About a month ago, I posted a lesson on how to play pentatonic scales. If you’re not familiar with the major pentatonic scale, it may be a good idea to check out that lesson first… then return here to learn its minor counterpart.
As you learned in that post, this scale is called “pentatonic” because it has 5 notes. “Penta” is an ancient Greek prefix meaning “five.”
We unraveled the numerical names for other scales too…
Hexatonic = 6-note scale (example: “blues” scale)
Heptatonic = 7-note scale (example: “major” or “minor” scale)
Octatonic = 8-note scale (example: “diminished” scale)
In this lesson, I want to take it a step further and show you one easy shortcut you can implement to also learn all your minor pentatonic scales. Yes, minor!
The thing about minor stuff is that there’s always a relative major key you can piggy back on.
Let me explain…
Just like you learned in this prior lesson, every major key has a relative minor key. This relative minor key pretty much shares EVERYTHING with this major key. They share the same notes in their scales (except you just start and end on different notes). They even share the same chords.
The secret is the 6th tone (this is nothing new… all of those past lessons I’ve linked to above cover this). To find the relative minor of any major key, you just go to the 6th tone. If you play the SAME EXACT major scale starting and ending on the 6th tone, there’s your minor scale! So if I basically play the C major scale, starting and ending on “A” instead of “C,” I’ll be playing an “A minor” scale. It’s as simple as that.
Well, the pentatonic scale works the same exact way! No joke!
Recall from my past lesson how to play a pentatonic scale…
You just play a major scale without the 4th and 7th tones.
That leaves you with:
1 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 6
In the key of C major, that’s:
C D E G A
1 2 3 5 6
Repeated, it looks like this:
C D E G A C D E G A C D E G A C D E G A C D E G A
or
1 2 3 5 6 1 2 3 5 6 1 2 3 5 6 1 2 3 5 6 1 2 3 5 6
So, to play the minor pentatonic, you don’t change the notes you play (just like you don’t change the notes of the major scale when you play its relative minor scale). You just change your starting and ending points.
C D E G A C D E G [A C D E G] A C D E G A C D E G A C D E G A
1 2 3 5 6 1 2 3 5 [6 1 2 3 5] 6 1 2 3 5 6 1 2 3 5 6 1 2 3 5 6
So the “A minor pentatonic” scale is:
A C D E G
Repeated, it looks like this:
A C D E G A C D E G A…
So that you can see another one at work, here’s the “Eb major pentatonic” scale:
Eb F G Bb C
Here it is repeated:
Eb F G Bb C Eb F G Bb C Eb F G Bb C
Since “C” is the 6th tone and therefore the relative minor of “Eb,” let’s play the C minor pentatonic scale from the same notes above.
C minor pentatonic
C Eb F G Bb
C minor pentatonic (repeated)
C Eb F G Bb C Eb F G Bb C Eb F G Bb
Doesn’t that look like something to you?
YES YES YES!
The minor pentatonic scale is basically the blues scale with one missing note!
For example, the C blues scale is:
C Eb F Gb G Bb C
Versus the C minor pentatonic:
C Eb F G Bb C
*Note the flat 5th note in the blues scale example. That’s the only difference between a minor pentatonic scale and the blues scale.
So if you know your regular pentatonic scales, you know your minor pentatonic scales… and if you know your minor pentatonic scales, you know your blues scales!
Do you see these patterns? Once you start recognizing these systems and shortcuts, less and less of it will be memorization and more will be just understanding how to do something else from something that you already know… on the spot!
That’s the key! And that’s why the 300-pg home study course is so powerful. You learn the underlying systems, patterns, and shortcuts… not just memorization.
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Until next time —
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Related posts:
- The easiest way to remember minor scales!
- “Minor and Blues Scales” Crash Course
- The secret to playing harmonic minor scales
- How to play a pentatonic scale
- What’s Scales Got To Do With It?
- Here’s a method that’s helping beginners play in minor keys overnight
- What everybody ought to know about melodic minor scales
October 6th, 2008 (comment#1)
C major scale:
C D E F G A B C
A minor scale (relative minor, same notes)
A B C D E F G A
C major pentatonic:
C D E G A C
A minor pentatonic (relative minor, same notes):
A C D E G A
October 6th, 2008 (comment#2)
Who will be number two? I’ve started it off. Use my format if you can…
October 6th, 2008 (comment#3)
Bb major scale
Bb C D Eb F G A Bb
G minor scale
G A Bb C D Eb F G
Bb major pentatonic
Bb C D F G Bb
G minor pentatonic
G Bb C D F G
I THINK THIS IS RIGHT? AWESOME POST!!!
THE 300 pg COURSE IS A MUST HAVE FOR EVERYMUSICIAN WHO WANTS TO LEARN HIS CRAFT.
“HI I’M BRIAN ‘TRUMUSIC1SOUL’ POWELL, AND I ENDORSE THIS MESSAGE!!!” ;)
October 6th, 2008 (comment#4)
@Bryan: Lol, thanks for endorsing the message!
October 6th, 2008 (comment#5)
F major scale
F G A Bb C D E F
D minor scale
D E F G A Bb C D
F major pentatonic
F G A C D F
D minor pentatonic
D F G A C D
October 6th, 2008 (comment#6)
@Chawk: Right on! Thanks for adding the third set of scales.
9 mo’ to go!
October 6th, 2008 (comment#7)
@Bryan @Chawk: By the way, did you guys already know the major and minor pentatonic or are you using the shortcuts above to figure them out? Just curious…
October 6th, 2008 (comment#8)
All of it and some :) I look at your post then I go to the major key i want to use and work with it from there. So far you explain yourself really clear to what you’re trying to get over to us.:) By the way my real name Carolyn.
October 6th, 2008 (comment#9)
could you check out your post on play scales with major seventh chords. I wrote a comment. I’m not getting.
October 6th, 2008 (comment#10)
@Chawk (Carolyn): That’s what I wanna hear! :)
October 6th, 2008 (comment#11)
USING THE SHORTCUTS…LOOKING FORWARD TO INCORPORATING INTO THE ARSENAL!!!
October 7th, 2008 (comment#12)
Thanks again for the enlightment. I’ll try D
D Major scale
D E F# G A B C# D
B Minor scale
B C# D E F# G A B
D Major Pentatonic
D E F# A B D
B Minor Pentatonic
B D E F# A B
Hope i got it coz i was getting a little confused. At first i was trying to get the minor pentatonic from the minor scale but i think i am now on track.
October 7th, 2008 (comment#13)
@Eresmas: You’re right on track! Those were perfect.
(Note: No, you always, ALWAYS get “anything minor” from it’s relative major. In other words, C major and C minor aren’t connected in the the shortcut matter that I’m explaining. To do the shortcut, C major always pairs with “A minor.” If you, however, wanted to find the C minor pentatonic after figuring out what the simple C major pentatonic was, you’d have to pair C minor with Eb major and then go from there.)
I can see how you’d be confused at first. But you seemed to overcome that! Great work!
October 7th, 2008 (comment#14)
I’ll try Eb
Eb Major Scale
Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb
C Minor Scale
C D Eb F G Ab BbC
Eb Major Pentatonic
Eb F G Bb C
C Minor Pentatonic
C Eb F G Bb C
October 7th, 2008 (comment#15)
Hope these are all correct. This method just seems too easy. Makes you want to try even more. Here are two more:
Ab Major Scale
Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Ab
F Minor Scale
F G Ab Bb C Db Eb F
Ab Major Pentatonic
Ab Bb C Eb F Ab
F Minor Pentatonic
F Ab Bb C Eb F
———————————–
G Major Scale
G A B C D E F# G
E minor scale
E F# G A B C D E
G major pentatonic
G A B D E G
E minor pentatonic
E G A B D E
October 7th, 2008 (comment#16)
Sorry about the spacing. When I typed, there was a wide space in between the scales. When I submitted, the spacing was not there which is making this post a litte confusing. This was my first time posting a comment and did not realize that the format would not space accordingly. Once again, I apologize for the spacing (two scales together). I am really trying to grasp theory and wanted to give this a shot to see if I was catching on.
October 7th, 2008 (comment#17)
@Barbara! You’re Eb / Cminor is all correct!
(I like your comment about this being “too” easy. Lol, that’s what I aim to do. Make it so easy that it seems unreal. So when I say “shortcuts,” I really mean shortcuts… LOL.
October 7th, 2008 (comment#18)
@barbara: I also fixed your other comment. IT should be more clear now.
October 7th, 2008 (comment#19)
E major scale:
E F# G# A B C# D# E
C# minor scale:
C# D# E F# G# A B C#
E major pentatonic
E F# G# B C# E
C# minor pentatonic
C# E F# G# B C#
October 7th, 2008 (comment#20)
@Laketa! You’re back!
Perfect!
So that’s 8 submissions already.
I challenged us to do this in less than a day or so. we’re closing in on it.
Just need 4 more. I know a lot of people see this page… don’t be scared!
October 23rd, 2008 (comment#21)
A major scale
A B C# D E F# G# A
F# minor scale
F# G# A B C# D E F#
A major pentatonic
A B C# E F# A
F# minor pentatonic
F# A B C# E F#
October 16th, 2009 (comment#22)
B Major Scale
B C# D# E F# G# A# B
G# Minor Scale
G# A# B C# D# E F# G#
B Major Pentatonic
B C# D# F# G# B
G# Minor Pentatonic
G# B C# D# F# G#
Bringing back an old post haha hope this is right