Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Mixing The Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales – EP130

Description

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how beneficial it is to combine the major and minor pentatonic scales. This lesson comes with visual diagrams to help you visualize the overlap between the two scales. It also comes with a total of 6 licks that you can use to practice with (licks that combine both scales). If you’ve always wondered how it works, and where artists like Eric Clapton and Freddie King get a lot of their licks from, you’ll enjoy this lesson.

Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson

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Slow Walk-Through

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Comments

  3. barry says

    What I love about this Lesson Brian is, your showing by just connecting these two relative scales and working with your other lessons, you now have a better understanding of how it works, and by adding them to your own playing it wil help you to start creating solos of your own !! Excellent as always
    Barry

  5. charjo says

    So informative as usual, Brian. I had never heard of the concept of combining position 2 minor pentatonic with position 4 of the major pentatonic. That will get lots of mileage. Worth my next years subscription for that little pearl alone.
    John

  6. Don D. says

    Brilliant, Professor! I can see why you need glasses to teach this stuff! Obviously, I haven’t gotten very far, but I can see, it’s going to be nice having everything in one pile, and knowing where it is. I don’t hear the differences as emotions or positive/negative, more like differences between genres and there are times I just can’t make major pent sound like “it belongs.”

      • Don D. says

        I’ll wait to comment more (maybe you’ll mention it later in the class or maybe I’ll figure it out along the way, if it needs to be figured out). As of now, it’s my longstanding observation that there are some notes in the blue/minor pent. pattern that are “neutral sounding” relative to the A, like the D (5th string, 5th fret; 3rd string, 7th fret; 1st string, 10th fret), but aren’t at all “blue sounding.” There are others but I think this is the strongest one. Now, I know it’s subjective, and whatever works works, but do you think it would be useful to separate this kind of note into a different category? In a way, I already have, so my question might be, is this an obstacle to real understanding–AND, I’m wondering but not necessarily asking, if this is connected to why I favor the minor over the major.

        That said (this kind of amends what I said in my earlier post–at work on a Mac, I see a way to edit, as well as style fonts, but not on my home PC), I do actually use the natural 3rd (99% of the time sliding into it from b3 on ascending lines), the 6th and 9th (C#, F# and B), all of them mostly when ascending, but maybe it sounds like where I put them is more in passing than integral. Going to get over whatever is keeping me from posting videos so I don’t have to explain. (There is a very awkward video of me playing right after I started playing again on my YouTube page, should keep me honest. I’ve progressed miles from that and am getting anxious to prove it.)

        But I mostly play minor because it sounds/feels right.

        By the way, this is a really great lesson and while I love all the shortcuts you hand to me (to us) in weekly lick lessons, this is really, really where the action is! It’s so good, I scorched my breakfast, first time in a very long time, and will be going out to eat now.

  7. Michael Allen says

    Thanks I really need this one. I appreciate the way that you mentioned this in previous lessons but this is needed for me to get a better understanding of this and how to use it. We all spend so much time trying to learn to play guitar and most of us don’t really have any kind of road map to take us where we want to go in the shortest period of time. Thank you so much for guiding us in the right direction

  9. OldVet says

    There has been a huge mystery about the fretboard and how this all ties together. This lessons just nailed a major piece for me. The light bulb moment.

    But what I find truly pleasing is while most of the licks are happy sounding, leaning toward the major pent., I hear Clapton’s version of Crossroads in sections of this tutorial. It’s how you apply those licks and ramble across the boundaries of major and minor that resonates Clapton, Allman, and about every other significant player recorded.

    Even some of Lightnin’ Hopkins.

    I once whined to you Brian I didn’t feel I was getting it. You asked me, rhetorically, what more could you do?

    This is it!

    Thank you, Sensi.

  12. Angelo I says

    This is exactly what I was looking for!….I memorized the 5 shapes and can play them pretty well and can also slide into the shapes with certain runs, but mixing the the two scales was always a mystery. I like to be able to jam on my own and discover new licks and find those double stops in the scales, but before this course I could not figure out how to combine both scales together. great job on the long licks running licks too.

  16. jimbostrat says

    Just in case anyone still wondered: Brian really does have our backs and it’s no accident that he comes out with cool complete jams and/or lessons that continue building our development into better and better musicians! No way does Brian pull these things out of a hat, they’re well thought out and very pertinent and as I’ve stated before on his lessons (specifically EP031, EP120 & EP122 and several others) many of these lessons are designed so we can just take them out to jam night and not only stand out but also direct and assist others on secondary guitar and even bass parts!! Active Melody is just my complete definition of one exceptional bargain!!

    Jim C.

  19. Bill W2 says

    Brian i really enjoy these “side projects” of yours where you delve into the “why’s and wherefore’s” of theory. So I’m curious with regards to your approach to soloing utilizing the major/minor scale combo…….. In the I-IV-V progression (let’s just say) do you find it works best over the “I” and stick with either pure Major or pure Minor over the IV & V. Or do you use the combo over all the chords in a progression? Many thanks again for these lessons.

  23. taskman says

    Brian, just wondering how to handle the odd situation where you are play down further on the neck say around C for instance. Do you ever find yourself having to loop back up to the first 4 or 5 frets?

  27. helium says

    Je suis abonné depuis plus d’un an et je continuerais, c’est un excellent site pour apprendre et se perfectionner ! Seul bémol, dommage qu’il ne soit pas en français !! Je ne comprends pas l’anglais 🙁
    Peut être pourriez vous mettre la traduction en sous titre ! Non ?? Je suis que cela intéressera beaucoup de francophone.
    Merci.

  29. Don T says

    Thanks Brian I wish I had joined this site along time ago as I have learned more from you in such a short time than all the sites I have visited over many years. Everything is structured and make me feel like picking up my guitar and practicing and then coming back endless times during the day and reviewing what I have practiced. Keep up the good work you are an inspiration to learning guitarists. Thanks again. Don

  30. copycard says

    Hi Brian

    You describe the Minor pentatonic shape in A (fifth fret) and how that same shape can then be moved down (3) frets to find the A in the Pentatonic scale.
    Does the(starting note) on the moved A (now) pentatonic scale have to change in order to differentiate between the two different scales.

    My other point is that the example shown when moving down the fretboard (3) frets to transition between the minor and major is great until you apply the same principal to the G chord you then run out of fretboard when moving down the fretboard for the Pentatonic scale.

    Would it be more prudent to show the minor /major scale including the overlaps beginning on the same note EG:- A note fifth fret? therefore the markers for both scales would be at the same location (1) reference point even if the scale shape would be different there would not be the need to move down the fretboard.
    This is not a criticism – just trying to understand it all – Thanks in advance.)

  33. Falonien says

    Thanks Brian
    I really am enjoying this .
    I have a tendency to run either major or minor though I use both often in the same song.
    Besides, they are fun licks to see/hear/play ..we’ll just have to wait and see if I “ah-ha”

  36. Patrick van Rijn says

    It’s in the mix! I also was waiting for a lesson in which the Major and Minor Pentatonics were combined in a comprehensive way, and not ‘just’ a tutor in which you only learn copying licks the teacher plays.
    Brian, besides being a great guitar player and teacher, you really have a talent for creating lessons everyone seems to need and enjoy.

  37. genedivincenzo says

    Very comprehensive and informative lesson. I appreciate the format and theory lesson. This is “must see” for anyone wanting to develop the knowledge base to freely play solos. Thanks for all your hard work in putting this extensive lesson together.

  41. Chris T says

    Excellent lesson! This is exactly what I need right now. More of this please! 🙂
    Important question: When people talk about playing a RELATIVE major or minor against a certain key. Is this what they are talking about? Or is relative major / minor a different topic?

  45. Fred Wood says

    What a brilliant lesson. Well structured, well explained, easy to follow, and with guaranteed results. This lesson has thrown open a huge door for me which has been firmly locked since I started playing again a few years ago.

  47. Art M says

    I have to say, this has been probably my favorite for basic’s and learning to mix the major / minor scales and throw in the “blues” or flatted notes in. I play these sounds tracks to warm myself up now before tackling a new lesson. It’s also great just for the call and response practice work that I really need to work on as I love to ALWAYS PLAY and that is my down fall. Thanks Brian for doing this : out of your norm” teachings as it has been super valuable for me personally.

    • Brian says

      Just remember the 5 positions (patterns) are the same 5 notes.. just played in different positions… higher on the neck. So yes anything that works in 1 pattern will work in any of the others.

  53. Andy D says

    Wonderful stuff, as ever, Brian. Thanks so much for all the work you put into these excellent tutorials to make it easier for the viewer/student. So enlightening and clear. Keep on keeping on.

  60. Mike B says

    Hi Brian. I am loving your lessons. Do you have a PDF where you show the 5 major and 5 minor pentatonic shapes all in one document? On many occasions in your videos you refer to “major pentatonic pattern 4” or “minor pentatonic pattern 2”, and I wish I had a simple reference PDF so I know which shape YOU are thinking of (I have found different instructors have different patterns in mind when they label them 1-5. For example, what you refer to as “major pentatonic pattern 5” may be “major pentatonic pattern 2” in other books and videos. I kind of wish these were labeled as shapes instead of arbitrary numbers). In any event, you are my #1 resource and I just want to make sure I am aligned with your thinking. I have taken the blues lead course so I know your 5 minor patterns but I don’t see where you have your MAJOR pattern labels defined. Bottom line, would be great to have a PDF with your labelled patterns on minor and major all in one place for reference. I would pay extra for that. Thanks!!

  61. Dan S says

    Geeze ! This “deep dive” is what I need.
    This will open up a lot of possibilities, which is your intent. I hope this becomes ingrained to the point where I hardly think about it.
    Then, and only then, will I go back to the standard lessons.
    Although I tend to hang out in the standard lessons and learn your many riffs, it’s often just a matter of going through the motions. Thanks for pluggin this lesson.

    This is worth the price of admission.

  62. Malcolm D says

    A brilliant lesson, I got a better understanding now of moving up and down the fretboard with those Major & Minor this will move me on to my next level of my guitar journey 🙂

    Thank you

    Malcolm..

  63. frederick c says

    hi i have been a member for one day,,,, been playing for fifty years same old stuff mainly chords…i have been going thru ep130 up to lick five thourghly enjoying it will perserver…. cheers rgardsto all… i am 75 years young…

    fred

  64. Steve (Ruffcutt) R says

    Im up to speed all the way up to, mixing the minor and major together, and then it begins to sound like alien speak! Is there another video recommended video besides EP 130 and EP 436 that will help hammer this through my overthinking thick skull?

    I started my course with the Blues Lessons but have turned my attention to the fretboard. if I can get master this, Im off to the races!

  65. Peter R says

    When I place soundslice for this specific lesson in full screen mode and select a few measures/bars to loop, the entire screen will go blank when it jumps to the next row. I do not have this problem with ever lesson. e.g. in EP356 soindslice is working fine. Anyone have similar problems and or suggestions how to resolve. I am using a firefox browser on windows 11 laptop. It seems to be a soundslice bug from what I can tell but perhaps I am overlooking something.

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