Description
In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to go back and forth between the major and minor pentatonic scales using a single note as an anchor. You’ll learn this in 3 zones (or regions) of the fretboard.
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Slow Walkthrough
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Video Tablature Breakdown
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Wonderful lesson! Thanks Brian.
Wow. Just fricken’ wow. This is a tasteful masterclass in mixing the pentatonic major and minor. Thanks so much! 🙏
Thanks Brian!
Going right into Favorites.
There’s a lot of useful information here. thanks Brian
On fire tonight!
I remember these awesome licks from like you said, Freddie King and Stevie Ray Vaughan and of course Brian Active Melody!
Still and always the best instructor on the net! No hype, just usable musical information!!
Brian, very nice lesson looking forward to practicing this. Bonus, I like how the dots on the scales almost match your shirt color.
hah – unintentional 🙂
Great recap, thanks. Like the aside to GD!
Thanks Brian, great lesson. Fun to play and keep expanding.
Thanks Brain great lesson
Maby i missed something obvious, but how is the chords in backingtrack connecting to a scale?
The chords is in c major but here i think G is tonic?
Great lesson. Fun!
Hi Lars. You are correct, the G and F major chords are from the key of C. The tonal centre of the piece however, ie. the place you want to resolve is the note is G. Essentially what you are doing is playing the notes of C major but resolving around the G note. That means you are playing the 5th mode of C major, the G mixolydian mode. G mixolydian is almost the combination of the G major and G minor pentatonic, you just need to include the minor 3rd. So in this progression you can play either G major or minor pentatonic, combine them or play the G mixolydian mode.
Good explanation….can’t believe that I am actually beginning to understand modes!
Thanx, then it is obvious 🙂
Thanks, had to sleep on this. Is the tonal center something you can only determine by ear or is there a way to easily determine this theoretically?
This is probably also the answer to the song; fine yesterday by Robert Cray. Seems to be in the key of C but center around G. It just puzzeled me.
The way I look at it the tonal center here is G because the composer of the melody keeps G in its various positions as the most prominent tone. He also tells us with his words that it’s G which is nice.
Check out the great Lynyrd Skynyrd Sweet Home Alabama debate! Is it G major or D mixolydian? Not quite so easy with that one although I tend towards D mixolydian.
Nice! Very interesting. The combination of G Minor and Major pentatonics has all the notes in C Major plus an A# note, which would be the flat 7 in C Major, and Mixolydian is characterized by the flat 7!
Really nice lesson ! But is there a mistake on your graphic for the third position. For the minor notes?
Oops nevermind!! Lol
Nice
Fantastic lesson Brian.. this is really helpful.. I like the graphics showing the scale patterns on the screen along with the audio playing of the notes. This makes it a lot easier to follow along with the lesson. Thanks !
Another great lesson Brian that continues to build on prior major and minor scales/pentatonics with so many useful riffs. Please keep these coming, they are excellent (as always).
you are really turning the lights on….great lesson Brian…I just might turn into a guitar picker yet…lol
Go to EP471 if you want diagrams of the major and minor pentatonics in each of the 3 zones
Exactly Lynne! I used the same ep471 review to help visualize. Ive been spending the weekend on YouTube with Jamtracks in an all keys and rhythms to reinforce the material.
This is really fun. Thank you!
A PDF showing notes in all three zones, along with which notes can be bent, would be useful.
Also, why no Guitar Pro notation?
See 356 and 471
Brian, Thank you so much for the lessons of the past four weeks. You’ve help me propel my playing to the next level.
Len
A great lesson on showing us how the Major and Minor Penta scales overlap up the neck in. Very informative.
Thanks Brian
Great lesson and great comments. Have a wonderful week, looking forward to Fridays as always.
I was born a ramblin’ man. All I hear is Allman Brothers and Dickie Betts!
Great lesson Brian–thanks!
For me this lesson was again spot on. The combination of the 3 zones with major and minor pentatonics, with the G notes as the anchor and some nice phrases to practice is proving very usefull for my playing. It is like a foundation I can always fall back on while playing,
This lesson was an ahah moment. In past lessons, I just wasn’t able to grasp the meshing of both major and minor pentatonic scale. The light bulb finally went off. I really like how you try different avenues to get an idea to stick. Thanks.
As always, another very useful lesson Brian. I really like connecting this lesson with EP 356.
Sounds like useful licks for Dear Mr. Fantasy. I love it!
Brian, You’re the man! I can’t believe what’s happening to me and the fret board. These lessons from you and the songs I do make it a whole new ball game. Really helps my poor singing. Wife just walked by and said, you’re really sounding good. Thank you for all your hard work.
What a ton of fun! A great follow up to the phrasing lessons a couple weeks back. Great backing track – now I understand how the Dead could just go and go for seemingly hours over the same few chords.
And Marshall Tucker. Pure Gold, Brian!
This was a great lesson Brian. Would it be possible to put these major and minor patterns of the E, C, and A shapes on a pdf for future reference?
I found the pdf with the E C A shapes and Penta scales in lesson EP471. This is perfect. Thanks Brian
What is the strumming pattern of the backing track?
It has a John Mayer Dead and Company vibe! Love it.
Ive always struggled with blending the major and minor pentatonics and now I have some grateful dead/d+c to practice it with in 3 different locations across the fretboard!! couldn’t be more thankful! -happy woodstock this week:)
Great lesson, but it seems you race through the lessons. Alaways need to slow it down a bit.
You can always re-watch the video. pause, etc. It’s impossible to set a pace that everyone is 100% happy with. I get many more complaints about being too slow and too wordy than I do about being too fast.
Hi Brian, Practicing my GD runs, I noticed that I could quite “melodiously” (to my ears in any case) mix G Dorian runs (WHWWWHW) with G Mixolydian runs (WWHWWHW) and occasionally restricting my notes to E major Pentatonic. Is that “right” and am I beginning to get it finally? Again great lesson and on the previous comment, thanks for the backup data/info/recordings.. Max
Brian, wonderful lesson!
Thanks for perservering with us-we are a mixed (Active Melody) family but like all good families, happy to be doing stuff together.
Stay well.
Brian, another great lesson. I learned all this content but you have the gift to expose it with simplicity. The diagramms are perfect and the dots match with your green shirt ! 😀
I thought I was listening to Dickey Betts when I started this video.
This is simply another badass lesson from Brian! Man I’ve learned so much from you! I bet when Robert Johnson went down to the crossroads that faithful night, it was you that he encountered. And I mean that in a good way! Thanks!
I bet Robert would be jealous of Brian’s guitar collection 🙂
Amen, brother.
Love it! Explained a simple but important concept very eloquently. Your are a great teacher Brian 😀
Very clear visual approach to the pentatonic pattern shifting across the fretboard.
Thanks,
Gordon
Wow- my synapsis are a-firing! Always knew there were connections between the zones, never knew how to smoothly navigate it. Thanks Brian
Easy theory and “guitar blues secrets”, to make beautifull blues improvisations. Just using 3 Zones of Major and Minor Pentatonic scales and combining them with the Root note, and just using the bottom 4 strings. Also the CAGED chords are applied. Yess this again is a great lesson. It motivates me to practice, with a big smile on my face. Thank you Brian !!!
Brian, I feel like your style of teaching is untangling knots I’ve had for decades in my playing…..thank you!
Great lesson, I am going to persevere with this one, combining these two pent scales covers all the usual notes for mixolydian and major and is a simpler way of navigating the frets.
The fret diagrams in the video are great, but hard to easy reference, would love to see those overlapping diagrams on this webpage for easy reference when playing the backing track.
Playing an acoustic and its hard if not impossible to get full bend sound. Any suggestions on work arounds to achieve full bends?
I almost exclusively play acoustic too. I have the lightest strings possible and it helps quite a bit. Keep at it mate.
Thanks Brian.
Excellent
Its amazing Brian! NOW I understood the difference between minor and major pentatonic by the same finger position. The key note is shift!
Great.
I was sure that one day this lesson will come.
Real cool.
Now Here’s a heck of a Bending Video Lesson…Awesome Brian…Thank You So Much as always…especially with the Triads getting less overwhelming in contrast to other video lessons some times!!
This really helped me lock in the Pentatonics as they are anchored on the first,second and third string using the caged system. thanks Dan
Great lesson for me Brian. Every lesson of yours that I watch, the tumblers keep falling into place. The lock is being picked and the mystery keeps making more sense 🙏
Hi Brian is this a P125 I love its tone, what is the model? there seems to be a few different sizes, where am I able to pick one up and what is the estimated cost ?, thanks Will
Do you have Jam tracks of ABCDEFG mainly in country rythum let me know the price ,cheers Glenn D
Hi Brian, that is a really nice lesson. thank you
Cool little guitar, what is that?
Very Allman Brothers sounding.
Not quite understanding how it puts you in and out of Mixolydian mode. Thanks
This is good, and I picked up everything.
Brian, Is it possible to download the mp3 backing tracks? I would like to play with them when I am not at my computer.
Yes, you’ll get different results depending on the browser you use. If you use Google Chrome or Firefox and click on the “Download MP3” link, it will download the file automatically. Other browsers will try and play the file after it downloads (which is what you’re experiencing). So try RIGHT clicking on the “Download MP3” link if you’re on a Windows computer and then choose the “Save As..” option. If you’re on a Mac, hold down the “Control” key and click on “Download MP3”.
Thanks for your wonderful lessons Brian, my fretboard knowledge has improved a lot since I’ve been following you.
Greetings from Italy!😊👋🏻
Awesome alternate picking lesson, Brian, and on acoustic guitar as well! This gives me more incentive to just grab the guitar and practice it any time. I think I may give this one a shot. Has to help for all guitar picking!! Oh, yeah, and it sounds tremendous!!!
Larry
Hi Brian, Is moving between the major and minor pentatonic scales the technique that Duane Allman and Dickey Betts used to create the distinctive sound of the Allman Brothers Band?
Jon
Yes, more or less
Brian,
Is there a reason you don’t use your pinky on your left hand when playing the pentatonic forms?
Best,
Rob
Thanks Brian. With this one, the lightbulb really did turn on.
You have helped my playing sooooo much – Thanks Brian!
Brian
How do you know which pattern of the key to play as you go down the neck.
Ron
If you haven’t done so already this lesson will be more useful to you if you print the Traditional 5 Pentatonic Patterns pdf found in EP436. These 5 patterns are listed as minor pentatonic scales, in this case A minor, but bear in mind that the A minor pentatonic is the relative minor of the C major pentatonic. This song is in the key of G major so the E minor pattern also works as the G major pattern.
The song is in the key of G. In Zone 1 the G note is on the first string is on the 3rd fret. You can use Pattern 1 (E Shape) to play in the minor key and Pattern 2 (D Shape) to play in the major key as the G note on the first string is included in both these patterns.
In Zone 2 the G note is on the 8th fret of the second string. Brian is using Pattern 3 (C Shape) to play in the minor key and Pattern 4 (A Shape) to play in the major key. In both cases the G note on the second string is included in both these patterns.
In Zone 3 the G note is on the 12th fret of the third string. Brian is using Pattern 4 (A Shape) again to play in the minor key and Pattern 5 (G Shape) to play in the major key. In both cases the G note on the third string is included in both these patterns.
Once you start playing it’s not as complicated as it sounds. I hope this is helpful.
I don’t under something: are the scales you show attached to, say, the C chord shape (G) true for any chord using the C shape? Do they change with the key?
The pattern Brian uses for the C chord shape in this particular track is part of a G minor pentatonic scale. You can use that pattern for any minor scale (and its relative major which in this case is B flat major) by moving up and down the neck. If you were to play the same pattern three frets closer to the head of the guitar you would be playing an E minor or G major pentatonic scale. Move it two frets toward the body of the guitar you’re playing an A minor or C major pentatonic scale. I hope this is helpful.
I’d love to know a little more about that guitar. Seem pretty nice.
You’re comment at the end of the lesson highlighting that mixing minor and major pentatonic is in effect just playing Mixolydian was one of those ‘aha’ lightbulb moments for me. Thank you for so many incredibly helpful lessons Brian.
This is such a great lesson for breaking the the pentatonic scale overload into practical, easy to follow, and use, little chunks- but still learning the scales by applying them! Cool jam track.
Exactly what I needed and masterfully taught. Thanks Brian
this lesson is really a must . excellent job.
Excellent Lesson! Really enjoying it! Great tips and insights!
Two small questions:
(1) Is it just me or is the metronome out of sync? is there anyway to fix it ?
(2) It seems many times notes connected with beams exceed 1/4 (for example 2nd measure, 2nd group), which I think is not conventional and it’s quite confusing when reading rhythm in my opinion.