Does your pentatonic scale sound like a scale... or like actual blues?
Most guitarists learn box one of the pentatonic minor and can run up and down it cleanly. Then they try to solo over a backing track and it sounds like practice, not music. The missing piece is usually one note: the flatted fifth, also called the blues note. In this lesson I show you exactly where it sits in box one (there are two spots in the upper octave alone), how to find it from the five in the scale, and why landing on it gives your phrases that gritty, unmistakeable blues flavour.
In this lesson, you’ll learn:
- How the flatted fifth (E flat in the key of A) is derived from the diatonic scale, so you understand it instead of just memorising a dot
- The two positions where the blues note sits in the upper octave of box one (4th fret, 2nd string and 8th fret, 3rd string) and when to use each
- Why alternate picking matters when you add this note, and how to keep your pick moving in strict down-up through the string crossings
- A simple A minor jam approach for putting the scale to use right away, moving past scale practice into actual improvising
