Blues Improvisation

We have seen that the minor pentatonic scale sounds good over the entire blues progression. You can't go wrong. After awhile however the same sounding scale starts to get a little monotonous.

To make your solos sound more interesting and to get more out of the pentatonic scale, let's convert the EXACT SAME SCALE AND FINGERINGS (seen in a previous post) into a major pentatonic scale: The only difference is going to be which note we call (or assign) as the root.

Let's start with the first fingering we saw for the minor pentatonic scale:



The reason why this scale is minor is because the distance from the root, F, to Ab is that of a minor 3rd. (3rds determine if a scale or chord is major or minor. Major 3rds (4 frets) make a scale or chord major and a minor 3rd (3 frets) make it minor.

What happens if instead of our root being F we make it Ab? We now have from Ab to C a major 3rd! (The Bb in between is a 2nd or 9th and does not affect the major or minor quality of a scale or chord)



Compare the two scales BUT, have someone or a computer program play a low F when you play the F minor pentatonic and play an Ab for the major pentatonic. You WILL hear the difference how the exact same notes take on a completely different sound (color or mood) when that low not changes.

So, we can deduce that all the fingerings that are in the previous post are really two scales in one! It all depends on the note that the bass player gives us.

Hemos visto que la escala pentatónica menor suena bien en toda la progresión del blues. No te puedes equivocar. Pero después de varias vueltas de improvisación con la misma escala, empieza a sonar monótono.

Para que tus improvisaciones suenen más interesantes y sacarle más partido a esta escala vamos a convertir la MISMA ESCALA Y DIGITACIONES (vistas en un post anterior) a la escala pentatónica mayor. La única diferencia será a que nota llamemos tónica (root).

Veamos la primera escala que ya vimos de la escala pentatónica menor: (Ver 1er pentagrama de arriba)

La razón por la cual la escala de F pent. menor es menor, es porque la distancia de la tónica F a Ab es de una 3ª menor. Las 3as determinan si una escala o acorde es mayor o menor. 3as mayores (4 trastes) convierten la escala o acorde en mayor y las 3as menores (3 trastes) en menores.

¿Qué ocurre si en lugar de tener a F como tónica la cambiamos a Ab? ¡Ahora tenemos de Ab a C una 3ª mayor! (El Bb que está por medio es una 2ª o 9ª y no afecta la cualidad mayor o menor de la escala o acorde). (Ver 2º pentagrama de arriba)