Pentatonic guitar scales are commonly the starting point for many guitarists when first learning lead guitar. They are highly useful for soloing and can be applied to many different genres of music, including blues, rock and country.
Pentatonic guitar scales all contain five notes. There are two commonly used pentatonic scales in western music, these are the major pentatonic and the minor pentatonic. A variant of the minor pentatonic scale is the commonly used blues scale.
The minor pentatonic scale is commonly used in rock and blues music but is not limited to these genres. The minor pentatonic is a staple for many guitar solos, and it is generally a very popular scale used for guitar soloing. The minor pentatonic scale is composed of: root, flat 3, 4, 5 and flat 7 scale degrees.
The minor pentatonic scale can be changed to the blues scale by adding a flat 5. This is also a very popular scale for not just blues but for many other types of music. When discussing pentatonics for guitar, often the blues scale will be included even though technically it is not a pentatonic scale. It contains : root, flat 3, 4, flat 5, 5 and flat 7 scale degrees. This scale is often regarded as the most popular scale for lead guitar playing.
A versatile and useful scale is the major pentatonic scale. The scale steps are root, 2, 3, 5, 6 degrees. This scale is also frequently used in country music and blues but again is not limited to these styles. If we take the two of these scales we find they are normally used jointly when soloing over a twelve bar blues together with the flat 5, mentioned previously, from the blues scale.
To learn lead guitar it is crucial to learn the minor pentatonic, blues and the major pentatonic guitar scales. These scales can be used for guitar solos in almost any style of music and contain the common notes that the diatonic modes are formed with. These scales are genearally a good starting point when learning lead guitar.
Pentatonic guitar scales all contain five notes. There are two commonly used pentatonic scales in western music, these are the major pentatonic and the minor pentatonic. A variant of the minor pentatonic scale is the commonly used blues scale.
The minor pentatonic scale is commonly used in rock and blues music but is not limited to these genres. The minor pentatonic is a staple for many guitar solos, and it is generally a very popular scale used for guitar soloing. The minor pentatonic scale is composed of: root, flat 3, 4, 5 and flat 7 scale degrees.
The minor pentatonic scale can be changed to the blues scale by adding a flat 5. This is also a very popular scale for not just blues but for many other types of music. When discussing pentatonics for guitar, often the blues scale will be included even though technically it is not a pentatonic scale. It contains : root, flat 3, 4, flat 5, 5 and flat 7 scale degrees. This scale is often regarded as the most popular scale for lead guitar playing.
A versatile and useful scale is the major pentatonic scale. The scale steps are root, 2, 3, 5, 6 degrees. This scale is also frequently used in country music and blues but again is not limited to these styles. If we take the two of these scales we find they are normally used jointly when soloing over a twelve bar blues together with the flat 5, mentioned previously, from the blues scale.
To learn lead guitar it is crucial to learn the minor pentatonic, blues and the major pentatonic guitar scales. These scales can be used for guitar solos in almost any style of music and contain the common notes that the diatonic modes are formed with. These scales are genearally a good starting point when learning lead guitar.
About the Author:
Clause J Dillon has been studying and playing music for over twenty years. He has recently released an easy to follow guitar scales and soloing E Book which will allow any guitar player to learn lead guitar and soloing. For a limited time we have arranged for subscribers to receive a free copy by clicking the blue text. Learn Guitar Scales, Blues Guitar Scales
