Playing Changes- mixing major and minor pentatonics.

octatonic

I thought people might appreciate seeing this video.
It is a pretty good break down of finding a way to navigate blues changes using a mixture of major and minor pentatonics.
The neck diagram with the major and minor pentatonic overlaid is particularly good- this is how I think of the scales- i.e. both at the same time.

Hope it helps.

close2u

Good stuff @octatonic

It made me think of something I wrote a long time ago.
I'll share it here if that's alright.
I hope it can be useful for someone.

close2u

A Learning & Practice Routine to Blend Minor & Major Pentatonic Scales

Once you have learned the five positions / shapes of the minor pentatonic scales, you will no doubt find out that you also know the five positions / 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 have recently 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.


To begin, group the position shapes together.
Minor pentatonic position 1 goes with major pentatonic position 1.
Minor pentatonic position 2 goes with major pentatonic position 2.
Etc …
NOTE –
Major pentatonic position 1 is the same shape as minor pentatonic position 2.
Major pentatonic 2 is the same shape as minor pentatonic position 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 position.
Then play the major pentatonic scale descending to the lowest note of that position.
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.
Use scale practice routines: 3-in-a-line; 4-in-a-line; random direction change; string skipping etc.
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 position on the neck and practice in the same way.
Then move up again to the next position and repeat.
Keep on doing this until you have practiced all available scale positions 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.

viz

Another thing you can try if you're interested is the 'other' set of pentatonic scales. There are a total of 10 pentatonics made up purely of tones and minor 3rds. 5 belong to the family that comprises the major pentatonic and its 4 modes (Egyptian suspended, Man Gong, Ritsusen and the good old Minor Pentatonic). The other 5 are more difficult to play as the two minor 3rds are stacked, but are no less interesting for that. I call these 5 scales the Dorian pentatonic, Lydian pentatonic, Mixolydian pentatonic, Aeolian pentatonic and Locrian pentatonic. 

Try some of them over any of the I IV V chords. 

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab217/Vizzage/Mobile Uploads/image_zps5cpfy9mr.png