I have an Eastman Mandocaster that just arrived this afternoon. Can’t wait to get home and play it!
Discuss the Mandolin lesson: Introduction to Pentatonic Scales
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Thanks for explaining the Pentatonic Scale. Even though I’m not a mandolin player, I was eager to watch this because I had tons of questions concerning the Pentatonic Scale. This answered some of my questions, but I still have a few,
- Whats wrong with the 4th and 7th tones that cause them to be excluded?
- Can you truly play ANY combination of notes from the Pentatonic Scale over any of the 7 tonic chords in a particular key and it sound good?
- This question really doesn’t relate to this lesson…What makes a lick work over a particular chord, are there rules that govern this? I. E. to play a lick over a G chord does the lick need to start or end on a G? I’m not talking about using the Pentatonic scale here, but just the regular major scale.
Anyone’s answers are appreciated.
Thanks,
Brandon C.
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Nothing really wrong with them and they will work very often. Remember that we don’t want to exclude them from our playing, but there are times when they will just sound out of place. In one of my coming lessons we will begin switching pentatonic scales as the chords change to begin including other notes.
YES! It’s true.
I hate to be wishy washy, but the definition of “work” is going to vary depending on the ear and style of music. What works in jazz will sound like it’s not working in other styles, and so on. However, a lick does not have to start, end, or even include the note of the chord it is played over. As an example, try playing through the G major pentatonic over a G chord, but leave out the G notes in the scale. Make up a lick with the notes A, B, D, and E. It will sound great! However, you will have more difficulty making it sound like you’re finished, if that makes sense.
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I’m still a little confused on how you go about picking which notes to play over a particular chord. Pretend a song has a chord progression of G - C - D and I want to play straight eighth note licks over each chord using the major scale. Would I simply try to play notes that are closest to the chord? Example for a G chord: Use notes E F# G A B
Example for a C chord: Use notes A B C D E
Example for a D chord B C D E F#
I know that you can play any note as long as it sound good, but is this a logical starting point? I’m sorry that I getting away from the Pentatonic discussion.
It really depends on the song. I may be told I’m wrong here, but I think in general, if the song is just straight major chords, say in G, then you play the G scale when in G, the C scale when in C, and the D scale when in D.
But that’s the beauty of playing the pentatonic scale. You can lay down the same notes over the entire song no matter which key you’re in at the moment and it sounds right.
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Thanks Mark that was my next question. I was unsure if you can change between major scales when the chords change. So when it changes to a C you would play F instead of F#, and when it changes to D you would play C# instead of C? I guess maybe that’s why so many people stick to the pentatonic.
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You got it. To take it even 1 step further, that’s why playing G7 is a perfect transition chord to C. The F in the G7 chord isn’t part of the G major scale, but it IS the 4th note in the C scale, so you’re literally walking down from 5 (G note and G chord) to 4 (F note of the G7 chord) to 3 (the E note of the C chord C-E-G.)
Sounds like you have your head wrapped around it better than you think. 
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Mark, the light bulb just came on! Thanks so much.
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One other thing that I just realized is that since the Pentatonic scale excludes the 4th and 7th tones you dont have to worry about playing the F in lieu of F# when playing over a C chord or playing a C# in lieu of a C when playing over the D chord.
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Yep, that’s why the major 7th tone (F# in G) is not included in the pentatonic.
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It’s absolutely amazing that people were smart enough to figure all this out to begin with. My theory continues to be proven that: The smartest people who ever lived were Adam and Eve, and we have been getting dumber ever since . 
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Awesome! Seems like you get the same excitement out of putting the puzzle pieces together as I do. Theory is so much fun. 
Yeah a guy told me about 5 years ago that if I would learn theory I would be a much better player. While I still cant always get my stubby fingers to do what I want them to, at least I know what I want them to do.
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Thank you so much or bring this to my attention. I have been struggling with these scales, and didn’t find your lesson until now. I have been working on them for a week now, and am having fun using the C and G scales for noodling over a few of my tunes and having fun.
Jan Dufseth
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Awesome, I don’t play the mandolin but I have been looking to increase my musical IQ. Now, when can we get some pentatonic work for the banjo? The ability to noodle, improvise, and single string on banjo via the pentatonic has always been something I’ve been interested in learning.
Cheers!
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The famous ‘blues-scale’ is another neat scale. Blues scale = Root-Flat 3rd, 4th, Flat 5th, 5th, Flat 7th (or in the key of C would be C,Eb,F,F#,G,Bb,C). I got tons of mileage out of this scale in college jazz band on my trumpet as it can be used over all chords in a standard 12-bar blues progression and make you instantly sound like a Pro. A key component of the blues-scale, is the so-called “blue notes” which is the flat-3rd, flat-5th, flat-7th. These “blue-notes” somewhat defy description, as they are lower than what the ear is expecting as the musician plays on them, perhaps resolving up a ½ step. I’m not sure how well the blues-scale translates to bluegrass. Certainly for 12-bar blues, but……….will have to experiment!
Key-Point to remember: It’s never a wrong note, you’re just resolving up (or down) to the right note!
That’s good stuff Neil. Just like where Alan Munde said on Fretboard Geography. “It’s not what you do getting there, it’s where you stop”. (Or words to that effect).
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So, if you land on a wrong note, just move up half a step, really fast, and you’ve resolved it…Eureka!
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@BanjoBen please do some videos like this for Banjo - Major/Minor, Pentatonic, Bluegrass, and Blues scales for closed positions with single string style.
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This lesson is hurting my brain. In a good way. I’ve watched the first 3-4 videos of this lesson several times and keep doing the exercises over and over again, trying to cram the info into my brain. So much to learn! Thank you. Just learning mandolin after playing guitar for 25 years. I’m hooked. And my fingers hurt!
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