What Scales Fit Where...

I just did a twitter request to decide what to do for the subscriber only lesson this month and "samsh" suggested that I write about the scales that you can use over a 12 Bar Blues chord sequence. So I'm going to do a little bit on that. I will base the o tions on the standard rogression in the !ey of "# "$ %I& '$ %I(& )$ %(& Scale * tions +here are quite a few different o tions when laying over a blues, many of which I discuss in detail as art of my Blues -ead .uitar course, so I'm not going to re eat too much of that here, but will mention the to ics anyhow. But there are two main ways of loo!ing a a blues, The Key and The Changes, and both of these methods require very different thin!ing. If you choose to thin! about +he /ey, you will lay just one scale for the whole solo, and this is the best a a beginner layer and should be mastered before moving onto any other a roach. roach for '$ %I(& '$ %I(& '$ %I(& 12 Bar Blues Sequence "$ %I& "$ %I& "$ %I& "$ %I& "$ %I& )$ %(&

If you choose to thin! about +he 0hanges, then you will thin! about each chord individually, which will greatly e1 land your o tion and allow you to use substitutions, altered harmony and all sorts of cool tric!s. But the further you move away from basic harmonies the more "ja22y" you blues will sound. +hat can be both good or bad, de ending on what you want to hear33 +he /ey If you are laying a blues, the easiest way to a roach im rovising is to just thin! of the !ey and lay your scale and just go for it3 4y Blues -ead .uitar 0ourse covers how to use these in all 5 ositions. 6ou need to learn lic!s of course, but these scales are the foundation for all blues laying, but articularly +he 4inor 7entatonic. +here are a few different o tions though# Minor Pentatonic +his is the easiest and most common scale to lay over a blues. 4any traditional layers will use nothing but notes from this scale and lay awesome solos3 8ot to be dismissed for being too easy, it sounds great when you use it right3 Blues Scale +he Blues Scale adds just one note %the b5, the note )b in the !ey of "& to the 4inor 7entatonic and this one note wor!s well over all the changes, though it must be used with caution, sto ing on it on on either the I( or ( chord will usually sound a bit rubbish. The Dorian Mode +he 'orian 4ode contains all the notes from the 4inor 7antatonic and adds two notes, the 9th and the :th %notes ;< and B in the !ey of "&. +hese added notes sound great over all the chords and so this is a very o ular choice to add some fun!y sounds to your blues laying without having to worry about +he 0hanges3 +he 0hanges "fter a while it is li!ely that you will tire of laying the one scale for a whole blues sequence and you might li!e to e1 lore some other o tions, and this is what I will e1 lain to you a bit here. I will ut them in an order too = because some are a lot easier than others and you don't want to try starting with the hard ones3 "4a!ing the changes" is about treating each chord individually, and it can get quite difficult because you will be changing the notes you have to choose from with every chord change3 A reggios +he best lace to start "ma!ing the changes" because they have less notes than scales do. 6ou will lay the ar eggio that relates to each chord. So when the band is laying "$, you will use notes from the "$ ar eggio. >hen the band moves to the '$ chord you will change what notes you are using to notes from the '$ ar eggio. Sound tough? >ell it is3 I really struggled with this idea when I first started, but it's not too bad once you get the hang of it, but you will have to learn your ar eggios very well. I tal! about how you should learn to do this in the @a22 A 6our Blues series. 6ou just have to ta!e it slow. It's a -*+ easier than wor!ing on the scale a roach... Mi!olydian "Mi!o# Mode So once you have mastered "ma!ing the changes" with the ar eggios then you might li!e to start using the full scales. Bemember the $th ar eggios have C notes, and the scales have $ notes. +hose added D notes are the ones that are hardest to use right, and without having your ear switched on you will robably just ma!e them sound well strange3 *ver the "$ chord, you would lay the " 4i1olydian 4ode %7arent 4ajor Scale of ' 4ajor&. *ver the '$ chord you would lay ' 4i1olydian %7arent 4ajor Scale of . 4ajor& and over the )$ chord you would lay the ) 4i1olydian

4ode %7arent 4ajor Scale of " 4ajor&. It's not that easy until you realise that each of the major scales only changes a note or two at the most... chec! this out %it was a revelation to me3& 0hord "$ '$ )$ Scale " 4i1olydian ' 4i1olydian ) 4i1olydian 8otes in scale A B 0< D $ F% $ F% .< D . A $ A B F% B 0< . 0 D

>hat I have done is made all the common notes bold... see how many of them are common3 " 4i1o to ' 4i1o there is only one note change and ' 4i1o to ) 4i1o is only ne note change as well. >hy is this im ortant? >ell for two reasons. *ne# if you are struggling to do this then you !now all the "common tones" that you can lay for the whole thing and not hit a bad note. +wo# if you want to "ma!e the changes" then the "not bold" notes are obviously the most im ortant because they are the ones that will signify the change3 +his is not an easy to ic to get your head around, but if you ta!e my advice and start by learning to ma!e changes with ar eggios first then it will be a whole lot easier. +he other thing to wor! on is just to ta!e two chrds at a time, say "$ to '$, and record a bac!ing trac! that just goes between these two chords %or chec! out the jam trac! on Beally Aseful 7lay "long +rac!s& and then wor! on getting that one change right before moving on. It will ta!e quite a lot of wor!, but it's fun and well worth the effort. Ma&or Pentatonic +he other common scale to use is the 4ajor 7entatonic scale starting from the root of each chord. So for the the "$ lay " 4ajor 7entatonic, the '$ lay ' 4ajor 7entatonic and the )$ lay ) 4ajor 7entatonic. +his can sound retty fun!y too, and you will be ma!ing changes and it should sound hi . 4odern Blues layers use this ty e of tric! and it sounds retty cool. )asier than using the 4i1o 4odes and sounds a bit more traditional, but you still ma!e the changes. .uys li!e "lbert /ing and BB use these scales a lot to great effect. Blending Scales +he most im ortant thing to remember though is that all this is about ma!ing musicv, and the great layers are not thin!ing much, they are feeling. -earning about new flavours is really good fun, but don't forget to really listen to them and try and wor! on them until they start to come out naturally and you don't have to thin! about them any more3 >hat you want to aim for long term is to be able to lay a mi1ture of scales in +he /ey, and then move into laying +he 0hanges for a bit and moving between them all effortlessly and fluently. 4a!e music out of it all. )1ress yourself. +ry not to get too hung u on what you should be laying and try and feel it. I ho e that has given you some food for thought E&

B'()2* + Blues 'ead ,uitar %1* ( The Dorian A

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+he 'orian 4ode introduces two very cool notes that we can add to our minor entatonic scales to get some hi sounds. 'on't worry too much about all the .ree! %the 4odal names, li!e 'orian& there is no real need for you to understand all that if you just want to lay the blues3 ;or those that are interested = +he 'orian 4ode is the second mode of the 4ajor Scale. So the 'orian 4ode is in fact a 4ajor Scale but has the tonal centre on the second degree of the scale. In this case we are loo!ing at the " 'orian 4ode, and the 7arent 4ajor Scale %74S& is . 4ajor. So . 4ajor and " 'orian 4ode have the same notes3 )nough about that... more on 4odes coming soon. So when we loo! at the notes in the " 'orian 4ode %" B 0 ' ) ;< .& and the " 4inor 7entatonic %" 0 ' ) .& we see that the 'orian 4ode has two e1tra notes B and ;<. In +he !ey of ", +he note B is the :th %can also be called the 2nd& and the ;< is the 9th %can also be called te 1Dth&. Both these notes sound very cool in the blues. If you want to understand the theory behind the 4odes = chec! out the +heory boo! in my Becommended section3 0hec! out the video first this time and chec! out the way to use them = @ust thin! of the 'orian notes as being e1tras that you can add to the 4inor 7entatonic and you should be able to get using them retty soon. 6ou will start in the ne1t lesson when we get into laying lic!s3

Ase the lic!s and e1 lore each one = then loo! for your own ideas3

A-())1 + Ma&or .th Ar eggios ;ingering +he fingerings are suggestions = I suggest that you brea! them only if you have a logical reason to. 'on't barre with your fingers = use the ti s3 "r eggio ;ormula -/0/1/. %of +he 4ajor Scale& +his means that you will use the first, third, fifth and seventh degrees of +he 4ajor Scale. +i s for learning ar eggios quic!ly, easily and erfectly F '* I+ S-*>-6 "8' .)+ I+ BI.G+ 'on't ma!e any mista!es. 7lay it C times erfectly at a very slow s eed and you will find you can s eed it u without ma!ing mista!es and develo ing bad habits you will have to correct later. F AS) 6*AB ;I8.)B +I7S 'o not let your fingers "fold", use the ti s the whole time, and definitely 8* barrHs at any oint. )ver. F "->"6S S+"B+ "8' )8' *8 +G) -*>)S+ B**+ 8*+) + his will hel train your ears into hearing the sound of the major scale, very im ortant. So start on the lowest % itched& root note, lay u as far as you can, then go bac! down as low as you can, and then bac! u to the root note. F -)"B8 +G) 7*SI+I*8S %SG"7)S& *8) "+ " +I4) It is very im ortant that you get all five of these ositions down... eventually, but lease start with one at a time = much much better to be able to use one scale sha e and lay a solo than lay five u and down and not be able to do anything with them #&

So what is all this 0".)' stuff? +he 0".)' system a Boot 8otes??? " root note gives the scale it's name. -oo! at any of the scales and ar eggios %and most chords& on this site and you will see an B on some notes. +his is note that gives the scale it's note name. For e!a2 le -oo! at 7osition 1 below and notice that the B is on the 9th string % layed with the second finger&. >hatever note you ut that one becomes the name of the scale. So lace your second finger at the Drd fret and you will lay the . 4ajor $ ar eggio %because the note on the Drd fret of the 9th string is the note .&. 7lace the second finger on the :th fret and you will lay the 0 4ajor $th ar eggio %because the note at the :th fret of the 9th string is the note 0<& +he "r eggio Sha es lies to ar eggios as well as scales and chords3 .et all the information you need about 0".)' at +B=ID1 F +he 0aged System

7osition 1 = ) sha e 7retty straight forward this one... Alternati3es 8one that I !now of. +his is it.

7osition 2 = ' sha e +his can be a little tric!y to lay, es ecially the 2rd string notes, but you will get used to it and it fits the chord sha e well. Alternati3es +he most common alternative is to start with your 2nd finger %on the Cth string& but it leads you to laying almost in the ) Sha e, so I thin! this is the best o tion. 6ou could always e1 eriment yourself and see what you find E&

7osition D = 0 sha e 7retty easy osition. 4a!e sure you don't barre with the first finger, move it across as you go. Alternati3es 8one that I !now of. +his is it.

7osition C = " sha e -ittle bit tric!y on the Drd string, but otherwise an easy sha e. Alternati3es Some eo le leave out the to note on 1st string. Some eo le start with the first finger and stretch out for the ne1t note with the little finger, but it ma!es the notes n the Drd string harder to reach.

7osition 5 = . sha e " little bit stretchy, but not too bad #& Alternati3es +hin! this is it...

A-())2 + Minor .th Ar eggios Al2ost the 2inor entatonic... Gere are the 5 ositions of the 4inor $th "r eggios. +hey are ()B6 similar to the 4inor 7entatonics, so be careful not to get them confused. 8ote that the brac!eted letter is the 0".)' sha e that the ar eggio is derived from. 4a!e sure you ractice laying the related chord, then the ar eggio and then the chord again = you should try and build a relationshi between the two things %the chord and the ar eggio&. ;ingering +he fingerings are suggestions = I suggest that you brea! them only if you have a logical reason to. 'on't barrH with your fingers = use the ti s3 "r eggio ;ormula - / 40 / 1 / 4. %of +he 4ajor Scale& +his means that you will use the first, flat third, fifth and flat seventh degrees of +he 4ajor Scale. +i s for learning ar eggios quic!ly, easily and erfectly F '* I+ S-*>-6 "8' .)+ I+ BI.G+ 'on't ma!e any mista!es. 7lay it C times erfectly at a very slow s eed and you will find you can s eed it u without ma!ing mista!es and develo ing bad habits you will have to correct later. F AS) 6*AB ;I8.)B +I7S 'o not let your fingers "fold", use the ti s the whole time, and definitely 8* barrHs at any oint. )ver. F "->"6S S+"B+ "8' )8' *8 +G) -*>)S+ B**+ 8*+) + his will hel train your ears into hearing the sound of the major scale, very im ortant. So start on the lowest % itched& root note, lay u as far as you can, then go bac! down as low as you can, and then bac! u to the root note.

F -)"B8 +G) 7*SI+I*8S %SG"7)S& *8) "+ " +I4) It is very im ortant that you get all five of these ositions down... eventually, but lease start with one at a time = much much better to be able to use one scale sha e and lay a solo than lay five u and down and not be able to do anything with them #& So what is all this 0".)' stuff? +he 0".)' system a Boot 8otes??? " root note gives the scale it's name. -oo! at any of the scales and ar eggios %and most chords& on this site and you will see an B on some notes. +his is note that gives the scale it's note name. For e!a2 le -oo! at 7oistion 1 below and notice that the B is on the 9th string % layed with the first finger&. >hatever note you ut that one becomes the name of the scale. So lace your first finger at the Drd fret and you will lay the . 4inor $ ar eggio %because the note on the Drd fret of the 9th string is the note .&. 7lace the first finger on the :th fret and you will lay the 0< 4inor $th ar eggio %because the note at the :th fret of the 9th string is the note 0<& +he "r eggio Sha es lies to ar eggios as well as scales and chords3 .et all the information you need about 0".)' at +B=ID1 F +he 0aged System

7osition 1 = ) sha e 7retty straight forward this one... just don't get it confused with the minor entatonic33 Alternati3es 8one that I !now of. +his is it.

7osition 2 = ' sha e 7retty easy one. Alternati3es Sometimes it is layed using the first and third fingers on the thinnest two strings.

7osition D = 0 sha e 4ight seem tric!y at first but it easy enough after a few goes3 Alternati3es 8one that I !now of. +his is it.

7osition C = " sha e 7retty easy one. Alternati3es 8one that I !now of.

7osition 5 = . sha e 8ot too bad #& Alternati3es Some eo le use first and third fingers all the way, u to you3

A-())0 + Do2inant .th Ar eggios ,reat 5or 4lues and &a66 the do2inant .th... Gere are the 5 ositions of the 'ominant $th "r eggios. 8ote that 'ominant ar eggios %li!e chords& are often just written as $ = so if you see a .$ ar eggio then it means that it is a . 'ominant $th ar eggio3 8ote that the brac!eted letter is the 0".)' sha e that the ar eggio is derived from. 4a!e sure you ractice laying the related chord, then the ar eggio and then the chord again = you should try and build a relationshi between the two things %the chord and the ar eggio&. ;ingering +he fingerings are suggestions = I suggest that you brea! them only if you have a logical reason to. 'on't barrH with your fingers = use the ti s3

"r eggio ;ormula - / 0 / 1 / 4. %of +he 4ajor Scale& +his means that you will use the first, third, fifth and flat seventh degrees of +he 4ajor Scale. +i s for learning ar eggios quic!ly, easily and erfectly F '* I+ S-*>-6 "8' .)+ I+ BI.G+ 'on't ma!e any mista!es. 7lay it C times erfectly at a very slow s eed and you will find you can s eed it u without ma!ing mista!es and develo ing bad habits you will have to correct later. F AS) 6*AB ;I8.)B +I7S 'o not let your fingers "fold", use the ti s the whole time, and definitely 8* barrHs at any oint. )ver. F "->"6S S+"B+ "8' )8' *8 +G) -*>)S+ B**+ 8*+) + his will hel train your ears into hearing the sound of the major scale, very im ortant. So start on the lowest % itched& root note, lay u as far as you can, then go bac! down as low as you can, and then bac! u to the root note. F -)"B8 +G) 7*SI+I*8S %SG"7)S& *8) "+ " +I4) It is very im ortant that you get all five of these ositions down... eventually, but lease start with one at a time = much much better to be able to use one scale sha e and lay a solo than lay five u and down and not be able to do anything with them #& So what is all this 0".)' stuff? +he 0".)' system a Boot 8otes??? " root note gives the scale it's name. -oo! at any of the scales and ar eggios %and most chords& on this site and you will see an B on some notes. +his is note that gives the scale it's note name. For e!a2 le -oo! at 7oistion 1 below and notice that the B is on the 9th string % layed with the second finger&. >hatever note you ut that one becomes the name of the scale. So lace your second finger at the Drd fret and you will lay the . 'ominant $ ar eggio %because the note on the Drd fret of the 9th string is the note .&. 7lace the second finger on the :th fret and you will lay the 0 'ominant $th ar eggio %because the note at the :th fret of the 9th string is the note 0<& +he "r eggio Sha es lies to ar eggios as well as scales and chords3 .et all the information you need about 0".)' at +B=ID1 F +he 0aged System

7osition 1 = ) sha e 7retty straight forward this one, bit of stretch on the 1st string, but nothing too hard... 7robably the first one that you should chec! out. Alternati3es 8one that I !now of. +his is it.

7osition 2 = ' sha e +his can be a little tric!y to lay, es ecially the 2rd string notes, but you will get used to it and it fits the chord sha e well. Alternati3es +he most common alternative is to start with your 2nd finger %on the Cth string& but it leads you to laying almost in the ) Sha e, so I thin! this is the best o tion. 6ou could always e1 eriment yourself and see what you find E&

7osition D = 0 sha e 7retty easy osition and is used a lot in blues, so get this one down3 Alternati3es 8one that I !now of. +his is it.

7osition C = " sha e 4a!e sure that you get the roll with the Drd finger, may ta!e a little ractice, but is not too hard. Alternati3es 8one that I !now of.

7osition 5 = . sha e 7retty good one, nothing to note really... Alternati3es +hin! this is it...