The e minor pentatonic scale how to play blues guitar with. You can get more charts in with custom tunings using my interactive scale generator here. Mastering the blues scale volume 2 dominant chords has 127 great blues licks in all 12 keys. This rock licks course comes complete with three dvds, and an audio cd with ten full on audio jam tracks. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in order to memorize the blues scales in all keys. These 5 licks use only notes from the minor pentatonic, and incorporate string bending as most blues licks do. Major pentatonic licks for guitar fundamental changes. We can extend this basic major pentatonic scale to include the blue notes.
If you are just starting out in blues you should definitely check out this video. So bars 1 and 3 contain chords and bars 2 and 4 contain blues scale licks. Notice that it contains the root, b3rd, 4th, b5th, 5th and. Although any of them can be used in a solo they are intended to teach your fingers how to move through the scale pattern without sounding like you are practicing a scale. Free guitar scales pdf 84 scale and arpeggios chart. Major and minor blues scales guitar tab and essential licks. Both of these blues scale licks are from the kenny burrell school of phrasing. This pdf contains the scale charts for the blues scale in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. As well as playing the lick, also try out the notes of that c major pentatonic scale form as well. Well learn how to extend the blues and pentatonic scales out past the open position to cover some of the other licks in down to the station. If you want to learn more cool blues licks, how to create your own, connect licks together, learn to solo and improvise all over the neck, and dive into the scale shapes, tricks and tools to really master the pentatonic blues scale inside out, check out. When playing with scales, you can extend your lines by linking together adjacent scale patterns. The blue notes are minor 3rd, and the flat 5, and this give it that kind of hard, gritty, bluesy sound.
Muddy waters and howlin wolf developed the early versions of chicago blues by amplifying their rootsy delta licks in a combo setting with tunes little red rooster, and spoonful. Mar 12, 2010 the pentatonic scale is the most often used scale for soloing and improvising in blues and rock. Or, in the same way, the g blues scale with the chords g7, c7 and d7. Piano pentatonic blues scales overview with pictures. Have a look at my site at for more free guitar lessons and tools. Melodies that are based on the chords and use arpeggios. But this book can also be used on its own as a stand alone reference guide to scale diagrams, lead guitar. Typical pentatonic blues licks welcome to lesson 3 of the pentatonic scale, pentatonic blues licks. These may repeat exactly over and over if they fit any chord.
This scale is especially valuable if youre a blues, rock, jazz, funk, or country guitarist looking to discover a new world of licks. Mastering the blues scale volume 1 minor has 100 great blues licks in all 12 keys. Guitar coach jamming in the em pentatonic overview easy soloing. Once youve seen how it works, try creating your own multiposition blues licks. A minor pentatonicblues scale weeping willow guitar. John lee hooker relocated to detroit and invented the boogie, which has resounded in blues, rock, and pop styles ever since. Licks are short musical phrases used in jazz, blues and rock improvising. Copy them, rip them apart, turn them around and make them your own. The second lick in bar 4 is a only descending blues scale with a common jazz rhythm pattern. It is good to begin playing with a rhythm section as. Each jam track includes a full band playing minus the lead guitar. Contains guitar theory, pentatonic licks, exercises and sequences. So a jazz phrase could be something like an arpeggio some scale melody and of course some chromaticism. When we play it like this it sounds like jazz or a bebop lick but not really like blues.
In any form of music, some melodic ideas sound more at a home than others. Pentatonic and blues scales covers the essential guitar theory for the minor pentatonic scale, major pentatonic scale and the blues scale and highlights the characteristics of each scale with useful licks and exercises. The e minor pentatonic scale the e minor blues scale. If we take the basic major pentatonic scale, we have the following notes of the related major scale. To play the blues is a fascinating undertaking because it can be both simplistic and yet intangibly tricky to master. In this lesson you will be learning some ways to use the pentatonic scale in a solo. Theyre all very very common licks that youll find most blues players using, so you want to put these in your bag right away. Dont get me wrong on this, its perfectly legitamite to use the minor pentatonic scale over dominant blues chords.
Download the guitar scales pdf the ebook contains the most important scales for beginners, such as major and minor, but also shows more advanced patterns such as triads arpeggios, seventh chords arpeggios, pentatonic and blues scales. This book also comes with a 33 minute mastering the blues scale vol. The major pentatonic scale is a wonderful, simple way to add colour to your blues playing. But this book can also be used on its own as a stand alone reference guide to. Rocking the blues jimmy dillon is something of a blues legend and this 3 dvd. Riffs, on the other hand, are usually licks or phrases that are repeated as part of a tune or improvised backings. Ive included a great downloadable pdf with free blues guitar scales. This is particularly true of blues, a style loosely based upon musical cliches that have survived generations. Lesson 9 extending the blues and pentatonic scales dvd 3. The other way is to replace the slide with a second bending, more difficult to play than the previous lick. Most of us learn have learned to play blues licks along the way. Several typical pentatonic blues licks will be used as a starting point to develop your knowledge of the pentatonic scale. Were going to start of with simple singlenote lick ideas, and then we will introduce other intervals into the licks like minor and major thirds. It is a pdf file that you can download immediately so you can get to work.
The pentatonic scale is the most often used scale for soloing and improvising in blues and rock. Some players have a memorised collection or repertoire of favourite licks that they will throw into a solo every now and then. I have also included two sample mp3s of the g7 lines in the book. The guitar major scale is happy upbeat and useful in a variety of styles of music. Often new players are drawn to the instrument because of a desire to play the blues. Blues scale licks guitar study jamie holroyd guitar. It simply adds one note to the minor pentatonic and is also pretty easy to play. 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. This first lick is one of the most commonly used licks built from this scale. You can also try play the f form of the lick over the f7 chords, and the. Lesson 9 extending the blues and pentatonic scales dvd 3 in this lesson. Jan 23, 2017 how to connect the pentatonic scale across the entire fretboard and use it in your solos duration. Before we dive in, lets take a look at three blues scale patterns that form the basis of our 12 licks. The core of this lesson is of course the 5 licks that contain some of the characteristic melodies, phrasing and techniques found in blues mixed with arpeggios, extensions and chromatic passing notes that you find in jazz.
In this section, you learn how to build and apply the minor blues scale, how to play it on the fretboard, and give you three licks to apply this scale to a soloing situation. Licks are memorable musical phrases that can be strung together to create a solo, fill in behind a vocal phrase or simply spruce up the end of a tune. So basically there are three steps to blues scale mastery. To open new minor blues scale doors, or start you off on your blues scale journey, this section tackles this important scale from new angles.
Combining the pentatonic scale 3 licks with tab pdf. The 14 most common and usable guitar scales printable and ready to use 1. The 3 blues licks are free and for you to use in your own improvisation. This book also comes with a 33 minute mastering the blues scalevol. The blues scale is basically the pentatonic scale with some blues notes blended in artistically along the way. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in. Before we dig into these licks we need to cover a few basic principles. Lesson 8 the e minor blues scales dvd 3 in this lesson. A nice combination are the chords am7, dm7 and e7 together with the a pentatonic blues scale. Clicking here and on the image below will open a pdf file of the guitar major scale chart that prints nicely. Future the first pattern, figure 1, is a fullblown a blues scale in 5th position. Charlie christian is the father of jazz guitar, and if you study the licks of only one player, charlies are it. The e minor pentatonic scale how to play blues guitar.
The blues scale, which as you can probably guess from its name, is a commonly used scale in the blues. The socalled blues scale was not used widely before the 60s, when it became popular with guitarists and film composers. The problem arises when you play a 12 bar jazz blues. Here are pictures and notes of the major pentatonic blues scales. G major blues scale g a bb b d e scale tones 1 2 b3 3 5 6 a more detailed look at scale theory can be found in the hot pentatonic licks.
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. Guitar pentatonic and blues scales fundamental changes. Guitar scales printable charts of the most commonly used scales. Learn 10 classic charlie christian 7th licks, plus a full chorus of f blues soloing using these licks. Major pentatonic licks for guitar fundamental changes music. This usually means playing pentatonic blues phrases which is what is the biggest part of that genre. First, all five of these easy blues guitar licks come out of the minor pentatonic scale. How to connect the pentatonic scale across the entire fretboard and use it in your solos duration. Experiment linking each of the five patterns on this page with its neighboring patterns to create. After the pentatonic minor scale and major scale, the blues scale is probably the most widelyused scale in guitar improvisation. Blues scales blues is an irresistible tonality for a guitar player. Pedal ideas always lend themselves well to blues scale licks.
Sep 17, 2002 when using blues licks in non blues standards, the blues phrases will often clash harmonically with the chord changes, so they should be used with discretion and not overdone. You probably also have learned to play jazz phrases. Now lets take our study of the blues scale further and use the notes of the minor blues scale, the major blues scale and the extended blues scale to create different types of blues licks of riffs. Despite its name, the blues scale is not only used in blues music. During the past 43 years, many private teachers as well as high school and college teachers have made the recordings part of their daily or weekly teaching assignments. Blues guitar solo heatmap with pdf download youtube. Here is a blues in c jam track that you can use to put your new eric clapton lick into practice. For each scale, you can learn many different shapes and patterns all over the fretboard. Guitar scales printable charts of the most commonly used. Solo guitar blues licks and solos 12bar blues guitar. It is a warm contrast to the minor pentatonicblues scale and is often used right next to the minor pentatonic to suddenly lift a solo into a happier, major territory. A quick run through these shapes will help wake up our hands and minds. Learn the 5 pentatonic scale patterns and how they fit together.