A learning & practice routine to blend major & minor pentatonics

close2u

Once you have learned the five patterns / shapes of the minor pentatonic scales, you will no doubt find out that you also know the five patterns / shapes of the major pentatonic scales too.  
They are exactly the same, just moved three frets down the neck.
The location of the root note within the patterns shifts of course.
I started out learning how to play the minor and major pentatonics together, blending them, mixing and matching them, switching between them, in improvisations over blues backing tracks.
NOTE –
The major pentatonic does not work over minor blues.

I picked up this really useful practice routine for helping to play the two scales in combination and thought that others would benefit from it too.

To begin, group the patterns together.
Minor pentatonic pattern 1 goes with major pentatonic pattern 1.
Minor pentatonic pattern 2 goes with major pentatonic pattern 2.
Etc …
NOTE –
Major pentatonic pattern 1 is the same shape as minor pentatonic pattern 2.
Major pentatonic 2 is the same shape as minor pentatonic pattern 3.
Etc …

Now, find the lowest available complete pattern available in both minor and major pentatonic scales.
Play the minor pentatonic scale ascending to the highest note of that pattern.
Then play the major pentatonic scale descending to the lowest note of that pattern.
Start to cycle this pattern around so you are playing all of the notes ascending and descending.
Remember to listen for the root notes.
Remember to start and finish on the root notes.
If you can, record a loop of just the major root chord to play this over.
Or, play over a simple backing track with a major 12-bar blues or a major scale chord progression.
Keep listening for the root note.
And keep listening for the different ‘sound flavours’ that the minor and major pentatonic scales give.

Next, move higher up to the next pattern on the neck and practice in the same way.
Then move up again to the next pattern and repeat.
Keep on doing this until you have practiced all available scale pasttern along the entire neck.

close2u

Here is the full scale practice routine for minor pentatonic ascending / major pentatonic descending in the key of G.
The lowest available complete patterns for the minor and major pentatonic scales are positions 5


         G Minor Position 5 ascending            G Major Position 5 descending

e  --||--------------------------------1--3--||--3--0------------------------------------||--
B  --||--------------------------1--3------------------3--0------------------------------||--
G  --||--------------------0--3-------------------------------2--0-----------------------||--
D  --||--------------0--3--------------------------------------------2--0----------------||--
A  --||--------1--3---------------------------------------------------------2--0---------||--
E  --||--1--3---------------------------------------------------------------------3--0---||--



         G Minor Position 1 ascending            G Major Position 1 descending

e  --||--------------------------------3--6--||--5--3------------------------------------||--
B  --||--------------------------3--6------------------5--3------------------------------||--
G  --||--------------------3--5-------------------------------4--2-----------------------||--
D  --||--------------3--5--------------------------------------------5--2----------------||--
A  --||--------3--5---------------------------------------------------------5--2---------||--
E  --||--3--6---------------------------------------------------------------------5--3---||--



         G Minor Position 2 ascending            G Major Position 2 descending

e  --||--------------------------------6--8--||--7--5------------------------------------||--
B  --||--------------------------6--8------------------8--5------------------------------||--
G  --||--------------------5--7-------------------------------7--4-----------------------||--
D  --||--------------5--8--------------------------------------------7--5----------------||--
A  --||--------5--8---------------------------------------------------------7--5---------||--
E  --||--6--8---------------------------------------------------------------------7--5---||--



         G Minor Position 3 ascending            G Major Position 3 descending

e  --||--------------------------------8--10--||--10--7------------------------------------||--
B  --||--------------------------8--11------------------10--8------------------------------||--
G  --||--------------------7--10-------------------------------9--7------------------------||--
D  --||--------------8--10--------------------------------------------9--7-----------------||--
A  --||--------8--10---------------------------------------------------------10--7----------||--
E  --||--8--10---------------------------------------------------------------------10--7----||--



         G Minor Position 4 ascending            G Major Position 4 descending

e  --||--------------------------------10--13--||--12--10------------------------------------||--
B  --||--------------------------11--13------------------12--10------------------------------||--
G  --||--------------------10--12-------------------------------12--9------------------------||--
D  --||--------------10--12--------------------------------------------12--9------------------||--
A  --||--------10--13---------------------------------------------------------12--10----------||--
E  --||--10--13---------------------------------------------------------------------12--10----||--



         G Minor Position 5 ascending            G Major Position 5 descending

e  --||--------------------------------13--15--||--15--12------------------------------------||--
B  --||--------------------------13--15------------------15--12------------------------------||--
G  --||--------------------12--15-------------------------------14--12-----------------------||--
D  --||--------------12--15--------------------------------------------14--12----------------||--
A  --||--------13--15---------------------------------------------------------14--12---------||--
E  --||--13--15---------------------------------------------------------------------15--12---||--



         G Minor Position 1 ascending            G Major Position 1 descending

e  --||--------------------------------15--18--||--17--15------------------------------------||--
B  --||--------------------------15--18------------------17--15------------------------------||--
G  --||--------------------15--17-------------------------------16--14-----------------------||--
D  --||--------------15--17--------------------------------------------17--14----------------||--
A  --||--------15--17---------------------------------------------------------17--14---------||--
E  --||--15--18---------------------------------------------------------------------17--15---||--



         G Minor Position 2 ascending            G Major Position 2 descending

e  --||---------------------------------18—20--||--19--17------------------------------------||--
B  --||---------------------------18--20------------------20--17-----------------------------||--
G  --||---------------------17--19-------------------------------19--16----------------------||--
D  --||--------------17--20--------------------------------------------19--17----------------||--
A  --||--------17--20---------------------------------------------------------19--17---------||--
E  --||--18--20---------------------------------------------------------------------19--17---||--


The next step is to switch the practice around.
Play the major pentatonic scales ascending and the minor pentatonic scales descending.
Practice in the same way as above.

Once you have become proficient at this you should look to make progress in your practice and playing.
Incorporate practice routines that take you out of the ‘boxes’ and play the scales along the neck.
Transpose these routines to other keys.

CeeBee

Thanks for this, have been working on this so will use this from now on.

1979

I’ve just come across this too, thanks for putting the effort into such an informative post @close2u ;

close2u

1979 said:

I’ve just come across this too, thanks for putting the effort into such an informative post @close2u ;

You're welcome. Oh my golly gosh - it's nearly five years ago I wrote this.