Major Blues Scale Ebook

Play The Major Blues Scale In Any Key

You should now know the difference between the Minor Blues Scale and the Minor Pentatonic Scale if you've read the other articles on this site.

The diagram below shows the first box of the E Minor Pentatonic scale.

E Minor Pentatonic Scale - First Box

And this diagram shows the first box of the E Minor Blues scale with the added flat 5th notes.

E Minor Blues Scale - First Box

As with the minor scales, the major blues scale is the same as its pentatonic version with the blue notes added. The relationship between the major and minor blues box patterns is also the same as with the major and minor pentatonic box patterns.

You can take your minor blues scale and move it three frets down towards the head of the guitar and you then have your major blues scale. The G major blues scale is the same as the E minor blues scale.

Or, take the box patterns and move them down one position so that the first note of the second box is played at the root note or first position and you have your major blues scales.

The following diagrams show the fifth, first, and second boxes of the G minor blues scale.

G Minor Blues Scale - Fifth Box One Octave Lower

G Minor Blues Scale - First Box

G Minor Blues Scale - Second Box

The following diagrams show the fifth, first, and second major blues scale box patterns on guitar fretboard for the G major blues scale. Note how it is identical to the E minor blues scale.

G Major Blues Scale - Fifth Box One Octave Lower

G Major Blues Scale - First Box

G Major Blues Scale - Second Box

I'm not going to show you how to play all the boxes in different keys. You should be able to work them out now or you can download this free ebook. There's no music theory involved, it's just a handy quick reference guide that shows you all the notes on each string on the fretboard for the major blues scales in every key including the sharps and flats.

This is a Windows based program, sorry Mac users, that should work on any computer that has Windows 95 or above and Internet Explorer 4 or above. Just click the link below to download it to your computer, unzip and run the file, and follow the instructions to install it on your computer.

Major Pentatonic Scale Ebook

Play The Major Pentatonic Scale In Any Key

 

This ebook is similar to the Minor Pentatonic Scales Ebook except it shows all the notes and all the boxes for the major pentatonic scales in every key.

Again, there's no theory involved. There's no talk of tones and half tones or steps and half steps.

The major pentatonic scale seems to be less commonly used or learnt than the minor pentatonics one but still has its uses to good effect, especially when the two scales are used together. Most of the rock guitar or lead guitar courses teach you the minor pentatonic scale from the start and don't even mention the major scale.

So, if you need to put a solo or riff together in a particular key, this ebook will show you the notes and boxes. It shows all five positions, including the ones an octave above and an octave below the root note. It shows them for the sharp and flat keys as well, such as Bb, Eb, F#, etc.

This is a Windows based program, sorry Mac users, that should work on any computer that has Windows 95 or above and Internet Explorer 4 or above. Just click the link below to download it to your computer, unzip and run the file, and follow the instructions to install it on your computer.

Major Pentatonic Scale

What's The Difference Between Major And Minor Pentatonics Scales

Very simply put, the difference between the major pentatonic and the minor pentatonic scales is three frets. You can take the notes of your minor scale and move it down the fret board three frets towards the head of the guitar and you then have your major scale in the same key.

Minor Blues Scale

What's The Difference Between Blues Scales And Pentatonics Scales?

Very simply put, the difference is just one note. The blues scale has one extra note added to the pentatonic one. This extra note is the flat 5th or blue note. As with the pentatonic scales, the blues scale has both minor and major versions. The minor blues scale is probably the most commonly learnt of the two.

Minor Pentatonic Scale Ebook

Play The Minor Pentatonic Scale In Any Key

You should be able to learn the five box patterns of the minor pentatonic scale from my other articles. What you might have trouble with is memorizing all the patterns in different keys. You'll probably learn them in a couple of the commonly used keys.

You should be able to play the first box in any key because it starts at the root note on the sixth string, and you know all the notes of the sixth string now don't you. The second box is easy too because it starts where the first box ends. The fifth box one octave lower ends where the first box starts so that's not too bad either.

What do you do with all the other boxes if you're playing in an unfamiliar key? What do you do if you've got to put together a solo in a key like F#, Ab, Eb, or some other less common key? How do you move up and down the fretboard in a key you're not familiar with?

This is where this free ebook comes in. It shows you all the boxes of the minor pentatonic scale in every key including the sharps and flats. It doesn't include any theory at all. It's just a handy reference guide. Just pick the key you want and it will show you all the boxes and notes for the minor pentatonic scale for that key.

This is a Windows based program, sorry Mac users, that should work on any computer that has Windows 95 or above and Internet Explorer 4 or above. Just click the link below to download it to your computer, unzip and run the file, and follow the instructions to install it on your computer.

 

Minor Pentatonic Scale

What Are The Notes Of The Pentatonic Minor Scale

There are two types of pentatonic scales, major and minor pentatonic. The minor pentatonic scale is the most commonly learnt of the guitar scales, especially by people learning lead guitar or rock guitar and is the one covered in this lesson.

G Minor Pentatonic Scale

Minor Pentatonic Scales Part 2 - G Pentatonic Minor Scale

If you've practiced playing the E Minor pentatonic scale in the previous lesson, Minor Pentatonic Scale, you should be starting to get familiar with it. What I'm going to do now is very quickly show you the G Minor pentatonic scale. I'll show you the tabs and fretboard diagrams for the five positions.

A Minor Pentatonic Scale

Minor Pentatonic Scales Part 3 - A Pentatonic Minor Scale

If you've been practising the E Minor and G Minor pentatonic scales from the previous lessons, you should know them quite well now. I'm not going to show you all the scales, you should be able to work them out for yourself now. What I am going to do is quickly show you the tabs and fretboard diagrams for the A Minor pentatonic scale.

Guitar Tabs For Beginners

How To Read Guitar Tablature

Guitar tablature was created for guitarists as an easier method than standard notation to read music. It's easy to learn guitar tab. Each string is represented by a horizontal line and a number on a line is the fret number being played. Guitar tabs can be used as an alternative to neck diagrams to display chords and scales as well as notes.

There isn't a recognised standard for the symbols used, but there are common ones in use. The most simplest type of tab is the ASCII tab. This is just a text file created from typing characters on the keyboard. Hyphens are used to represent the strings and numbers the frets played.

This is how an E major chord would look using ASCII tab:

e |-----0------|
B |-----0------|
G |-----1------|
D |-----2------|
A |-----2------|
E |-----0------|

The top line is the first string, high E string. The next line down is the second string, B string, and so on down to the sixth string, low E string, at the bottom. The first, second, and sixth strings are played open. The third string is played at the first fret. The fourth and fifth strings are played at the second fret. Because the numbers are in a vertical line, the notes are all played at the same time. The chord name can be written above it.

And this is a G minor pentatonic scale:

e |----------------|----------------|--------3---6---|
B |----------------|----------------|3---6-----------|
G |----------------|--------3---5---|----------------|
D |----------------|3---5-----------|----------------|
A |--------3---5---|----------------|----------------|
E |3---6-----------|----------------|----------------|

The principle here is the same. Each note played is indicated by a number, the fret, on each string. Here, the numbers don't form a vertical line so they are played one at a time.

Here are some common symbols used:

• h - hammer on - 6h8 - the string is played at the sixth fret and then a finger is hammered on at the eighth fret
• p - pull off - 8p6 - the string is first played at the eighth fret and the finger is pulled off to the sixth fret
• b - bend - 6b8 - the string is played at the sixth fret and bent up to the note at the eighth fret
• r - release bend - 8r6 - the string is bent at the sixth fret up to the eighth fret, played, and then released
• / - slide up 6/8 - the string is played at the sixth fret and then the finger slides up to the eighth fret
• \ - slide down - 8\6 - the string is played at the eighth fret and the finger slides down to the sixth fret
• v or ~ - vibrato - 8v or 8~

Here's a short lick demonstrating some of those symbols:

e |--------------------------------------------------10---------------|
B |-----10-12b14r12-10h12------------7--------10b12------12r10--8h10v-|
G |7/11--------------------11v--7h9-----7-----------------------------|
D |----------------------------------------8--------------------------|
A |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
E |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

The problem with this type of tab is that there isn't any sense of timing or rhythm. If you don't know what song the tab is for, you don't know how long the notes last. This is rectified in the next type of tablature we look at.

Metronome

Learn How To Play Guitar Software

This is one of my favourite guitar related software programs I have on my computer that I use regularly.

Metronome

Using a metronome is one of the best ways to practice scales. Regular scale practice with the metronome will improve your scale knowledge, speed, timing, improvisation skills, finger strength, and dexterity. Start off at a slow speed and gradually increase the speed as you improve.