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                 "Blues You Can Use"

Minor Pentatonic Scale 4: Realistic Fingering/Note Functions




Blues You Can Use Written by John Ganapes. For guitar. Includes instructional book and accompaniment CD. With introductory text, instructional text, guitar tablature, standard guitar notation, guitar chord diagrams and chord names. Blues and instructional. 96 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by Hal Leonard. (HL.695007)
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Once again, we are given a scale, without any licks to go with it. It is not used in the next solo either, so, we have to fill in the gaps here.

Before we do, let's deal with the fingering. Once again, the fingering given is "theoretical fingering". It looks good, it looks logical; however, it is not useful for real playing. For actual playing, it is much better to learn a fingering for this scale that we can actually use for the licks that are played from this scale.

What is wrong with the fingering? The 4th finger is used on the bending notes, instead of 3 (which is better for bending because it is stronger).  Using 2 and 4 as given is good fingering if you are using the scale as you would a major scale, using the notes with no bends. But we are playing Blues here, so it is safe to assume we will be bending notes. Also, you will find that, like Scale 2 & 3, it is the notes on the strings 1,2, and 3 you will be using most.

 

Suggested fingering for 4th Minor Pentatonic Scale. Note use of 2nd finger to make shift of position on 3rd string.

 

I would also like to make this point about learning the Minor Pentatonics. It is very important to learn the musical function of each scale tone as we learn the scales. We want to grow beyond simply placing our fingers in different places without having a mental understanding of the notes we are playing (although the ear/emotional connection will always be primary).  Knowing what we are doing, and why different licks work the way they do allows us to expand as musicians, and exploit all our potential.

The notes of the Minor Pentatonic each have a name, a number name. The name is derived from comparison with the Major Scale.  Each note of a Major Scale has a number name:

 

Major Scale (7 notes) A  B  C#  D  E  F#  G#
1  2    3      4   5   6     7
Minor Pentatonic (5 Notes) A  C  D  E   G
b3 4  5   b7

It is our job as guitarists to know 2 things:   1) the number name of each note found in each scale. 2) the musical function (quality or effect) of each numbered note.

For instance, the root note is home base, and provides the resting place, or end point for phrases ending on the tonic chord (chord with same letter name as the key). The b3 is a "blues note", providing the blues sound, and is also a bending note.

Notes & Functions Of Minor Pentatonic
(you should know the location and use of these notes for each scale)
Root Home base. Know the location of roots for I-IV and V chords in each scale.
b3 Blue note. Bending note, can be bent anywhere from micro-tone to full step. Often bent to Major 3rd for sweet sound.
4 Home base of IV chord. Bent to b4 (very blue note), or 5.
5 Home base of (root) of V chord. Bent to Major 6th or b7.
b7 Blue note, bent to key note.

Of course, these notes are found in different locations in each scale, and contained within different finger patterns, which is what makes each scale suited for different types of licks.

Here are the notes of Scale 4 with their number names shown:
 

 


Illustration of suggested fingering: Let's look at a song you may have heard of, "Stairway To Heaven". This part of the solo shows where this fingering would be used effectively.

 

 

 

 

  slow                        fast

We start here with the Minor Pentatonic #1, in 5th position (we are in the key of A minor). We add the natural 6th to the scale, since we are playing in minor, against a modal progression using Am-G-F-G (the added note is an F).

The shift to Scale 4 is done along the 4th string, sliding the 3rd finger

Use 2, not 3 for fret 14, this brings 1 into position at 13, ready to play, and 3 ready for upcoming bend of 15.

 

Below, we see how Scale 4 is used for the repeating bend. Doing it in this position allows us easy access to the b7 bend at the end of the lick....

slow              fast

 Going for b7 bend to root at end of repeating lick....................

 

A note of connecting scales: you are shown how to connect these scales along the neck as you learn them. This approach is used in many methods. While there is no doubt value in doing this, I don't think it is the biggest priority for the student at this point. It is far more important to focus on the things I have already mentioned, as well as learning a vocabulary of licks from each scale. As far as scale connections, the most important thing to know is how to get from one to another along the first 3 strings, and in the context of licks themselves.

 


 

Every time you work on a solo, you should be asking yourself "in what scale is this lick I am playing coming from". As you play each note, you should be asking yourself " what (number) note is this, and what is its musical function?".


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