PENTATONICS harmonic applications for the guitar bruce saunders
? #1 - Tuning note
#20 - Ex. 16 (pg. 26)
#2 - Ex. 1 (pg. 6)
#21 - Ex. 17 (pg. 27)
#3 - Ex. 2 (pg. 7)
#22 - Ex. 18 (pg. 29)
#4 - Ex. 3 (pg. 8)
#23 - Ex. 19 (pg. 30)
#5 - Ex. 4 (pg. 9)
#24 - Ex. 20 (pg. 31)
#6 - Ex. 5 (pg. 9)
#25 - Study No. 4 (pg. 32)
#7 - Ex. 6 (pg. 10)
#26 - Study No. 5 (pg. 33)
#8 - Ex. 7 (pg. 12)
#27 - Study No. 6 (pg. 34)
#9 - Study No. 1 (pg. 12-13)
#28 - Ex. 21 (pg. 36)
#10 - Ex. 8 (pg. 14)
#29 - Ex. 22 (pg. 37)
#11 - Ex. 9 (pg. 15)
#30 - Study No. 7 (pg. 38-39)
#12 - Ex. 10 (pg. 15) #13 - Study No. 2 (pg. 16-17)
PRACTICE TRACKS-A TRACKS-APPENDIX PPENDIX
#14 - Ex. 11 (pg. 18)
#31 - Leaves Key of G (pg. 40) 40)
#15 - Ex. 12 (pg. 19)
#32 - Leaves Key of B (pg. 41)
#16 - Ex. 13 (pg. 21)
#33 - L o v e (pg. (pg. 42)
#17 - Ex. 14 (pg. 22)
#34 #34 - So la ri ze (pg. (pg. 43) 43)
#18 - Ex. 15 (pg. 23)
#35 - F Blues (pg. 44)
#19 - Study No. 3 (pg. 24-25)
#36 - Yesterdaze (pg. 45)
1
PENTATONICS
harmonic applications for the guitar
entatonic scales have been explored often and by many authors. It seems, however, that books geared toward the guitar and pentatonics are often concerned with static harmony or vamps. The author writing with the guitar in mind will typically offer the student two pentatonic scales; major and minor. The bulk of the material offered will deal almost exclusively with fingerings, boxes or grids. This particular book is attempting to approach pentatonic scales and their use over more active harmonic movement while addressing the special needs of the typical guitar student. Consequently, it will start with some basic information before addressing some specific uses of pentatonic scales in different harmonic situations. We will briefly explore the use of pentatonic scales and static harmony but the main focus will be to bring the guitar onto the same plane as the piano, saxophone or trumpet and study the relationship of pentatonic scales and chord changes. This will take a lot of work on the part of the typical guitarist, especially one accustomed to approaching the guitar visually rather than musically. Clearing this visual wall is the first step toward negotiating chord changes with the primary focus a musical one. This is not to say that a grid, grip, box or dots are not helpful tools but that a more complete knowledge of how a specific note relates to harmony and how that note sounds against the underlying harmony is very important. A lot of practice is necessary to to add some of these scales to your repertoire repertoire of improvisational colors. Some of the sounds will be familiar to many of you and some may be an acquired taste. When to use a specific sound is a musical choice and thus the taste, judgement and art of any particular musician is of prime importance. Time feel, sound, rhythm, space and music are in many ways more important than any particular note or scale. As a safeguard against non-musical considerations our mantra might be: The right note at the right time. The right note at the right time. The right note at the right time.
2
PENTATONICS
harmonic applications for the guitar
entatonic scales have been explored often and by many authors. It seems, however, that books geared toward the guitar and pentatonics are often concerned with static harmony or vamps. The author writing with the guitar in mind will typically offer the student two pentatonic scales; major and minor. The bulk of the material offered will deal almost exclusively with fingerings, boxes or grids. This particular book is attempting to approach pentatonic scales and their use over more active harmonic movement while addressing the special needs of the typical guitar student. Consequently, it will start with some basic information before addressing some specific uses of pentatonic scales in different harmonic situations. We will briefly explore the use of pentatonic scales and static harmony but the main focus will be to bring the guitar onto the same plane as the piano, saxophone or trumpet and study the relationship of pentatonic scales and chord changes. This will take a lot of work on the part of the typical guitarist, especially one accustomed to approaching the guitar visually rather than musically. Clearing this visual wall is the first step toward negotiating chord changes with the primary focus a musical one. This is not to say that a grid, grip, box or dots are not helpful tools but that a more complete knowledge of how a specific note relates to harmony and how that note sounds against the underlying harmony is very important. A lot of practice is necessary to to add some of these scales to your repertoire repertoire of improvisational colors. Some of the sounds will be familiar to many of you and some may be an acquired taste. When to use a specific sound is a musical choice and thus the taste, judgement and art of any particular musician is of prime importance. Time feel, sound, rhythm, space and music are in many ways more important than any particular note or scale. As a safeguard against non-musical considerations our mantra might be: The right note at the right time. The right note at the right time. The right note at the right time.
2
Table able of Cont Conten ents ts chapter one: minor seventh pentatonic scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-19 Five perpendicular fingering exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7 Lateral fingerings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10 Harmonic uses of minor seventh pentatonic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Exercises, Study No. 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13 Melodic voice leading introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15 Study No. 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-17 Practice starting notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-19
chapter two: minor seventh flat five pentatonic scale . . . . . . . . . 20-27 Harmonic uses of minor seventh flat five pentatonic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Five perpendicular fingerings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Minor ii-V-i patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-23 Study No. 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25 Ex. 15, delayed application of pentatonic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Ex. 16 Phyrgian chord use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
chapter three: dominant seventh pentatonic scale . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-34 Harmonic uses of dominant seventh pentatonic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Combination lateral/perpendicular fingerings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Ex. 18 & 19 / major ii-V-I sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30-31 Study No. 4 / F major blues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Study No. 5 / C minor blues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Study No. 6 / “Solarize” changes study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
chapter four: major flat sixth pentatonic scale scale . . . . . . . . . 35-40 Harmonic uses of major flat sixth pentatonic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Ex. 20 & 21 / ii-V-I sequence using skips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36-37 Study No. 7 / “Love” changes with skips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38-39
appendix: practice tracks & answer key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40-47 Practice track No. 1 “Leaves” “Leaves” key of G, minor seventh suggestions suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Practice track no. 2 “Leaves” key of B , minor seventh suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Practice track no. 3 “Love” changes, mixed pentatonic suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Practice track no. 4 “Solarize” changes, mixed pentatonic suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Practice track no. 5 “F blues” key of B , mixed pentatonic suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Practice track no. 6 “Yesterdaze”, mixed pentatonic suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Answer key for page 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Answer key for page 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3
chapter chapter one: minor sev seventh pentatonics pentatonics he minor seventh pentatonic scale is one familiar to most guitarists. It consists of five notes: root, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th. If considere considered d the C major pentato pentatonic nic the notes notes are: root root (C), 2nd (D), 3rd (E), 5th (G) and 6th (A). For simplicities sake we’ll consider this the minor seventh pentatonic throughout this book.
Ami7 (or C major) Pentatonic scale
4th
1 1 1 1 1 1
7th
5fr. 5th
root 3rd
T A B
4 3 3 3 4 4
5
5
8
7
5
7
5
5
7
5
8
8
5
8
5
7
5
7 5
7 5
8 5
Most guitarists are very familiar familiar with this scale and would use it for a A dominant 7th or A minor chord. Unfortunately, some guitarists can only “see” this scale from the root and if the chord changes, the hand must move to the root of the next chord on the lowest (in pitch) E string. Our first task is to learn some new perpendicular (physically up & down) fingerings for the mi7 pentatonic scale. Since the pentatonic is a five-note scale, any one of the pitches in the scale could be part of five other pentatonic scales. Let’s use the note “A” as a pivot point.
The note note “A “A” could could be: Pependicular Pependicular fingerings
Root (Ami7 pentatonic) 3rd (F#mi7 pentatonic)
T U N
4th (Emi7 pentatonic) 5th (Dmi7 pentatonic) 7th (Bmi7 pentatonic)
he Ami7 pentatonic scale located near the fifth fret is at the top of the page. Four other mi7 pentatonic scales in this general location would be:
The note “A “A” as minor minor third = F mi7 pentatonic F mi7 pentatonic scale (notice this is the same as A major pentatonic) 2 1 1 1 2 2
4fr.
4 4 4 3 4 4
circled notes are roots T A B
5
7
4
7
4 7
5
4 6
4
7
5
7
5
7 5
6
4
7 4
7 4
7 5
minor seventh pentatonic / perpendicular
The note “A” as fourth = Emi7 pentatonic 1 1 1 1 1 1
4fr. T A B
3 3 3 4 4 3
5
7
5
7
5
4 7
5 7
8
5
7
5
8
5
7
4
7
5
7 5
7 5
The note “A” as fifth = Dmi7 pentatonic 1 1 1 1 2 1
5fr. T A B
4 4 3 3 4 4
5
8
5
8
6
5 7
5 7
8
5
8
5
8
6
7
5
7
5
8 5
8
5
7
5
The note “A” as flat seventh = Bmi7 pentatonic 2 2 1 1 2 2
4fr.
4 4 4 4 4 4
T A B
5
7
5
7
4 7
4
7
5
7
5
7
5
7
5
7
4
7
4
7 5
There are other perpendicular pentatonic fingerings available around the fifth fret and you will probably discover these for yourself. It might help to start by knowing the position of each root and visualize the position of the rest of the notes in that particular pentatonic scale. After that, learn the relationship of the rest of the notes in that particular scale to the root of that scale. The 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th.
5
minor seventh pentatonic / lateral
ou might feel somewhat more comfortable with minor seventh pentatonic fingerings if you practiced Ex. 1 & 2 assiduously. But you might have noticed that these patterns don’t always flow easily on the guitar fretboard. However, the following lateral (physically side-to-side) exercises should sound smooth and fluid if played correctly. You could try sliding down or up to different notes, all down-strokes or anything else to smooth out the line. Lateral fingerings
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Ex. 3 Gmi7 pentatonic lateral pattern >
G mi7
10
T A B
T 5 A B
8
Pull-off
7
5
3
T A B
3
6
5
8
5
10
11
5
3
8
5
6
8
8
8
8
5
6
3
3
5
5
6
6
3
3
5
6
8
7
8
6 3
8
5
3
3
5
5
6
6 3
5
3
5
7
Etc.
Hammer-on
T A B 3
T U N
Etc.
13 10
13
No. 4
3
5
3
6
6
5
5
8
7
6
8
8
3
3
3
5
6
3
5
6
5
6
8
8
8
6
5
8
8
3
8
11
5
8
10
5
11 13
8
10 13
