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THIRD QUARTER: PENTATONIC SCALES PART 2

March 23, 2021 By Jim Beckwith

In the last post we learned a pentatonic scale in position 1. I
also broke down the increased time allotted for practice from

20 to 30+ minutes a day depending on your schedule. 

Remember the most important factor in improving is regular

practice! 20 real minutes of practice is much better than 35

imaginary minutes. As I aid in the first post the pentatonic

scale is the most versatile and easiest to play, and the 1st

position we learned last time has the same root as the type 1 

bar chord. We also learned that the same scale is both major

and minor. The 4th finger (fret 8 in the diagram) is the major

root and the 1st finger (fret5 in the diagram) is the minor 

root. Just put the the correct finger on the type 1 root you

want and play away! By the way we are using 1 finger per

fret to play this scale; (1st finger 5th fret, 3rd finger 7th fret

and 4th finger 8th fret in the diagram). Now that we’ve

reviewed the last post, let’s learn the next position.

Fewer people know this pentatonic scale position (compared

to position 1) and it’s confusingly named. Although it goes

with a type 2 chord it’s called position 4! This is because we

are skipping 2 positions to get here, there are 5 positions in

total but we are are ignoring all but the 2 positions that match

our bar chords. You don’t have to worry about the 3 missing

positions since you will still be able to cover half of the neck

in any key! (I will show this at the end). Since this position

uses the same fingers for the roots; the circled note 4th

finger 15th fret is the major root and the 12th fret 1st finger

is the minor root, all you have to do is remember to name

it from the 5th string (type 2) root. Now you have a scale

to match each chord type. Again, just remember that minor

is 1st finger and major is 4th finger and you can play any 

key you want! Locate the type 2 root, put down the correct

finger and play! for example:

E major? 7th fret 4th finger

D minor? 5th fret 1st finger

Once your positioned in the key you can play anywhere in

the scale, you don’t always have to start with the root.

PLAYING HALF THE NECK WITH 2 POSITIONS

To do this we will need to go beyond the 12th fret. Although

my type 1 and 2 chord charts (1st quarter) ended at the 12th

fret that doesn’t mean you can’t play above the 12th fret!

It just means that chords are not practical above the 12th

fret, scales are another story. Since the notes on the neck

start over again on the 12th fret, I tell my students to view

the next 12 frets (frets 12 through 24) as a midget neck; 

the 15th,17th, and 19th fret markers have the same names

as the 3rd,5th, and 7th frets. You may not be able to play

chords on these frets but you can use the type 1 and 2

roots to play scales. No matter what the key, you should

be able to play at least 3 positions for any key. Since each

position covers 4 frets, those 3 positions add up to a 

total of 12 frets of scale coverage, half of a 24 fret neck!

(Here are 2 diagrams of  G minor chord/scale roots below))

Again, actually teaching you to use the scale is way beyond

what I can do in a blog post, although an earlier post,

“Permutations to the rescue” can help. However my book

“Take Control: for guitar” has an entire chapter with

sample riffs and a solo and is available on Amazon

through my website. To sum up:

Total time allotment;

5-10 minutes for scale practice

5-10 minutes for technique exercises

5 minutes chord/root review

5-10 minutes to jam

That’s it for this quarter! The final 2 posts will show

how to figure the chords and scales for any key, by

picture!

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