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Soloing using the Minor Pentatonic

K

kynoch

Jun 28, 2006
196
0
#1
Hello,

First off I am a self taught bassist.

I have been struggleing with turning my scale theory into solos...I know my scales and I practice them...BUT...whenever I attempt solos....they ALWAYS sound like scale practice....I want to change that....does anybody have any recomendations???

I am also going to ask what may seem like a very obvious question to most of you...but I am gonna ask anyway....The Pentatonic scale (Minor)....thats what seems to work for me when attempting a solo....if the song I am playing is in a major key I would use the major pentatonic right???

As for the minor pentatonic do alot of you guy´s use it alot for solos????.....is it a common scale to use in solos????

Lastly does anybody know any recorded bass solos using the Major and minor pentatonic scales....that I could listen too....and learn from.

Ok thanks for your patience.....any any help you could offer me would be GREATLY appreciated.:bassist::D
 
#2
What fits totally depends on the song and the chord you're playing over. However, major or minor pentatonic does almost always fit, but there are so called "avoid notes" that doesn't sound very good over certain chords. Usually, the fourth over the root of the chord you're playing over doesn't fit in very well (e.g. and F over a C chord) and is the most common "avoid note". It might however work perfectly well in certain situations, e.g. as passing note.

A tip to start playing more melodical solos, sing a solo or a melody and play it, first separately, but try to do it simultaneously as well. This is an excellent way to escape the "play by a pattern" way of theoretical playing.

Then learn the modes, they will give you a wider vocabulary. My favs are dorian and mixolydian and I use them both a lot, probably more than I use the major (ionian) or natural minor (aeolian) scales. Both are the same as the minor and major pentatonic scales with a few notes added that add some extra colour to your playing. Phrygian, Lydian and locrian are also useful to know, but are at least to me more difficult to find use for in the music I play (pop/rock/soul/funk mainly).
 
#3
You need to listen and transcribe other people's solos in order to acquire a vocabulary that won't make your solos sound like scale practice. Major and minor pentatonic scales are widely used because they are simple and effective.

The minor pentatonic scale can be used on a major harmony such as a major blues. Its most common variation is the blues scale, which is a minor pentatonic scale with with added non-diatonic notes (also known as blue notes).

At the end of the day, what's most important is to learn how other people use these scales in context (i.e. harmony). A Good place to start is to listen to blues players (bassists and other instrumentalists alike) and how they use these scales as a framework for their solos.
 
#6
Common problem people sit and run up and down scales and wonder why their playing sounds like scales. Running scale is for technique practice or learning a fingering pattern, but once you have the scale under you finger then its time to work on making music with the scale. I recommend recording the chord and then just sit and play the scale tones against the chord to hear the sound of the intervals in the scale against the chord. Then sit and play patterns and scale fragments and come up with lines and ideas. Get the sound of using the scale against the chord in your ear.

Then I will record a short progression with the chord in it so I can work on getting into the scale and out of it. Helps find/hear good notes for cool half-step resolutions going from one chord to the other.

So once people get a scale under their fingers stop running the scale and start working on making music with it. You will still develop speed with the scale, but in a musical way. That is unless you like to sounding like a scale machine.
 
#7
wow....thanks for the advice I have some SERIOUS homework here....thanks a lot people.

One more thing I would like to listen to some solos...if possible using the pentatonic....just for my ear....to develope ideas etc.

Any suggestions????

I got the Stevie Wonder Track...cool solo....Love the SOUL!!!
 
#8
Can you read rhythm notation? If so, get yourself some copies of already-transcribed solos (any jazz instrument - I like using saxophone solos) and try to play them. I prefer not to solo (good for you for wanting to!) but sometimes attempt it on keyboard - and it really helped to look at the rhythm (it's like finding a groove only, to me, much more complicated).
 
#9
Deacon_Blues said:
Then learn the modes, they will give you a wider vocabulary. My favs are dorian and mixolydian and I use them both a lot, probably more than I use the major (ionian) or natural minor (aeolian) scales. Both are the same as the minor and major pentatonic scales with a few notes added that add some extra colour to your playing. Phrygian, Lydian and locrian are also useful to know, but are at least to me more difficult to find use for in the music I play (pop/rock/soul/funk mainly).
Click to expand...

Ditto! Learn them modes!!!
 
#11
I will never forget the advice my college bass teacher gave me when I left school: "OK, all that you learned- forget it. Now let's play."

Oh yeah, and something my classical music theory teacher told me- the rules came AFTER the music, not the other way around.


IOW, if you think of scales, modes, patterns, guess what- you are not thinking about music. Scales are for fish and wannabes. But you must know at minimum how to play the notes of chords on the bass, including the extensions, and how to extend and substitute. And why.

Begin by listening to any music that catches your ear, and played on any instrument or voice, even if it is just a short phrase. Play it on your bass, and take it apart- play it in different keys. Find out the chord that went with it and try it as a minor or major, whatever the case may be. play it in reverse. Now play a song you already know and work this phrase into it. For pentatonic, Chuck Berry and the Stones and a lot of blues players, will help you far more than know how to play a mode or a scale.
 

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