Quick question, trying to improve my blues soloing and decided to take it key by key.
So, working on “A” and I was wondering a few things…
I know you can mix the “A” Minor pentatonic with “A” Major pentatonic when playing the blues (hope this is right), but can you mix the A minor with it’s relative key C Major in blues playing as well? Or is it better to just mix the major and minor pentatonic when playing blues?
So I can use the following keys from A Major and A Minor Pent. to play solo’s etc. over a Blues backing track in A?
A B C C# D E F# G
A major part of finding your own voice on the instrument is to try things. Experimentation is highly recommended. You don’t need to ask for permission. Will it work? See if you can make it work. Why does it work or not work? Personally I could care less about the why. Does it sound good, interesting, or fresh? That’s all that matters. Some one who cares about the why will most likely weigh in (in great detail).
If you are asking if you could use the C Major Pentatonic as well as the A Minor Pentatonic scale for blues in A, the answer is, “well, they both have the exact same notes, so YES!”
The C Major scale and the A Minor scale also have the exact same notes, so, if you like the sound of the non-pentatonic notes of the A minor scale over an A blues, you’ll like the sound of the non-pentatonic notes of the C Major scale over an A blues.
Remember, the only difference between a Major/Minor scale and its relative Minor/Major scale is the definition of the intervals and the root. The actual notes are the same.
This could be said of all the modes but it’s not very accurate.
The biggest difference between Major/minor/Modes is tonal center and the chord it’s being played over.
I’m assuming you mean Notes note Keys.
Yes you can use any of those note and the Eb this is the Flat 5 or blue note.
You can play the A minor pentatonic over an entire A blues, but the A major pentatonic will only work over the 1 chord; it won’t sound good over the 4 and 5 chords. For those you need to go back to minor pentatonic.
Or you can chase the chords. For example, in the A blues you can play A minor or major over the 1, D minor or major over the 4, and E minor or major over the 5.
Thank you the replies.
Just watched a video and the gentleman said the following:
If you are playing a blues song in e.g. Am (using A minor Pent.) you cannot add the A Major Pent. notes but if the song is in e.g. A Major (using A Major Pent.), you can add (blend) the Minor Pent. keys - Is this correct?
Minor Pent. - sad voicing
Major Pent. - happy voicing
If the above statement is correct:
I think for the moment, I’ll stick just to the Major and Minor Pent and not use the Major Scale just yet: so basically master using just either the Major or Minor and then blend the two if in a Major key so as not to overwhelm myself.
Technically, a “blues”, usually referring to a twelve-bar blues, is not in any recognized key. There is no key that uses dominant 7th chords for the 1, 4, and 5 chords. We refer to a blues that uses A7, D7, and E7 (or their counterparts like 9 or 11 chords) as being in A for convenience and mutual understanding.
It’s not correct to say you can’t use A major pentatonic in an A blues. You can certainly use it over the 1 (A7) chord. You just can’t use it over the 4 or 5.
Now, a minor blues (like “The Thrill is Gone,” or “Help the Poor”) will not work with major pentatonic, but that’s a different subject.
Found this video by Justin which discusses mixing Major and Minor Pentatonic.
He explained it very well and in a nutshell says the following…
Std 12 bar blues… AAAA DD AA EDAE
Over the first 4 bars of A can use Major and then the rest in Minor or use Major in AA as well then use Minor on last 4 bars. As long as you hear the changes…
BUT…
You can also play over minor Pentatonic but over the DD play D Major Pentatonic…
Watch the video, very interesting…
As @CT noted, experiment; but Am/C are the same notes, just with a different tonal focus.
Generally, minor over minor and major. Major over major.
More importantly though, you’ve discovered something which I have found is much more important and useful; I just call it the Blues note palette;
ie 1,2,b3,3,4,b5,5,6,b7
Gives you choice and scope to experiment anywhere in any type of progression, giving minor/ major flavours to suit.
eg. PIck a major flavour on the I, switch to minor on the IV and V. etc…
And it segues beautifully into more chord based Blues soloing, so you can move between the two.
Eg. pentatonic on the I, chord based on the IV and V, flip a coin on the turnaround.
Endless possibilities.
