All that is well and good, but the problem is that many guitarists stop really learning scales at that point. But blues guitarists don’t really need anything else, right?

Wrong.

If you want to be good, I mean really good, you should learn and master as many scales as you possibly can.

It is true that one appealing aspect of playing the blues is that you can make good music with just a couple of notes.

But it is equally true that the beauty of the blues is that you can do so so much, and the more tools you have the more options you have.

And to tell you the truth, the Minor Pentatonic Scale gets pretty boring sometimes. I’ve sat through many blues jam nights listening to people play the same tired licks over and over again, one after another. And when someone gets up who knows even just a bit more than the Minor Pentatonic/Blues scale approach, they stand out…and it’s refreshing as all get out.

Learn The Major Scale

The best place to start is the major scale. The major scale is the foundation for just about everything we do as musicians.  The way we describe things in music is to compare them to the major scale.

For example, if you know the Blues scale you may be aware that that note added to the Minor Pentatonic scale to form the Blues scale is called the flat 5, b5, or the diminished 5th. What we are really saying is that this not is a half step lower than the 5th note in the major scale.

Another example is the flat 3, or b3, a note in common to the Minor Pentatonic  and Blues scales. Calling that sucker a flat 3rd says that it is a half step lower than the 3rd note in the major scale.

So what?

Well, if you want to be good, I mean really good, understanding what you are hearing and what you are doing is going to help you to make the sounds that you want to to hear.

You know what I’m talking about: those awesome licks you hear in your head when you close your eyes but you have no idea how to actually play.

Learn Arpeggios

An arpeggio is the notes of a chord played one at a time. A very simple way to play an arpeggio is to hold a chord and play one string at a time.

Another way is to play learn the various arpeggio shapes and play each note one at a time as you would when playing a single note lick.

Shredders are big on this.  They spend a lot of time learning the shapes and playing them as fast as they can with unbelievable technique. It can be very mechanical.

To be honest, I’m not a fan of the shredder guitarists. Every time I hear them I think “Wow! They have spent a lot of time practicing!” But after a few minutes I just want to turn them off and put on some music.

(If that offends you, too bad.  This site is about the blues, what do you expect?)

You can apply arpeggios every time you play the blues, in fact most basic blues bass lines are arpeggios.

When you know your arpeggios inside and out your lines will be more mature, plain and simple. If you have ever heard anyone who can play single note lines, with no accompaniment, and you can hear every chord go by, you know that this player knows their arpeggios.

It Didn’t Come Easy

I used to listen to other players and think “What the heck are they doing? What do they know that I don’t?”  I used to be a frustrated player. I was surrounded by some really excellent players and sometimes it got to be quite overwhelming.

But I never gave up. I had 2 really great teachers, and I learned a lot from each of them. I studied books, and DVDs etc.  I have a shelf of them.  I enrolled in a jazz studies program, played in the jazz band, played in lots of blues band. I kept going at it and never gave up.

Over time I tried various approaches, some were good, most were not.  Some were excellent.

Over a decade of teaching private guitar lessons forced me to figure out:

1. What is important? What do people really need to know, and to practice, to get this stuff in their head and under their fingers?
2. What is (or are) the best way(s) to go about learning?

Over time I developed techniques and lessons. I committed myself to doing what is best for the student, and that means that everything is practical and relevant…no fluff. No theory just for theory’s sake. No wasted effort.

Everything you do in your musical study should apply to real playing, or it’s of no use at all.

Of course, as a student you don’t always know why what you are studying is important, but that’s why you have a good teacher to lead you.

You Can Learn This Stuff

If you are still reading this rather long post, you are probably the kind of person I am writing it for: a guitarist who is advancing, but struggling to get to the next level.

I want to help. Really I do.

I am at heart a teacher. For me, a big part of being a musician is sharing what I love, and helping people who are working on it. That is why it put these essential lessons into a book. Well, actually 2 books.

And I am making them available (with a couple of unannounced extras) for less than the cost of a single half hour lesson.

(SORRY – This is not available at this time).

Beyond The Blues Scale is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

More Blues:

1. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 2 Now that you’ve got the first position of the scale...
2. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 4 So now that you know the first 3 patterns of...
3. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 5 The 5th pattern of the Minor Pentatonic Scale is the...
4. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 1 ...
5. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 3 So now that you know the first 2 patterns of...

“I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
Asked the Lord above, have mercy now, save poor Bob if you please”
-Robert Johnson

What Makes A Great Blues Guitar Solo?

The blues is about telling your stories. It’s about baring your soul, expressing who you are and where you’ve been.

Robert Johnson was sharing a very personal thing, he went to mouth of Hell, prayed for salvation, then gave up everything to play the blues.

But the best music is about tension and release. You have to bring the listener to that point of tension where they are glued to everything you do, and you have to reward them in the end. If you can do that, they will love you.

If you can’t bring them to that place in the first place you’ll lose them fast. They won’t pay attention.

If you can get them there, but not get them off, you’re just a tease. And they will hate you for it!

The great thing is that this tension and release is built into the 12 bar blues form. To play the blues well you need to understand the form of the blues. And there is no better way to understand the form of the blues than to study the masters.

So for this lesson I want to look at the classic “Cross Road Blues” by Robert Johnson.

12 Bar Blues

“Cross  Road Blues” is a standard 12 bar blues.

Of course that means that it consists of 12 measures.  But if you look closer, you will see that those 12 bars are divided into 4 bar phrases.  This is very important.

Let’s listen to the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd60nI4sa9A

The first 4 bar phrase contains the lyric

“I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees”

The melody of this lyric poses a musical question that is placed in that first 4 bar area. It is the 1st 4 bar phrase, and it is left open. If he stopped there it would feel incomplete.

The question is repeated in the 2nd 4 bar phrase. This builds tension, you can hardly wait to hear how it’s going to turn out.

“I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees”

Then, the 3rd 4 bar phrase finally has the answer:

“Asked the Lord above, have mercy now, save poor Bob if you please”

The musical question is answered, the tension is resolved. Now we can start the 12 bar cycle over and do it again.

Apply This Principal To Your Blues Licks

Get out some staff paper, or tab paper, and write some 12 bar blues licks that follow the form question…repeat question..answer. Yes, write them down…it will help you to really learn the principle and to remember what you came up with.

Then put on a play along, and play those suckers. How many can you come up with?

When you have a few you really like, practice developing them. Start with your original idea, change it a bit in the next chorus and so on. This is a great way to build a blues guitar solo!

Keep this idea in your head when you play the blues…it will help you to play musically, not just rip out a bunch of notes that don’t really speak to anyone.

Some Final Thoughts

Breathe. Put space in your solos. Too many guitarists never stop to take a breathe. It’s like a screaming child on an airplane. Don’t be one of those!

Listen to singers and other instruments. Miles Davis said that he learned more about soloing by listening to singers than anything else. Singing is all about phrasing…play like a singer and you will connect with your audience.

Guitarists have a tendency to put notes together in a way that lays out well on the guitar. Studying the lines of other instrumentalists helps you to think outside the box.

If you apply this idea to your blues, your licks will speak to your audience, guaranteed! Now, go PLAY THE BLUES!

Better Blues Licks: Question…Repeat…Answer is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

More Blues:

1. Blues Guitar Lick #2 – Slow Blues Intro – B.B. King Style Blues lick #2 is an intro to a slow blues...
2. Better Blues Guitar Solos – 7 Ways To Play With Feeling How do you play the blues with feeling? How do...
3. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 3 So now that you know the first 2 patterns of...
4. Blues Guitar Lesson – Blues Guitar Chords – Part Two So by now you have those 3 note dominant 7...
5. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 1 ...

The 5th pattern of the Minor Pentatonic Scale is the G form (from the perspective of CAGED guitar).

The Minor Pentatonic Scale Position 5

It fits over the open G7 chord shape:

Once you get a grip on pattern be sure to follow these steps:

• Play it all 12 keys, ascending and descending
• Practice connecting all 5 patterns up and down
• Experiment! Make some music

Be sure to subscribe to this blog and get your free copy of Blues Rules for a more details and techniques to get the Minor Pentatonic scale burned into your brain, so that you can make music with it. It is the fundamental sound of the blues!

The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 5 is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

More Blues:

1. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 4 So now that you know the first 3 patterns of...
2. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 2 Now that you’ve got the first position of the scale...
3. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 1 ...
4. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 3 So now that you know the first 2 patterns of...
5. Get The Blues Right: Taj Mahal And The Diminished 7 Chord Ever since Jake and Elwood did it in The Blues...

So now that you know the first 3 patterns of the Minor Pentatonic Scale it’s time to get your fingers on the 4th pattern.

This pattern is really useful because it fits in the area where you would play a chord with the root note on the 5th string. Notice the root note on the 5th string in the chart below:

The Minor Pentatonic Scale Pattern 4

In the CAGED Theory framework this pattern is the A form because it fits over the open A shaped dominant 7 chord:

Of course that shows the chord in the open position, but if you move it up to the 10th fret you will have a G7 chord. And once again the root note is on the 5th string.

When practicing this pentatonic scale shape be sure to stick to a one finger per fret approach. Take a look at the video to see what I mean:

I tried to put a tab of the scale in this post, but the picture is too big. When I reduce the size it doesn’t look good at all. So if you want a tab, be sure to grab your free copy of Blues Rules. There’s full tabs, licks and charts, as well as a lot more information.

Be sure that you are working through the practice techniques outlined in part 3 of this series. Stay tuned for the next part where I will not only show you the 5th pattern of the minor pentatonic scale, but I’ll post a video lesson demonstrating practice techniques to get the scale under your fingers and in your ears so you can get on with the the business of playing the blues guitar.

So grab your guitar and get at it!

The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 4 is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

More Blues:

1. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 2 Now that you’ve got the first position of the scale...
2. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 1 ...
3. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 3 So now that you know the first 2 patterns of...
4. Blues Chords – Part One One of the defining characteristics of the blues in a...
5. Blues Guitar Lesson – Blues Guitar Chords – Part Two So by now you have those 3 note dominant 7...

So now that you know the first 2 patterns of the Minor Pentatonic Scale it’s time to get your fingers on the 3rd pattern.
Many blues guitarists focus primarily on the first 2 patterns of the scale, but if you want to be really good you need to learn to play all over the fingerboard. The 3rd pattern of the scale is the trickiest because it involves shifting positions to play the 7th fret on the 3rd string and the 11th fret on the 2nd string.

Here it is in the key of G:

The Minor Pentatonic Scale Pattern 3

Notice that I start with my 2nd finger so that I can get that 7th fret note on the 3rd string, and then I shift up a fret on the 2nd string so that I can get the 11th fret note on the 2nd string. The truth is that it’s more difficult to go from the 2nd finger to the 4th finger than it is is to go from the 1st finger to the 3rd finger. But it’s more economical to do it this way, and practicing like this helps to strengthen the 4th finger.

In actual playing I may play those lower sting notes with my 1st and 3rd finger, depending on the lick and whats going on around it. Stay tuned, I’ll be posting some licks soon that illustrate what I am talking about.

In actual playing I may play those lower string notes with my 1st and 3rd finger, depending on the lick and what’s going on around it. Stay tuned, I’ll be posting some licks soon that illustrate what I am talking about.

Also, notice that this pattern fits over this Dominant 7 chord shape:

At this point you should be able to play the first 2 patterns easily. So here are some practice suggestions:

1. Once you get this pattern under your fingers play it all 12 keys around the circle of 4ths. For more information about his practice technique be sure to subscribe to this blog and get the free Blues Rules course.
2. Practice playing all three patterns of the scale that you know so far, up and down, starting from the first pattern. Pay close attention to how they are connected. Once you get that down do it around the circle of 4ths.
3. Practice going back and forth between the Dominant 7 chord form shown above and the scale. And once again, do it aound the circle of 4ths.
4. Have some fun with it! Put on a blues play-long and make some music.

So get to work. I will be posting the 4th pattern very soon!

The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 3 is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

More Blues:

1. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 2 Now that you’ve got the first position of the scale...
2. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 1 ...
3. Blues Guitar Lesson – Blues Guitar Chords – Part Two So by now you have those 3 note dominant 7...
4. Blues Chords – Part One One of the defining characteristics of the blues in a...
5. Learn The Guitar Notes In 3 Simple Steps This topic certainly applies to the blues guitar, but no...

Now that you’ve got the first position of the scale under your fingers it’s time to to get to work on the second position.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to read the part 1 of this series on the Minor Pentatonic Scale.

The Second Pattern Of The Minor Pentatonic Scale

When you move up a pattern in the scale, you lose the lowest note on the 6th string but you gain a higher note on the 1st string. Here is what it looks like:

The Minor Pentatonic Scale Pattern 2

When you practice the scale it’s a good idea to start with your second finger. Keep your hand in the 5th position (your first finger should be at the 5th fret of the guitar) play each note with the appropriate finger. Check out the video to see what I mean.

Of course in a real playing situation you may use various fingerings depending on the licks you are executing.  It is common to play the top 3 strings of the D form Minor Pentatonic Scale with the first finger on the 6th fret, the 2nd finger on the 7th fret and the 3rd finger on the 8th fret.  This makes it easier to bend the notes on the first 2 strings.

Once you get familiar with the D form practice switching from the E form of the scale to the D form and back.  Try to use logical fingerings.  You can do a lot with just these 2 scale forms.  Stevie Ray Vaughan and a lot of other great blues guitarists rely heavily on them.

The Blues Rules course contains some guitar tabs to help you get a handle on switching back and forth between these 2 forms, and it’s free when you subscribe to 100 Blues Licks. Just fill in your name and email address at the top of this page.

Here are just a couple of licks to get you started.  There are more to come!

Next: The C form of the Minor Pentatonic Scale.  Also, some video lessons of cool blues licks using the 2 forms covered so far.

The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 2 is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

More Blues:

1. The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 1 ...
2. Blues Guitar Lesson – Blues Guitar Chords – Part Two So by now you have those 3 note dominant 7...
3. Blues Chords – Part One One of the defining characteristics of the blues in a...
4. Better Blues Guitar Solos – 7 Ways To Play With Feeling How do you play the blues with feeling? How do...
5. Learn The Guitar Notes In 3 Simple Steps This topic certainly applies to the blues guitar, but no...

Every blues guitarist must have a firm grasp on the minor pentatonic scale so I thought it would be a good idea to do an in-depth series covering the scale and each of the 5 pentatonic scale patterns. In the first part of the series I will explain exactly what the minor pentatonic scale is and show you the first pattern.

How I Approach Learning Guitar Scales

• Because it lays out so well on the guitar fretboard I like to learn a scale in the key of G. Once I learn it in G then I work on playing it in different keys. So the fretboard charts in this tutorial are all in the key of G.
• I see the guitar fretboard according to CAGED theory. If you don’t know what that is take a look at this blog post: CAGED Guitar before you read any further.
• Learning a scale is just the first step. Turning it into music is another thing. Be sure to check out this post: How To Learn Guitar Scales.

What Is The Minor Pentatonic Scale?

The word pentatonic literally means “five” (penta) “tones” (tonic). A pentatonic scale is one that contains only 5 notes. Actually there are many pentatonic scales, but the most common are the minor and major pentatonic scales.

The 5 notes of the minor pentatonic scale are: R – b3 – 4 – 5 – b7. So in the key of G the notes are G – Bb – C – D – F. For more on what all this means be sure to subscribe to 100blueslicks.com and get the free Blues Rules course. Check the sidebar of this page.

The first pattern of the scale is the E form (see the CAGED Guitar post link under “How I Approach Learning Guitar Scales).

G Minor Pentatonic Scale Pattern 1

Get Started Playing The Minor Pentatonic Scale

In the 3rd position, that is with your 1st finger at the 3rd fret, Play each note from the lowest to the highest and back again. Following a rule of one finger per fret, play the notes on the 6th fret with your 4th finger, and play the notes on the 5th fret with your 3rd finger.

Also, be sure to alternate your pick. The first note should be an upstroke and the then a downstroke and so on.

Once you start to get familiar with the pattern, set your metronome (you do have one don’t you?) at a moderate tempo, around 70 beats per minute, and try to play each note in time.

For more details on learning guitar scales, including a printable chart of the minor pentatonic scale covering the entire fretboard, be sure to subscribe and get your free Blues Rules guitar course.

Make Music With The Minor Pentatonic Scale

The E Form of the minor pentatonic scale is probably the most commonly used of the 5 patterns. Here are here are a couple sample licks to get you started:

The Minor Pentatonic Scale – Part 1 is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

More Blues:

1. Blues Chords – Part One One of the defining characteristics of the blues in a...
2. Blues Guitar Lesson – Blues Guitar Chords – Part Two So by now you have those 3 note dominant 7...
3. Better Blues Guitar Solos – 7 Ways To Play With Feeling How do you play the blues with feeling? How do...
4. Get The Blues Right: Taj Mahal And The Diminished 7 Chord Ever since Jake and Elwood did it in The Blues...
5. Take My Advice: You Can Play Guitar But You Suck! Sometimes the truth hurts.  But if you can get over...