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Pentatonic Proficiency

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Wed, 06/12/2024 - 14:12
mtnhank
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Joined: 08/18/2020

JH David,

I want to get better at using pentatonic scales. The major scale lends itself to practice, it seems to me, through use of 3rds patterns, very melodic. Do you have any suggestions for practicing pentatonic scales?

Hank H

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Fri, 06/14/2024 - 06:40
#1
David Barrett
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ExpertHead InstructorTeacher 10Level 10
Joined: 12/20/2009
Hello Hank. I agree that the

Hello Hank. I agree that the Major Pentatonic and Blues Scale (Minor Pentatonic with added flat-5th) are very helpful scales to practice. Here are the studies that I recommend you study, in this order:

Music Theory Study 4
https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/music_theory_study_4_melodic_deve...

Music Theory Study 5 - Soloing Scales
https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/music_theory_study_5_soloing_scales

Improvising Study 9 - Approaches
https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/improvising_study_9_approaches

After you go through that material I recommend:

1) Play the scales, ascending and descending, to a jam track (or metronome) in whole notes, then half notes, then quarter notes, then eighth notes, and then finally triplets. This will take a while, so just make this part of your opening 10 minutes of practice for a while until mastered.

2) Improvise with small blocks of the scale to a jam track. Build the ability to stay within the scale. Make sure to use phrasing (Chorus Forms) as you play so it doesn't sound like you're just wondering around a scale.

3) Improvise as the same way as above, but focus on using the tones in the scale that match the chord you're playing over.

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