Many songs are based on just a handful of chords but they build on them to create elaborate riffs and licks. Just think of Lynrd Skynrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” which is really just 3 chords D C and G. Using these three chords the band created complex layered guitar licks and riffs that helped to make the song a great success.
In this guitar lesson you will learn how to incorporate licks into your rhythm guitar playing and how to create riffs using scales in a particular key. The 2 most commonly used scales on guitar in rock, blues, country and folk music are the major and minor pentatonic scales.
The Pentatonic Scale
The great thing about the major and minor 5 note pentatonic scales is that they use the same notes. For example the G major and E minor pentatonic scales both use the notes G A B D and E. So the scale patterns on the guitar fret board are the same with the E minor pentatonic starting on E and the G major pentatonic starting on G.
So you’re probably wondering how the same notes can be 2 different scales. It’s all about the context that the notes are played in.
If the pentatonic scale using the G A B D and E notes is played in the key of G major over chords such as G C and D it will be G major pentatonic with G being the root note of the scale.
However if it is played in the key of E minor over chords such as E minor, C and B7 it will be E minor pentatonic with E being the root note of the scale.
The examples below show how the same notes sound different over a different set of chords in a different key. They both play a similar lick over two different sets of chord changes in the key of G major then in E minor. You will notice that the major one sounds like country music while the minor one will sound more like the blues.
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G Major Pentatonic Lick | Download Listen to the audio of the G Major Pentatonic Lick. |
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E Minor Pentatonic Lick | Download Listen to the audio of the E Minor Pentatonic Lick. |
So the lesson here is that if you want a happy country music sound use the notes from the major pentatonic scale but if you want a darker blues sound play the minor pentatonic scale.
G Major Pentatonic Song
Here is a country sounding song in the key of G major that combines chord variations with the G major pentatonic scale. These ideas can be reused in most songs playing these chords.
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G Major Pentatonic Song | Download Listen to the audio of the G Major Pentatonic Song. |
E Minor Pentatonic Song
Here is a blues based song in the key of E major that combines chord variations with the E minor pentatonic scale. Note here that while it is in the key of E major it uses the E minor pentatonic scale. This is bending the rules of music which is how the pentatonic scale works in blues music to make it sound darker even though it is in a major key. Again these ideas can be reused in most songs playing these chords.
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E Minor Pentatonic Song | Download Listen to the audio of the E Minor Pentatonic Song. |
Moving The Pentatonic Pattern
This basic pentatonic pattern can also be moved up the neck for other keys. This pattern can be played with bar chords. The root note for the minor shape is played with finger 1 on the 6th string while the root note for the major shape is played with finger 4 on the 6th string. Same notes and pattern for 2 different scales!
A Minor Pentatonic Song
The example here uses the minor pentatonic scale to play blues based licks with the A minor and D7 bar chords.
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A Minor Pentatonic Song | Download Listen to the audio of the A Minor Pentatonic Song. |
A Major Pentatonic Song
While this example uses the A major and F# minor chords to play with the A major pentatonic scale.
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A Major Pentatonic Song | Download Listen to the audio of the A Major Pentatonic Song. |
So in this guitar lesson you learnt how to incorporate licks into your rhythm guitar playing and how to create riffs using scales in a particular key using the major and minor pentatonic scales. Armed with this knowledge see what ideas so can come up with to create lick and riffs for your songs or even cover songs you play.