The Major Pentatonic scale 60 -
The Major Pentatonic scale is a five-note scale consisting of five notes from the Major scale. At
times full major scales may be inappropriate to play over a given progression as they may
sound a bit stiff. So you will want to arm yourself with the Major Pentatonic scale – its an
incredibly useful scale.
The major seventh note is a very “iffy” note, especially in rock music where sometimes it works
and often times it doesn’t. Defaulting to the Major Pentatonic scale for that major sound in
many of these instances will give you a killer sound. You hear the major pentatonic scale used
often in blues, jazz, country, and rock music.
The Major Pentatonic scale is derived from five notes from the Major scale similar to how the
Minor Pentatonic scale is derived from five notes from the Natural Minor scale (see the
diagram below). The intervals of the Major Pentatonic are 1,2,3,5,6. You do not play the 4th
and 7th degrees of the Major scale.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 = Major Scale
1 2 3 5 6 = Major Pentatonic Scale
1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 = Natural Minor Scale
1 b3 4 5 b7 = Minor Pentatonic Scale
You can use major pentatonic over most major type chords when treating each chord as a
separate event. It also works most of the time over all the chords in any major key when
playing what relates to all (much like how minor pentatonic works over all the chords in any
minor key).
KEY POINT: Use Major Pentatonic over all the chords in major key when playing what
relates to all and over major type chords when treating each chord as a separate event.So, how can we find these major pentatonic scales all over the neck? Well its pretty easy as
we will get to them through the Minor Pentatonic scale. You wont have to memorize a whole
new batch of scale shapes for Major Pentatonic. We will use the concept of major and relative
minor to easily tackle Major Pentatonic.
For every major key there is a relative minor key with exactly the same notes. We will use this
to help find where these major Pentatonic scales “live” on the fretboard. Minor Pentatonic is
the relative minor of Major Pentatonic and lives a minor 3rd, or three frets away, below the
Major Pentatonic. Refer to the handout on the circle of fifths on page 98 for a complete listing
of every major key and its relative minor key.
KEY POINT: For every major key there is a relative minor key with exactly
the same notes.