Pentatonic scales
- Thread starter Ruckus
- Start date
mountain man
Still got the Blues!
I practiced the pentatonic scale first in the pentatonic mastery course. I would use that course as a guide. I added the Blue note later and practiced that as well. If you are a Blues Rock fan you will find that using the Blue note works well much of the time. But many of the exercises and drills that you will find in the pentatonic mastery do not include the Blue note. These exercises and drills are those speedy passing runs that you will use to get to a riff with Blue note expressions.... Short answer. Practice both. 
Tangled_up_in_Blue
Blues Newbie
From my own experience (all bit relatively short compared to many folk on here) is that I would recommend to practice the 'Blues Scale' from the start. The reason I say that is because I practiced the Pentatonic without the Blue not for a few months, and then struggled to be able immediately identify the relevant Blue note in any box position. Since starting to always running through the Blues Scale in all 5 box poistions (every day for a few minutes) I can quickly tell you where the Blue note falls in each position. So now I not only know where it is, but can drop it in, or leave it out at will. So, basically, as you need to know where it is , why not incorporate it from the outset.
Ruckus
Blues Newbie
Thanks. That's sort of how I was thinking about it as well.
Paleo
Student Of The Blues
As you progress on your guitar journey you'll be exposed to many more sounds than just pentatonic vs. blues.
You’ll also be considering these scales from both a minor and Major perspective.
The only way to decide if you want to incorporate any or all of them into your playing is to practice using them.
You'll want to get the sounds into your ears and how to play them when you want them into your fingers.
Many more options are available.
Folks around here can help with the "how" and possibly "when".
However, only you can decide which ones you want to adopt.
Best of luck.
BTW: Griff's "Pentatonic Scales & Technique Mastery" course covers the Blues Boxes as well.
The exercises for them just don't include the melodic patterns.
You’ll also be considering these scales from both a minor and Major perspective.
The only way to decide if you want to incorporate any or all of them into your playing is to practice using them.
You'll want to get the sounds into your ears and how to play them when you want them into your fingers.
Many more options are available.
Folks around here can help with the "how" and possibly "when".
However, only you can decide which ones you want to adopt.
Best of luck.
BTW: Griff's "Pentatonic Scales & Technique Mastery" course covers the Blues Boxes as well.
The exercises for them just don't include the melodic patterns.
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Ruckus
Blues Newbie
Thanks so much, I appreciate the feedback. This begs another question however. I'm mostly interested in Solo blues guitar and am working through ABGU course. I love the old delta acoustic and slide blues and want to focus on that. Is the Pentatonic Scales course going to provide information not already covered in BGU and ABGU?
Paleo
Student Of The Blues
To someone mostly interested in acoustic "Solo blues guitar" ("Playing On The Porch" style), rather than burning a solo with a band, the relevance may not seem readily apparent.
However ......
The exercises are designed to help you see the scale/boxes in all areas along the fretboard and get them into your brain and fingers.
It's one of my Top 5 favorite courses.
The exercises are each done in 8ths, triplets and 16ths with and without slurs in each box.
Doing the melodic patterns was the first time I was "forced" to count.
It's also one of only three courses that include a series of "warm up" exercises to improve dexterity and independent finger movement.
Beyond practicing technique and timing and improving speed, endurance, dexterity and finger strength (Whew!!) there is no new content per se not covered in the other courses.
There is no discussion of theory, what the scale degrees or actual notes are. Or of when to use them. Or seeing the boxes as both Major and minor.
But it's one heck of a course for what it's designed to do.
You don’t need to focus exclusively on this course, but a few minutes a day along with your other courses sure ain’t gonna hurt.
I feel that all these aspects of technique are foundational regardless of the style one may favor.
But why listen to me when you can check it out in the Course Catalog and hear/see what it's all about from the man himself?
However ......
The exercises are designed to help you see the scale/boxes in all areas along the fretboard and get them into your brain and fingers.
It's one of my Top 5 favorite courses.
The exercises are each done in 8ths, triplets and 16ths with and without slurs in each box.
Doing the melodic patterns was the first time I was "forced" to count.
It's also one of only three courses that include a series of "warm up" exercises to improve dexterity and independent finger movement.
Beyond practicing technique and timing and improving speed, endurance, dexterity and finger strength (Whew!!) there is no new content per se not covered in the other courses.
There is no discussion of theory, what the scale degrees or actual notes are. Or of when to use them. Or seeing the boxes as both Major and minor.
But it's one heck of a course for what it's designed to do.
You don’t need to focus exclusively on this course, but a few minutes a day along with your other courses sure ain’t gonna hurt.
I feel that all these aspects of technique are foundational regardless of the style one may favor.
But why listen to me
when you can check it out in the Course Catalog and hear/see what it's all about from the man himself?
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Ruckus
Blues Newbie
Thank you. Food for thought.To someone mostly interested in acoustic "Solo blues guitar" ("Playing On The Porch" style), rather than burning a solo with a band, the relevance may not seem readily apparent.
However ......
The exercises are designed to help you see the scale/boxes in all areas along the fretboard and get them into your brain and fingers.
It's one of my Top 5 favorite courses.
The exercises are each done in 8ths, triplets and 16ths with and without slurs in each box.
Doing the melodic patterns was the first time I was "forced" to count.
It's also one of only three courses that include a series of "warm up" exercises to improve dexterity and independent finger movement.
Beyond practicing technique and timing and improving speed, endurance, dexterity and finger strength (Whew!!) there is no new content per se not covered in the other courses.
There is no discussion of theory, what the scale degrees or actual notes are. Or of when to use them. Or seeing the boxes as both Major and minor.
But it's one heck of a course for what it's designed to do.
You don’t need to focus exclusively on this course, but a few minutes a day along with your other courses sure ain’t gonna hurt.
I feel that all these aspects of technique are foundational regardless of the style one my favor.
But why listen to me
When I was younger, I thought the same thing and only practiced with the blue note...
Later on, when I wanted to not use the blue note, I found it difficult, so I always recommend both options.
As for practicing the scales relative to solo guitar, that's going to be a little more tricky to answer...
If your goal is to play what others have written... learn songs and execute them, focused scale practice might not be as beneficial as some other things you could do with your time.
However, if you're looking to be able to improvise more and compose your own stuff more, then spending quality time with scales and patterns is invaluable, as it helps you see the scales when you want them.
I'm not sure if PSTM is the best option for your chosen path, but it will most definitely make your technique better.