Improvising
in minor keys
There are a total of five basic major/minor pentatonic scale
fingerings to learn, plus a couple of extended forms. In order
for these to be of any use, you will need to know where the roots
of the scale are. These are going to be your guides in deciding
what fret to play a particular fingering. The notes of a major
pentatonic and minor pentatonic are exactly the same. The difference
is how you will use them, and how the notes will sound in relationship
to the key area. If you are playing an A minor pentatonic in the
key of C, your ear is not going to hear the notes you are playing
in relationship to A. Your ear is going to hear C as your root
or home base in the scale.
C
D E G A C -- C Major Pentatonic
A
C D E G A -- A Minor Pentatonic
Try to think about playing a minor pentatonic in a minor key
area, and a major pentatonic in a major key area.
Using the exact same scale fingerings you did in the first exercise,
improvise on 2 measures of Am, then 2 measures of Gm. Even though
you are playing exactly the same notes, they have a different
sound against the minor keys.
A minor
pentatonic
|
G minor
pentatonic
|
Page 1, improvising in major keys
Page 3, pentatonic scale forms
|
