Hybrid pentatonic scales

[polifemo]

This is nothing "new" but I´ve been messing around with a few "hybrid pentatonic scales" lately.

Playing the 6:th instead of the b7:th in a minor pentatonic scale (1 b3 4 5 6 instead of 1 b3 4 5 b7) is used a lot by Robben Ford.

Doing kind of the opposite - playing the 7:th instead of the 6:th in a major pentatonic scale (1 2 3 5 b7 instead of 1 2 3 5 6) is maybe not that common, but makes a nice sound as well.

Both these scales work well over a dominant chord, giving kind of a "modern blues sound" to it.

Maybe not that "bluesy", but 1 3 4 5 b7 is a fun "hybrid pentatonic" scale as well.

Tell me about your favourite "hybrid pentatonic scales" :)

[gennation]

I think of it as the Major Pentatonic scale super-imposed over the Blues scale from the same Root.

It's like a Blues scale with an added 2, M3, and 6. Or a Maj Pent with an added b3(#9), b5(#11), and b7. The first concept is the easiest for most people.

By using it this way you open up many chromatic possibilities, as well as covering MANY scales:

Min Pent, Maj Pent, Blues, Dorian, Mixolydian, Lydian Dominant, etc others...

All by starting with those two VERY common scales found in guitarists vocabulary. And with all the possibilities you can cover pretty much most Western Music...again, with two basic scales played from the same Root.

I have a 50+ lesson tutorial at my website with audio, tabs, diagrams, etc... for each example: http://lessons.mikedodge.com

Follow the Advanced Pentatonics Tutorial link.

[willhutch]

Yeah...what Gennation said.

Take a major pent shape and lay a blues scale (of the same root) directly on top of it. This yields a chromatic string that is 6 notes long: 2,b3,3,4,b5,5. You can make a lot of whoopee with this.

Bonus: This "metascale" can be harmonized. Doing so yields, among other things, I7, im7, iim7, bIII(M7), IV7, bVII7. There's a lot of gospel/blues harmony in here. In the interest of full disclosure, I got this idea from Chord Khancepts.

The above had an extraordinary effect on my playing style.

[tonefingers]

I don't know if this is hybrid pent thinking but
within the say C major scale, there are three minor chords
Dm7, Em7, and Am7

It just so happens that we can play a minor pentatonic
starting on A, D, and E.

So to sum it up,

Dm7 play D minor Pent
Em7 play E minor pent
Am7 play A minor pent.

Now what?

mix it all up.
Play all three pents against any chord in the C family.
...I......II....III....IV......V...VI....VII
Cmaj7 Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 G7 Am7 Bm7b5

Next, for the Blues

Superimpose the C minor pent into the
A, D, and E pents.
Play these sounds against the I and V chords
in a C7 F7 G7 blues.

Don't play this over the IV chord, yuk.
stick to the Cminor pent for that.
- And the B note works best on the V chord.
But target the B note (C,A,B) and you could get
away with it on the I chord.

"Doodlin" by Horace Silver comes to mind

start on the and of one, play 9 10 9 as a 16th not triplet

C7
|-------------------------------------------8-|
|-------------------------------------------5-|
|-------------------------------------------7-|
|------9-10-9----9-10-----9-10-9----9-10--8-|
|---10--------10-------10--------10----------|
|---------------------------------------------|

and later

.....C7......A7..................D9............... ...............G7.....................C7
|---------------------------------------------12-13-12---------------|-|
|--------------------------------------10--13------------13----12-13-|-|
|---9--10-9--------------9--------9-10----------------------12-------|-|
|-----------12--11---------11--12------------------------------------|-|
|---------------------12---------------------------------------------|-|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|-|

Anyway the major 7th sounds good.

Now what?

superimpose these three pents A,D and E
over a G7, C7, D7 blues with G min pent as the foundation.



.

[dave_mc]

i use that one gilbert described in a guitar mag (total guitar?) several years ago

e ----------------------------------------------12-14-15-
B ------------------------------------12-14-15-----------
G -------------------------12-14-15----------------------
D ----------------12-13-14-------------------------------
A ------12-13-14-----------------------------------------
E 12-15--------------------------------------------------

like dorian top 3 (highest pitched) strings, with added flat 5th, more like the blues scale on the lowest 3... sounds pretty cool, and very easy under the fingers...

[dave_mc]

^ what do you mean "scale tones change as octaves go up"?

:BEER

[gennation]

^ what do you mean "scale tones change as octaves go up"?

:BEER

You have a different set of notes in the first octave than you do in the second octave, and even a different set in what's going to the the 3rd octave.

Of course this is a "hybrid pentatonic" thread, but each octave CAN include the same notes.

First octave:

E G A Bb B D Eb E

Second Octave:

E G A Bb B C# D E

Third octave:

E F# G

Nothing wrong with this. This is more of a "note displacement" pattern of a scale that contains...

E F# G A Bb B C# D Eb E

Add the G#(M3) and you have pretty much the scales everyone is taking about.

E F# G G# A Bb B C# D Eb E

Cool!

[tonefingers]

Try this

On the 6th, 4th, and 2nd strings up and down the string
play one of your favorite pents. Say C maj pent.

On the 5th 3rd and 1st strings play a different pent up and down.
say C minor or for a slight 'out' sound try Ab maj pent

Then reverse the strings and pents.

[Leucadian]

...I like to add the 2nd's when I play arpeggio's...superimposing them on different chords will yield many nice sounds...

[dave_mc]

You have a different set of notes in the first octave than you do in the second octave, and even a different set in what's going to the the 3rd octave.

Of course this is a "hybrid pentatonic" thread, but each octave CAN include the same notes.

First octave:

E G A Bb B D Eb E

Second Octave:

E G A Bb B C# D E

Third octave:

E F# G

Nothing wrong with this. This is more of a "note displacement" pattern of a scale that contains...

E F# G A Bb B C# D Eb E

Add the G#(M3) and you have pretty much the scales everyone is taking about.

E F# G G# A Bb B C# D Eb E

Cool!

ah, gotcha, i just didn't understand what you meant the way you phrased it first time round.

yeah, it's more of a "guitar scale" that sounds cool (and is easy) because of the way it falls under your fingers... i just brought it up because it was called "hybrid pentatonic" (by gilbert)... EDIT: oh yeah, i throw in the major 3rd and flat 5th all the time when playing pentatonic too, if that's "hybrid"...

:BEER