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A pentatonic scale is a musical scale which consists of five notes per octave it differs to heptatonic (seven note) scale such as the major/minor scale. The pentatonic scale has fewer number of notes in it scale and can be helpful to the beginner guitarist and it is one of the most commonly used scales in music because the scale omits some of the "trouble" notes found in major and minor scales that can end up sounding wrong if not used properly. The pentatonic scale is used both for soloing, and for basing song riffs around. Guitarists with an interest in learning to play lead guitar must learn their pentatonic scales.
Although the pentatonic scale is not the only scale available for playing rock lead, it is the most widely used and easiest to learn. The beauty of this scale is that it sounds great over every chord change in a key, and you can begin to make music with it almost immediately.
Major Pentatonic: The Major pentatonic scales have the same fingerings, only the root note is different, and the major pentatonic sounds happier, and more upbeat than the minor pentatonic, but can still be used in a rock context. when constructing the major pentatonic scale you use the formula 1 2 3 5 6 1. for example In C, you have C D E G A C.
I
|
II
|
III
|
IV
|
V
|
VI
|
VII
|
I
| |
C Major
|
C
|
D
|
E
|
F
|
G
|
A
|
B
|
C
|
C Major Pentatonic
|
C
| D |
E
|
G
| A |
C
| ||
Equation
|
1
| 2 |
3
|
5
| 6 |
1
|
But also know that the major pentatonic is like the minor pentatonic, in the way that the relative minor/majors share the same notes. Ex. C major pentatonic has the same notes as Am pentatonic.
I
|
II
|
III
|
IV
|
V
|
VI
|
VII
|
I
| |
C Major
|
C
|
D
|
E
|
F
|
G
|
A
|
B
|
C
|
C Minor Pentatonic
|
C
|
Eb
|
F
|
G
|
Bb
|
C
| ||
Equation
|
1
|
b3
|
4
|
5
|
b7
|
1
|
Minor Pentatonic: The Minor Pentatonic scale is often the first scale that people learn. This is because it is easy to play, very very useful and is the basis of much blues and rock improvisation. when creating Your Minor Pentatonic scale you can use the formula : 1 b3 4 5 b7 1. In A, that's A C D E G A. You can find all the scales for what ever key you want, but you might prefer boxes. There are 5 box patterns for the pentatonic scale. Using your Major scale you can easily calculate your minor pentatonic scale, for example
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