Learning The Pentatonic ScalesTo learn guitar, one of the things you need to understand is scales. Scales are the building blocks of all music, no matter what instrument you play. In this article we will reveal nearly everything there is to know about using the pentatonic scale. This scale is the foundation of a lot of blues and rock guitar, too. Which means you can have some fun once you’ve learnt this scale. |
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--------5------------------------------8---------- This is a tab for a pentatonic scale in A. This is a moveable scale, so you can easily transpose this scale for a different chord by moving it up or down the fret board. So what do you do now? Learn this scale pattern. Play it up and down a few times first to commit it to memory, then you can experiment with mixing it up a little, and making your own riffs out of this simple pattern. Remember that playing guitar isn’t just about playing scales though. This scale pattern is a building block. To create melody, you need to add timing, and inflection. So go experiment However, this pattern is just one of the five forms. These 5 forms stretch out across the entire fretboard, and are basically the same 5 notes played in different locations. It’s important to learn the five different forms, because this will mean you can play the pentatonic scale in any key over the entire fretboard. Here’s the second pattern:
--------------------2-----------------------4------ The numbers are for each of your fingers, 1 is your index, 2 is your middle, 3 is your ring, and 4 is the pinkie. I haven’t included fret markers. Just apply the one finger per fret rule and it will make sense. Also, you need to know that this form (form 2) matches up with form 1. Let me show you:
--------0------------------------------0------------------0-------- See how it matches up? All of the forms match up like this. Next, we will learn the third pentatonic scale pattern. But before we do, we need to make something clear to you. And here it is: Scales are not good music. They are simply the building blocks of music, okay? Try not to get stuck in pattern thinking – just use it as a guide. A good idea is to sing or hum the scale notes as you play through the pattern. This will help you internalize the sound, so you will have a better ear for melody. You don’t want to get stuck in the rut of all your music sounding “scaley”… like scales being played up and down. Okay, let’s learn the third pentatonic scale pattern. I’ll start it at the 8th fret, which would mean it’s in the key of A. So the number I write down will correspond to fret numbers. Here it is:
------------8----------------10----------------- Here’s how it fits together with scale form 2:
--------------0---------------0---------------0--------------------- Next, we have the forth form of the pentatonic scale. If you’re new to guitar, this form should be a little easier on the fingers… because it’s a lot like the first form of the pentatonic scale… which you have already learnt, right? Okay, here we go. Let me show you the pattern of the forth form:
--------1------------------------------4---------- Once again, the numbers correspond to your fingers. The one finger per fret rule applies, so you should be able to work out how many frets apart each note is. It’s quite straight forward really. Here’s how it matches up with form 3:
---------------0----------------0-------------------------0---------- And that’s all there is to it! If you’ve learnt all 4 of the patterns so far, then you’re doing well. There is only one more pentatonic scale form left, which we will learn now. Here is the pattern for scale form 5:
-------------------2-------------------4---------- This form matches back up with form 1. You can see where all the 4’s are, is also the beginning part of the first form. Specifically, here’s how it goes together with form four:
--------0------------------------------0------------------0-------- So now that you’ve learnt all the five forms, you may want to practice them in various keys. The most common keys for songs on guitar is C, A, G, E, and D… so you may want to start with them first. Although this has all been presented on just one page, this represents a lot of work – especially for a beginner. So take your time with this to learn everything thoroughly and correctly. |