In our second section of the course we will be diving deeper into the combination of the minor and major pentatonic scales, and how B.B.King uses them. The main idea behind this theory is that when you are playing over a dominant chord progression (7th chords) you can use both the major and minor pentatonic shapes. The minor pentatonic highlights the flattened 7th in the dominant chord whilst the major pentatonic highlights the major 3rd in the dominant chord.
This is a skill that takes a bit of getting used to, but by gradually building up your knowledge, and using amazing B.B.King licks to support the theory, we’ll have you using this theory in your own soloing in no time. The best way to improve these skills is to try them out in different keys. Click here to check out the Materials Section below to access backing tracks to practice your new licks over some different blues progressions!
We’ll do this whole section in the key of G blues. This means we’ll be finding our G7 chord in 5 positions, then grabbing the G minor pentatonic, followed by the G major pentatonic. NOTE: Try to relate the two shapes to the chord. This will massively help when you come to change the key. The scale diagrams and the lick from the video are here for you too!
The scale diagrams used in this position can be found in the fretboard diagrams, along with the tab. Again, be sure to relate the scales to the chords and look out for the root notes.
The scale diagrams used to build this lick can be found in the fretboard diagrams, along with the tab. Again, be sure to relate the scales to the chords and look out for the root notes.
The scale diagrams used to build this lick can be found in the fretboard diagrams, along with the tab. Again, be sure to relate the scales to the chords and look out for the root notes.
The scale diagrams used to build this lick can be found in the fretboard diagrams, along with the tab. Again, be sure to relate the scales to the chords and look out for the root notes.
Before we move onto the next section, we need to understand that this is a huge amount of work to get through! We would not expect you to go away now and be able to use every single shape in any key. That is our aim, but it will take time. Instead, what we have provided you with is a range of cool blues backing tracks to have a jam overusing this theory. You don’t need to always sound like B.B.King here, all the great blues players use these ideas.
As you start to jam, try to use one position at a time. Find the position by locating the chord, then bring in the major, then minor, then try to blend the two either using the licks we showed you or creating your own. This is great fun and as you learn more blues solos, you’ll start to see this theory in action over and over again!
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