Its important though to point out the difference between the pentatonic scale and the blues scale. In order to cycle through as many areas of scale practice as possible and not get bored it is important to have a plan. Blues scale licks guitar study jamie holroyd guitar. The a minor pentatonic scale uses the notes at the fifth. It is an alteration of the 5 tone minor pentatonic scale which adds one note called the blue note. Heres a free guitar scales pdf ebook 22 pages with plenty of scales and arpeggios patterns. There is also a major blues scale see modes of the minor blues scale below, and both are commonly used by guitar players in several different musical genres. The advantage is that you can play every time every note of the scale. The blues scale, whether its major or minor, is one of the most widely used scales in modern music. Learn new guitar scales all over the neck, introduce new sounds to your solos and improve your. Read on for a complete blues scale guitar lesson the basic blues scale guitar pattern.
Often new players are drawn to the instrument because of a desire to play the blues. So basically there are three steps to blues scale mastery. The blues scale minor pentatonic and the major pentatonic scales. This is usually the first scale pattern people learn accompanied by some blues style playing. This pdf contains the scale charts for the blues scale in all keys for guitar in standard tuning.
Everything you need to know to play the blues scale minor pentatonic scale on guitar. Jazz guitar scales basic modal scales ionianmajor scale play over. Various positions of the blues scale pattern 15 for guitars with fingerings on the guitar neck. Some will be more challenging than others and of course take more time to. You are going to play all of the possible places for those 6 notes within one position. Major and minor scales, modals, diminished, triads and seventh arpeggios, exotic scales, and much more. All the scales featured on this page work over the standard 1 4 5 blues progressions, but ive made it clear when a scale can be used in a minor key, major key, or both. Photo by bigstock photo a lot of guitar players use only one pentatonic position shape. One of the most common sticking points with people learning to solo in blues is this concept of switching between the major and the minor blues sounds. It is the only difference between the blues scale and the minor pentatonic scale. Guitar command if you use scales to improvise and composewhatever style of music you playthen the guitar scales chart book is the reference book you need a comprehensive collection of scales is provided, suitable for use in blues, rock, metal, jazz and classical music. Apr 18, 2015 since it contains a flatted third and a natural fifth, the minor blues scale is, by definition a minor scale. Top 10 most important scales for guitar guitarhabits. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in order to memorize the blues scales in all.
Blues scales blues is an irresistible tonality for a guitar player. The formula for this etude is always one bar of a shell voicing using the charleston rhythm followed by one bar of single line playing using the blues scale this type of call and response playing. Mar 01, 2016 youll grow to become very intimate with this blues scale, so pay attention. Major and minor blues scales guitar tab and essential licks. Pentatonic scale shape exercises around the fretboard. Gordon is he feels, one of his most important books because of the nature of the blues scale and how it is used. Blues scale pattern 15 for guitars fingerings english. Great blues guitar solos are often a combination of slow and fast runs in various positions of the scales that you are soloing in. To play the blues is a fascinating undertaking because it can be both simplistic and yet intangibly tricky to master. Blues minor blues scale guitar patterns chart, key of a. Now theoretically, the pentatonic is split into two scales. In these materials i teach many lead guitar avenues.
Be sure to visit to download the tablature and mp3 jam track. Aug 12, 2019 on this page youll find blues scale guitar tab, patterns and notation that will allow you to play blues scales all over the guitar neck. Jun 24, 2019 the guitar command guitar scales chart book is a comprehensive reference book for all lead guitarists. In the contemporary music world, it is used regularly, but what is a blues scale. While slow blues phrasings require expression techniques like string bending and vibrato, fast runs often require good twohand coordination and clean. Gordon is he feels, one of his most important books because of the nature of the blues scale and how it is used to improvise in many styles of contemporary music. Nearly all pop and rock music features some aspect that bears its hallmarks, and the vast majority of guitar icons ply their trade with a debt to it. At the beginning of the scale, start with the lowest root note on the open e string and play that note. You dont have to go through this lesson to continue with the blues series, but if youre curious about blues music theory, then this will be a very valuable lesson. Ive included a great downloadable pdf with free blues guitar scales.
The blues scale is derived from the minor pentatonic scale. Blues scale 4 things you need to know national guitar academy. In this lesson, were going to look at theory of how the blues scale is made. The farreaching influence of the blues is something that is often overlooked in the modern musical world. Learn the 5 pentatonic scale patterns and how they fit together. The acoustic blues scale that every guitar player must know. Apache openoffice is the leading opensource office software suite for word processing. The scale is used in many different styles of music, such as rock, blues, and jazz. Learn how to apply blues scales to simple soloing, and how to play the 12 bar blues progression. You can get more charts in with custom tunings using my interactive scale generator here. Microsoft word majorminor blues scales boxes guitar. Why learning more than one scale pattern is beneficial. The blues scale is esentially a minor pentatonic scale with an added flat fifth. Link to guitar pro file of tab for the guitar harmonic minor scale.
King of all guitar scales blues scale feature guitar lesson what is the blues scale. Experiment with the blues scales listed below and apply them to recorded tracks on your playalong recordings. Since it contains a flatted third and a natural fifth, the minor blues scale is, by definition a minor scale. It is usually considered the forerunner of both jazz and rock, and it breaks many of the conventions of classical music theory. The most important techniques in great blues guitar solos. A c blues scale consists of the notes c e f g g and b. My goal with this report, and the accompanying videos, is to hopefully help you with your mental model of. Home scales blues scales 12 blues guitar scales beyond pentatonics this lesson will explore the many different blues guitar scales used in all the blues subgenres. Minor and major blues scales are also the first scales that guitarists learn when exploring lead guitar. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times.
Click this link for to grab your free beginner pdf ebook with pentatonic blues scales, charts and diagrams. Below are the names of all of the notes in a basic c blues scale form. Free guitar scales pdf 84 scale and arpeggios chart. As i mentioned, if you know your minor pentatonic scale the blues guitar scale shape will be easy because were only adding one note in each octave. If youre into blues and rock, start with the minor pentatonic and blues scale. This is the scale you see in the guitar scale chart on this page. The blues scale has a fantastic sound and is perfect for those deep soulful riffs and licks. To play the blues is a fascinating undertaking because it can be both simplistic and yet intangibly tricky to. Guitar fretboard diagram with notes in e blues highlighted.
Blues minor blues scale guitar patterns chart, key of a by. In this lesson we will learn how to play the blues scale. Free printable guitar scales 14 most commonly used scales. The easiest way to remember this scale is to think of it as the minor pentatonic and simply learn where the added notes are within the normal five minor pentatonic positions.
A scale is a group of musical notes which work together. Adjust the start fret option to further highlight a finger pattern for playing the selected scale in a different position on the fretboard. As always, commit the pattern to memory because we will be using the pentatonic scale, the blues scale, and the mixolydian mode in the next. The blues scale is used to convey a funky, downhome, earthy or bluesy soundfeel. The guitar command guitar scales chart book is a comprehensive reference book for all lead guitarists. When playing a twelve bar blues in the key of bb, use the bb blues scale anywhere in the chord progression. With this scales you can play your first blues licks. Learn how to play the blues guitar scale, one of the important beginner scales. Rhythm and blues players use this scale extensively. This jazz guitar lesson with is about the minor blues scale with a flat fifth b5. You should think of the following 5 scale forms as 5 pieces of a puzzle. Link to page dedicated to the guitar harmonic minor scale.
Although it is in the minor family of chord and scale qualities, it can be played against chord. You can not only play pentatonic scales to blues music, but also to rock, pop and even jazz music. The formula for this etude is always one bar of a shell voicing using the charleston rhythm followed by one bar of single line playing using the blues scale. Melodic minor scale en ou ascend ou raise te t and t notes a semitone al a ste ms. The blues scale licks are presented in a 12 bar blues etude in conjunction with chords. Guitar basics of chords, keys, and scales upfront worship. In consonance with this weeks blog, ive provided some tabs on how one can begin to approach this pentatonic position in unorthodox ways. The ebook contains the most important scales for beginners, such as major and minor, but shows also more advanced.
Free guitar scales ebook scale and arpeggio patterns pdf. The blues scale can be heard in legendary solos from players such as wes. The blues scale is a minor, hexatonic scale with the scale degrees 1 3 4 5 5 7 named after the american music genre blues from which it originates. Basic guitar chords, keys, and scales december 30th, 2004 1 the key of c this is the first section of what i hope will be a series of useful articles, designed to help the. Scale pentatonic blues 1,b3,4,b5,5,b7 fullth pattern root note e guitar tuning. So, to make a riff using both scales, lets focus on the top two strings starting at the fifth fret. This chord progression is based around the most important chords. But when playing a blues scale on the guitar you are going to play more than just 6 notes. Because theyre probably the first scales you learned, you might have studied them for a bit, got the shapes under your fingers, and.
The notes to the right in one form, will be the same as the notes to the left in the next highest form. Acoustic blues video 2 e blues scales acoustic blues. Beginner guitar scales the blues scale learn guitar nz. This note is responsible for giving the blues scale its signature bluesy sound. The first position e shape its because its the most comfortable shape to play in. Jguitars scale calculator will draw scale diagrams showing the fretboard with notes in the selected scale highlighted. Soloing with the combined minormajor pentatonic scales by steve stine 26 september 2018 become a more versatile player by learning how to combine the minor and major pentatonic scales. The blues scale is basically the pentatonic scale with some blues notes blended in artistically along the way. This video is on 3 exercises and some licks showing how to make some great modern sounds with a simple a minor pentatonic scale. This article contains 5 blues scale licks to help expand your jazz guitar vocabulary and soloing skills. The blues scale is one of the first guitar scales we explore on the guitar when learning how to solo.
On this page youll find blues scale guitar tab, patterns and notation that will allow you to play blues scales all over the guitar neck. For each scale, you can learn a number of different shapes and patterns, depending on the zone of the fretboard youre working on. The pentatonic scale is probably one of the most recognized concepts in music theory. There is no wrong note, but some will sound better, some not so good. Get better at blues guitar how to use the blues scale. A minor pentatonicblues scale weeping willow guitar. Thats great if you start out with soloing, in fact its better to stay with that for a while to explore all the possibilities.
If you are wishing to order the pdf mp3 files please go to the correct page as this product is for the pdf file only. Link to free printable guitar scales pdf file with all 5 positions of the guitar harmonic minor scale. For instance, if you only play pop, rock or country music, the first five scales major, minor pentatonic, major pentatonic, blues and natural minor will suffice and can keep you busy and challenged for the rest of your life. Soloing with the combined minormajor pentatonic scales. Certain scales work particularly well for certain genres of music.
Scale patterns for guitar and why you need them in this lesson, the topic of scale patterns for guitar will be covered in detail. Jazz is an experimental genre and guitarists are constantly exploring new scales and modifying old ones in their improvisation. If you are wishing to order the pdfmp3 files please go to the correct page as this product is for the pdf file only. This article contains 5 blues scale licks to help expand your jazz guitar vocabulary and soloing skills the blues scale licks are presented in a 12 bar blues etude in conjunction with chords. Blues music has a solid but plaintive sound which results from the use of a minorbased scale over the top of majorbased chords usually dominant. Dec, 20 photo by bigstock photo a lot of guitar players use only one pentatonic position shape.
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