Film making

Pentatonic guitar scales are often the starting point for many guitarists when first studying lead guitar. They are extremely useful for soloing and can be applied to many different styles of music, including blues, rock and country.

By definition, all pentatonic guitar scales have five notes. The two common pentatonic scales used in western music are the minor pentatonic and the major pentatonic scales. A similar scale to the minor pentatonic scale is the commonly used blues scale.

The minor pentatonic is commonly used in rock and blues music but is not limited to these groups alone. The minor pentatonic is a staple for many guitar solos, and it is generally a very popular scale used for lead guitar playing. The minor pentatonic scale is composed of: root, flat 3, 4, 5 and flat 7 scale steps.

The minor pentatonic can be converted to the blues scale by simply adding a flat 5. This is also a very commonly used scale for not just blues but for many other types of music. When referring to pentatonics for guitar, often the blues scale will be included even though technically it is not a pentatonic scale. It is comprised of : root, flat 3, 4, flat 5, 5 and flat 7. This scale may well be the most popular scale for soloing with the guitar.

A useful and versatile scale commonly used is the major pentatonic. This is comprised of| root, 2, 3, 5, 6 degrees. This scale is also often used in blues guitar and country music but again is not limited to these musical genres. If we take both of these scales we find they are commonly used together when soloing over a twelve bar blues in conjunction with the flat 5, mentioned earlier, from the blues scale

To learn lead guitar it is important to learn the minor pentatonic and the major pentatonic guitar scales. These can be used for guitar solos in almost any style of music and contain the common notes that the diatonic modes are constructed around. These scales are an important starting point when learning lead guitar.

Clause J Dillon has been studying and playing music for over two decades. He has just 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