Blues notes are scale tones that are adjusted slightly from their normal major scale. Free printable guitar scales 14 most commonly used scales. This jazz guitar lesson with is about the minor blues scale with a flat fifth b5. This does not mean you have to master every lead guitar avenue or scale before moving on to the next. Major and minor blues scales guitar tab and essential licks. We are going to take as tonic the 4th string in the fifth fret, in the pitch note a the numbers are the fingers of the left hand, so, we have to master 3 ways to start the scale, with fingers 1, 3 and 4. The acoustic blues scale that every guitar player must know. Often new players are drawn to the instrument because of a desire to play the blues. Some will be more challenging than others and of course take more time to. Keep in mind that i want to give you the most complete guitar curriculum possible.
Aug 04, 2016 a blues scale root on the estring example 2 heres the same a blues scale but using a slightly different fingering. The guitar neck diagram shows you the big picture for the e minor pentatonic scale. We have an official blues scale in g tab made by ug professional guitarists. The brilliant benefits of the blues scale guitarhabits. To play the blues is a fascinating undertaking because it can be both simplistic and yet intangibly tricky to. The e minor pentatonic scale the e minor blues scale. The scale is that it is very easy to learn, especially if you already know the pentatonic scale. Tabs, fingerings, box patterns, licks, pdf and more. In this lesson youll learn the one scale that is responsible for about 95% of all the blues licks you hear the minor pentatonic and minor blues scale.
The e minor pentatonic scale is a useful and fun guitar scale to know. Just like the major scale, the natural minor scale has seven scale degrees. Use the e scale below and locate the red root notes e. All of the root notes are e because this is the e pentatonic blues scale.
Click this link for to grab your free beginner pdf ebook with pentatonic blues scales, charts and diagrams. The e minor pentatonic scale how to play blues guitar with. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in order to memorize the blues scales in all. How to play the minor and major blues scales with solo examples. Blue dots are the b5 blues note e blues scale diagrams e blues scale fretboard diagram. Microsoft word majorminor blues scalesboxes guitar. The solution below shows the e blues scale, on the piano, treble clef and bass clef since the key of e appears on the circle of fifths diagram as both a major and minor key, the lesson steps explain both ways of constructing this blues scale for this key the 1st construction, using the major scale, starts at lesson 3 the 2nd construction, using the minor pentatonic scale. In fact there are so many other scales that we can use to solo over a blues. It is the most extended scale in poprockjazz because of its versatility, because it always sounds good, always sounds like blues.
The b5 creates a certain amount of tension that is extremely useful. Change the root note to see different variations of the blues guitar scale. You can now play in safe mode with these notes, each note will sound more or less good, there are no wrong notes. If you are playing in a major key, then use the relative minor pentatonic scale. The first minor blues scale lick features a classic bend and then two upper strings in the first bar. Here is the guitar tab for the first position e blues scale and a second position that extends the range of the scale a little bit. Its just that there are many more options and the minor pentatonic scale may be, based on your personal preferences, not the only option that you want to use. Theres also a blues jam track in the key of e you can use to play along with as well. Master the minor pentatonic scale using the whole fretboard. Jan 10, 2008 blues guitar unleashed 1,075,859 views 7.
Ive included a great downloadable pdf with free blues guitar scales. The second blue note is now located on 4th fret bstring 2nd string, which feels different when you play around with it and leads to other types of soloing ideas. But this book can also be used on its own as a stand alone reference guide to scale diagrams, lead guitar soloing strategies, learning to play over chord changes, and more. Get better at blues guitar how to use the blues scale. If you already know about the minor blues scale and would just like to know how to play it in five positions as well as the open position of e, read on. E minor blues scale positions along the fretboard online guitar. The fretboard is shown with the lowest pitch string at the bottom and the highest pitch string at the top unless youve tuned your instrument differently. Lesson 8 the e minor blues scales dvd 3 in this lesson. For a complete lesson on the minor blues scale, read this lesson. Free tools page why does my guitar have no pickups. To learn more minor blues scale riffs, check out blues guitar 101 classic licks. Lets say we have a standard 12 bar blues in e with the chords e 7a7b7.
Link to guitar pro file of tab for the guitar minor blues scale. Link to pdf file with all 5 positions of the guitar minor blues scale. How to tell when you can use the e minor pentatonic scale in a way that musically works and. Learn how to play the e blues scale with the notes shown on the guitar. We can add the flat 5, b5, or blue note to the pentatonic scale, making it a sixnote scale called the blues scale. I discovered this pattern when i was just a teenager, and many of the old blues masters that i was transcribing seem to be using the same notes.
This pdf contains the scale charts for the blues scale in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. Blues scales blues is an irresistible tonality for a guitar player. Below is a pdf with the tablature and chords for this guitar lesson. Link to page dedicated to the guitar minor blues scale. E minor blues scale guitar lesson for blues, rock, metal and. You can get more charts in with custom tunings using my interactive scale generator here. Scale diagrams can also be labeled with either letters or scale degrees. Learn the 5 pentatonic scale patterns and how they fit together. I might even get people poo pooing it because its not a traditionally taught thing, but it. It is the most extended scale in poprockjazz because of its versatility. In these materials i teach many lead guitar avenues. Everything you need to know to play the blues scale minor pentatonic scale on guitar. The e minor pentatonic scale how to play blues guitar. In this lesson you will be learning some ways to use the pentatonic scale in a solo.
Below is the a blues scale and this shows an example of the blues scale starting on the e string. Welcome to lesson 3 of the pentatonic scale, pentatonic blues licks. If you are playing in a minor key, use that minor pentatonic. Use the g major pentatonic in folk, country and rock in the key of g when you dont want the blues sound. The scale is used in many different styles of music, such as rock, blues, and jazz. Pdf total guitar the ultimate scale book guilherme.
This pdf contains the diagrams for all the major and minor pentatonic scales in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. The minor pentatonic blues scale over the entire neck lets think of the blues scale as basically a minor pentatonic scale, with one added note, the flatted 5th, or blue note. Jul 15, 2019 the notes in a g blues scale are as follows. The blues scale, perhaps the most used in modern music to play lines, whether melodies or riffs, allows us to approach the blues sound without having to play within a blues structure. The e minor pentatonic scale can be divided into patterns. Show me chords that sound good with an e blues scale. In these bass scales pdf we leave you the three most common fingering to play well this pentatonic minor scale. Page 5 ok, back to how to use these pentatonic fingering patterns to solo over chords. Blues is an irresistible tonality for a guitar player. This pdf contains the diagrams for all the major and minor pentatonic scales in all keys for guitar in.
Dan cross is a professional guitarist and former private instructor who has experience teaching and playing various styles of music. The e minor blues scale contains the following notes. G a bb c d eb f this means g is the root, bb is the flat third, d is the fifth, f is the flat 7th, and so on. This page includes notationtabs and scale diagrams for each position.
Leigh fuge of mgr music digs into 10 interesting and helpful lead blues guitar licks, ideal for beginners or novice blues guitar players looking for an injection of practice ideas. The lack of the major scales 4th and 7th scale tones makes the pentatonic sound wonderfully generic. The second blue note is now located on 4th fret bstring 2nd string, which feels different when you play around with it and leads. The blues scale can be heard in legendary solos from players such as wes. Use the e minor pentatonic scale when playing 12 bar blues in either e major or e minor, it works equally well over both. We are going to take as tonic the 4th string in the fifth fret, in the pitch note a the numbers are the fingers of the left hand, so, we have to master 3 ways. The blues scale is not solely utilized in blues music but rather has pretty much unlimited potential. All of the root notes are e because this is the e minor pentatonic scale. Now we will add one note to the minor pentatonic scale and turn it into the sixnote blues scale. The blues scale is one of the first guitar scales we explore on the guitar when learning how to solo. You can get more diagrams in the tuning of your choice by using my interactive web app here. While this blues guitar arrangement is mostly a riff and some bass notes, below are a few of the chord shapes that are used as well.
To get the minor pentatonic scale, add the black notes egabd. A blues scale root on the estring example 2 heres the same a blues scale but using a slightly different fingering. Several typical pentatonic blues licks will be used as a starting point to develop your knowledge of the pentatonic scale. Aug 12, 2019 in the fretboard patterns on this page, the tonic note of the scale i.