Pretty basic question about the pentatonic scales

[DumbChild]

I've always been familiar with the pentatonic scales, but not entirely sure of their uses.
(mainly played forms of "classical" music from sheet, so i haven't used them)
I didn't want to sound like an idiot in front my class so i wanted to make sure i had my facts straight.

for example..
So my piece of music is in C major

E minor is the chord currently sounding. So i can use the notes E,G,A,B,D to get the desired effect.

And should the chord following this be G major
I would use G,A,B,D,E

Or should i choose chords that only contain the notes of the pentatonic scale?

What im trying to ask is, is the pentatonic scale mainly played over the top of the " normal chords" within that key/scale. Or should the chords be built around the pentatonic scale?

Did that make any sense -_-?

[Mushroo]

Hi Dumbchild,

First of all, you are correct in that E Minor Pentatonic works great over an E Minor chord, and G Major Pentatonic works great over a G Major chord.

I like to think of pentatonic scales like this. The major or minor scales have 7 different notes, right? So to make it a pentatonic scale, you have to leave out 2 notes. The notes that get left out are the notes that are a half step (1 semitone or 1 fret on the bass) from their neighboring chord tone. For example, a C Major scale has a half step between E (the 3rd of the chord) and F and between B and C (the root), but if you use the C Major Pentatonic scale (CDEGA), eliminating F and B, there are no half steps. Playing an F or B would have a strong "pull" or "tug" towards the chord tone. By eliminating those two notes, the scale has a much more "open" and "inside" sound, so you can jam and noodle over that scale all night long.

So that was part 1. Part 2 is, how do you apply this to a song with changing chords. And the answer is not so simple. The easy approach is this: If all the chords are "normal" (diatonic to the key, like a G-Emin-C-D progression), you can just use the "parent" pentatonic scale (G Major Pentatonic) to solo and sound pretty good (like a beginner/intermediate rock or blues guitarist). The other approach is to play different notes over different chords to outline the chord changes. (for example, G Maj Pent, E min Pent, C Maj Pent, D Maj Pent) This latter approach is definitely what I would recommend for a bass line (as opposed to a solo) because it outlines the chord changes.

Hope that helps clear things up!

[kesslari]

then, for soloing, it gets more complicated.
you have tons of choices.
Over a Maj7 chord you can start a major pentatonic on the 2 or the 5 (play A major penta or D maj penta over G). And it sounds pretty hip.
starting on the 2, for example, gives you the 9, 3, #11, 6, 7 of the G...
You can figure out the rest.

[mambo4]

Originally Posted by Mushroo

. The notes that get left out are the notes that are a half step (1 semitone or 1 fret on the bass) from their neighboring chord tone.

I never thought of it that way...light bulb moment! It also explains why Pentatonic scales rarely clash with harmony : no half step intervals to do the clashing.

[DumbChild]

Originally Posted by Mushroo

Hi Dumbchild,

First of all, you are correct in that E Minor Pentatonic works great over an E Minor chord, and G Major Pentatonic works great over a G Major chord.

I like to think of pentatonic scales like this. The major or minor scales have 7 different notes, right? So to make it a pentatonic scale, you have to leave out 2 notes. The notes that get left out are the notes that are a half step (1 semitone or 1 fret on the bass) from their neighboring chord tone. For example, a C Major scale has a half step between E (the 3rd of the chord) and F and between B and C (the root), but if you use the C Major Pentatonic scale (CDEGA), eliminating F and B, there are no half steps. Playing an F or B would have a strong "pull" or "tug" towards the chord tone. By eliminating those two notes, the scale has a much more "open" and "inside" sound, so you can jam and noodle over that scale all night long.

So that was part 1. Part 2 is, how do you apply this to a song with changing chords. And the answer is not so simple. The easy approach is this: If all the chords are "normal" (diatonic to the key, like a G-Emin-C-D progression), you can just use the "parent" pentatonic scale (G Major Pentatonic) to solo and sound pretty good (like a beginner/intermediate rock or blues guitarist). The other approach is to play different notes over different chords to outline the chord changes. (for example, G Maj Pent, E min Pent, C Maj Pent, D Maj Pent) This latter approach is definitely what I would recommend for a bass line (as opposed to a solo) because it outlines the chord changes.

Hope that helps clear things up!

Ah, thank you! That answered every question i had about it, i appreciate your response