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#16
12-14-2012, 09:20 AM
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I appreciate the help folks!!!!
After three days of just reading and trying to understand scales, note, etc...I finally started an online scale practice with Justin Sandercoe. I have used his stuff since I started playing four years ago. At 50, I'm excited to learn "music" instead of just playing chords and fingerstyle by following tab...I can see where this education can take me allowing one to improvise... I started with the minor pentatonic scale...played it in A, G, and then B. Simple enough. I intend to get good at fingering this then go on to the other four patterns. I also am learning the notes on the fret board and have C, B, D down...onto F,E,G next week. One I get a better understanding through reading and practice, I plan to sit down with a teacher one-on-one again to continue learning. Again, I appreciate the help for those in the know. 
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#17
12-14-2012, 11:46 AM
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One thing to consider:
If you are starting by learning the minor pentatonic scale, The key of E is best to learn first. You will learn the base box or box one and build up to box five at which ends at the 12th fret (at which point the pattern repeats one octave higher) and you will be able to see the entire fretboard and how the boxes fit together. Then all this info can be transferred to any key. When learning the E minor pentatonic scale you have also learned the G major pentatonic. Play the same E minor scale but instead of playing it against the E chord play Against the G chord which is three half steps up. Have fun, Blues
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#18
12-14-2012, 12:38 PM
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Thanks BluesBelly...
To clarify, I should start with the five patterns/positions shown below... learn these, and the notes I'm playing? I already see where the overlaps between positions exist...I'm excited to work this into my everyday play for many months to come. (see they show the 12th fret for position 1?, I know playing open at the nut is equivalent., wonder why they did it this way?). 
Last edited by GB...; 12-14-2012 at 02:36 PM.
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#19
12-14-2012, 04:54 PM
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Exactly. The black notes on your diagram are the root or tonic notes. In the Key of E the black notes are E etc. So start at the nut or where your diagram says position one and go from there. Once again the E minor is the best way to learn because you start at the nut and end at fret 12 with all five patterns in order from one at the nut to five at the 12th fret and this pattern is repeating so that is why they show 12 where the nut is. If your fret board was a mile long this pattern would continue to repeat every 12 frets each repeat represents a change of one octave.
Here are some useful sites: http://jguitar.com/scale/e/minor%20pentatonic http://12bar.de/scale_generator.php http://guitar.about.com/od/specificl...tonicscale.htm Keep after it, Blues Last edited by BluesBelly; 12-14-2012 at 05:02 PM.
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#20
12-14-2012, 05:09 PM
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Quote:
BTW - noticed your from MN...I was born in Fergus Falls, and lived in Wheaton til the ripe old age of three where I decided to move to Oregon...Still have many relatives back there...and still eat lefsa and potato sausage every Christmas!
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#21
12-15-2012, 02:19 AM
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Just out of curiosity, are you using alternate flatpicking to play these scales? I always introduce alternate picking to my students during the learning of scales, even if their method books don't specify any right-hand technique. The default 'downstroke only' method is something I try to avoid because I think it limits speed in the long run.
Even if you're more of a fingerstylist, I think it's still useful to commit to some sort of consistent right-hand technique. Some use T-M-T-M to mimic the down-up patterns of a flatpick, though I don't think that's particularly common. Others use the 'assign fingers to strings' approach and just play all 6th, 5th and 4th string notes with the thumb; all 3rd string notes with the index; all 2nd string notes with the middle; and all 1st string notes with the ring. But even for a fingerstylist it doesn't hurt to add alternate flatpicking to your arsenal. If you play your scales with a fluid, repeatable right-hand technique, I believe you'll master them faster. And your scales will sound more musical. Maybe you already have this covered, but I just thought I'd bring it up because a lot of scale-oriented instructional material doesn't mention the right hand at all.
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#22
12-15-2012, 09:41 AM
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Quote:
Just had lefsa for lunch yesterday but never, ever, will I eat luetafisk........UFFDA,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Blues
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#23
12-15-2012, 12:14 PM
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Quote:
BTW, in case you don't know, that links with the CAGED system as follows: Position 1 = G Position 2 = E Position 3 = D Position 4 = C Position 5 = A Those are for the relative major chord shapes, because each of those E minor pent patterns is also a G major pent pattern. Although that means different roots, the pent is a closer match than to a major chord on the same root. Eg, it's easier to see a G major chord in position 1 than an E major chord (although of course an Em shape is in there too). (Exercise: mark the relative major pent root on each pattern  , and check the relevant chord shape.)It's true that E minor pent patterns are often used to improvise in the key of E major, but that's an adaptation of the scale pattern principle, derived from blues practice. For position 2, the major shape ("E" form) has roots on fret 3 (the middle finger fret). I often imagine this as an "F" shape for that reason. (Make fret 2 fret 0 and it becomes F major or D minor pent.) Because there are only 3 open position minor chords (Em, Am, Em), you can see minor chord shapes clearly in only 3 patterns: Position 1 = Em Position 2 = Dm (Position 3 = Cm?) Position 4 = Am (Position 5 = Gm?) If the leftmost fret in positions 3 and 5 was zero, then those patterns would give you C minor pent and G minor pent. But we usually play those chords as "Em" or "Am" shape barres higher up. Once you expand these pents into full 7-note scales, then all 7 chords in the key can be seen in each one (although some will be more like arpeggios than easily playable shapes). The chord-shape link is the most useful aspect of the CAGED system.
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#24
12-15-2012, 01:46 PM
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Thanks all...it just keeps getting deeper...I've got a CAGED workshop in Portland today at two.
I am using a pic and alternate picking...up/down. Found a good vid showing the fingering. Last edited by GB...; 12-15-2012 at 02:03 PM.
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#25
12-21-2012, 01:26 PM
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Little update...
Been playing the minor pentatonic scales for about 6 days now. I have the first two of five patterns down pretty good. I can play these in E, G, A, B, C, D although position 2 in D is a stretch on an non-cut acoustic....I'm playing these error free at about 100/115 BPM. Starting to hear some licks in there. Having fun and learning much...
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