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Pentatonic Scales are a great way to introduce yourself to
theory, they are also good for helping you make sense of the
fretboard. A Pentatonic Scale is a series of notes played in a
certain key 5 notes per octave. If this sounds like gibberish to
you don't worry it will all come in time! For now just take what
you can, most people learn best with a hands on approach so lets
get right into playing!
The first scale you are going to learn is G Major Pentatonic, so
grab your guitar and memorize this pattern...
Pentatonic scales are 5 notes per octave repeated to cover all
six strings. Click Play to hear how it should sound...
How to jam with a scale:
When you are making up music on the spot. I.e. Jamming over a
chord progression, you are 'Improvising'. Improvising (on
Guitar) is the act of creating music in the moment with feeling
and influences coming from wherever you see fit to make the
music sound good using notes from a scale or notes in a certain
key. When you start improvising you will soon find that you
quickly learn what to do and what not to do to make it sound
good, that's the great thing about it.
To help you get started jamming, here are a few licks using
notes from the G Major Pentatonic scale you can use to jam along
to the jam track.
Here is a short example of what jamming over the progression can
sound like. I have incorporated all 3 of the above licks in the
audio below...
So dive in and give it a shot, here is a progression in G Major,
use the licks above and make up your own to create your own
feel.
So how was that? Easier than you thought? If you could not seem
to find anything that sounded good, just stick at it, it will
come with practice.
Now use what you learnt using the G pattern to jam with to the D
pattern below...
D Major Pentatonic Scale
Now use that scale to jam along to this jam track...
Note: If you move the first pattern you learnt (G) down so the
first note is starting on the 7th Fret you can jam along to the
D progression as you have moved the scale down into the key of D
Major. You can also move the D pattern down to the 5th fret and
use that to jam in G Major (The first progression).
Here is a demonstration (using mostly the licks I showed you
earlier) of a jam in D Major using both the patterns you learnt.
Hope you liked this short introduction to Pentatonic Scales,
remember to practice hard and you will see the benefits! |
