's but don't play the o's.

---5-6-7-8-9-10
1------x---x-o-
2------o-x---x-
3----x-o---x---
4------x---x---
5------x---o-x-
6------x---x-o-
 
I'd say the next logical step for you would be to learn the diatonic scales which is one of the things virtual.ray mentioned. It only adds two more notes and it can get you into trouble since they don't always fit as nicely as the pentatonic ones but having three notes, on most of the strings, while in a single position is a nice addition. Using the G form that you had above it would be


e 5-----7--8
a 5--6-----8
d 4--5-----7
g 5-----7
b 5-----7--8
e 5-----7--8

You can find the rest pretty easily on the net. A good source for lessons is www.harmony-central.com or www.wholenote.com
 
I'll post this ten times if thats what it takes to get this right. Sorry about any confusion.

I like to concentrate on a mixlydian sound. That is...playing a scale based on the fifth of the scale. An example would be to play in D major over an A7 chord but for it to sound "right" you have to eliminate certain notes...like this. Play the x's but don't play the o's.

---5-6-7-8-9-10
E------x---x-o-
B------o-x---x-
G----x-o---x---
D------x---x---
A------x---o-x-
E------x---x-o-
 
Geeeez I'll have to learn Tablature.....
pentatonic sure brings back memories of yesty year LOL

Tony
 
As cliff and roybot are suggesting the next logical step for you would be to learn the modes. A mode is a scale. There are 7 modes, one for each note of the major scale, The modes used mostly in blues/rock are:

Mixolydian: which is basically a happy sounding mode/scale

Dorian: Which is very close to the blues/pentatonic scale

Aeolian: This is a minor mode/scale used in rock,

The Modes above are used by players like Page, slash, Joe Perry and probably everybody else who extends blues to rock blues.

Examples of these scales (i ll try hard :) to give you some popular exampels) would be:

Johny B Goode, the riff is based on mixolydian

Sweet child oh mine, the melodic part of the solo is a mixture of aeolian and harmonic minor before slash breaks out to pentatonic soloing,

Dorian is all over the place i dont remember any lightening examples now only licks but page uses it a lot, so does everybody else.

It's not difficult to learn the modes, you just learn the major scale in all positions as you have done with the pentatonic. Each box becomes a mode, there are 7 boxes (some boxes overlap for the majority of the notes), then you just move the boxes around. Then depending on the chord progression you mix pentatonic and modal licks at will (or taste to put it better) and voila,...you can play all.....after 30 years of constant practice that is. :)

These are the basics you need to know about modes there are a lot more, i am still trying to put it all together too but there are some very good sites on the net explaining everything, do some research.

there is though another aproach....check this out:
http://www.onthenet.com.au/~kirkclan/

radically different


[This message has been edited by Animaniac (edited 07-15-2000).]
 
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