In this quarter the goal is to learn 2 positions of the pentatonic
scale. We will also need to increase the practice time from 15
minutes a day to 20-30 minutes a day. I’m keeping the time
flexible because 30 minutes is a big jump from 15! If you have
a busy day and 20 minutes is all you can do, great. I will break
down the time allocations at the end of this post. Even though
there are a total of 5 positions of the pentatonic scale, I’m only
using 2 because you guessed it, they go with the type 1 and
type 2 bar chords you learned in the 1st quarter. You don’t
need to worry much about the missing 3 positions, since you
will be able to cover half the guitar neck in any key, major or
minor with just these 2 positions! And you won’t have to
memorize any new root notes, just the same type 1 and type 2
roots you’ve already been learning (hopefully). A lot of the
following is taken from my book, “Take Control: for guitar”,
available on Amazon.
If you only learn one scale, make it a pentatonic scale. You can
use it for all popular music styles and it’s the foundation for
both major and blues scales. It’s easy to play and hard to screw
up! (Pentatonic means 5 notes, a pentatonic scale contains 5
notes repeated endlessly). The most common position is
called “position 1” and is named from the type 1 root.
PENTATONIC SCALE: POSITION 1
8th fret, 6th string=major root/C major
Everybody knows this position, it’s the easiest to play and
the most used (half of all the guitar solos I’ve ever figured
out have been in this position). Many famous musicians
have built their careers with not much more than this
position. The first step in using this scale is figuring out
what key you want to play in. This is easy since the first
position scale has the same root as a type 1 bar chord, or
2 roots to be precise. Notice that the top note (fret 8) of
position 1 is the major root ( C on the 6th string, 8th fret).
The circled bottom note, which is on the 5th fret is the
minor root (A on the 6th string, 5th fret). As I teach my
students in the mode lesson, major and minor are just
different ways to play the same scale. If you want a minor
scale, play from the minor root (start on the 5th fret in the
diagram, using your 1st finger). If you want a major scale,
play from the major root (start on the 8th fret in the
diagram, using your 4th finger). The same scale is both
A minor (5th fret) and C major (8th fret), this is called
relative major and minor. Just remember that minor is
1st finger and major is 4th finger in this position. You
can play whatever key you want, just locate the type 1
root note (6th string), put down the correct finger and
play! For example:
Bb major? 6th fret, 4th finger
D minor? 10th fret, 1st finger
Once you’re positioned in the key, you can play anywhere
in the scale, you don’t always have to start on the root.
Now that you’ve learned a scale, and can locate it for any
key the challenge is how to use it. I use the metaphor of
learning to read; the scale is like the alphabet, riffs and
scale patterns are like words (your vocabulary), and solos
are like sentences. Teaching this is way beyond what I
can do in a blog post so I will again plug my book, “Take
Control: for guitar”. It’s available on Amazon, and has
an entire chapter of patterns, riffs and a sample solo.
It’s cheaper than 1 lesson with me and smells better!
To review the total time allotment:
5-10 minutes for scale practice
5-10 minutes for technique exercises
5 minutes chord/root review
5-10 minutes jam
The time varies with your schedule, it could be 20
minutes if time is tight or 30 minutes plus if you’re
up to it. In the next post we will learn another scale
position that goes with the type 2 root and see how
to cover half the neck (in any key) with just these 2
positions.
