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The most commonly used scales in music are the pentatonic scales. Learning the pentatonic scales has been an introduction to scales and modes for almost every guitar player. Most rock, blues, and heavy metal are based on the minor pentatonic scale. And you can find most country, country-rock, R&B tunes are based on the major pentatonic scale.
Theoretically, a pentatonic scale is a scale that contains five notes which are derived from a natural minor or a major scale by skipping the 4th and 7th degrees in a major scale, and the 2nd and 6th in a minor scale.
Why are the pentatonic scales so popular?
Are they easy to play? Easy to learn? sound good? simple? Probably all the answers would be "yes".
But for all the extensive use of these multi-purpose scales, the approach most guitarists take when playing them is usually quite simple. The pentatonic scales fall into easily fingering patterns called boxes or box patterns. Beginner guitarists mostly find it quite easy to learn some blues licks to play in the pentatonic scales. And even advanced guitarists usually apply pentatonic scales while improvizing. The pentatonic scale patterns also help guitarists to virtualize chords, other scale patterns and scale positions on their mind or just help them to find their way on the fretboard. Because the pentatonic scales are simple and well positioned on the fretboard to remember.
If you had a chance to learn just one scale and still wanted to play guitar, the scale would be the pentatonic scale. If you really want to play guitar you have to learn it. Just five notes!!
So that, learn minor and major pentatonic scales over the entire fretboard in any key. When we go further on pentatonic scale lessons you will find very useful information on how to learn pentatonic scales. There are certain pentatonic patterns that ease your work when learning, studying, remembering and practicing the pentatonic scales.
When you learn the scale very well, turn on the radio or the cd player and try to find what key the song is in when you get it, try pentatonic scales in that key; minor pentatonic scale , major pentatonic scale or blues pentatonic scale. Probably, the one of them will work!
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