Duration: 17:22 · 1080p Stream
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Five more scales, almost for free — each just one note added or moved. From the framework you know, you'll build the blues scale (minor pentatonic + ♭5 passing note), the major blues (major pentatonic + ♭3), the minor hexatonic (minor pentatonic + major 2nd), and two dominant pentatonics (one major-flavored, one minor-flavored with a Phrygian-dominant edge). Each gets its rectangle/stack placement and a quick listen, then a chord-scale roundup — which scales fit maj7, dominant 7, and m7 — using shell-chord drones for ear training. The real lesson: any "new" scale is a close relative of one you already have.
What follows is this lesson’s section of the Course Guide — you can read it here or in the full guide →
In this short lesson, we'll learn five new scales. We can do this because each one is a small modification of the framework you already know. In most cases, it is a single note added or a single note moved. The geometry barely changes.
| Scale | Built from | The change | Formula |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blues | minor pentatonic | add the ♭5 | 1 ♭3 4 ♭5 5 ♭7 |
| Major blues | major pentatonic | add the ♭3 | 1 2 ♭3 3 5 6 |
| Minor hexatonic | minor pentatonic | add the 2 | 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭7 |
| Dominant pentatonic 1 | major pentatonic | 6 becomes ♭7 | 1 2 3 5 ♭7 |
| Dominant pentatonic 2 | minor pentatonic | ♭3 becomes 3 | 1 3 4 5 ♭7 |
Memorize this: Several useful variations on the pentatonic scale can be created by adding one note or moving one note:
In the blues scale, the added ♭5 is a tension note, and it often clashes with the harmony, which is why it is usually treated as a passing tone. It's a note you move through, bend into, or resolve away from. You don't park on it.
In practice, when you're alternating rectangles and stacks in position, most players use the two notes from the stack and skip the one from the rectangle. Do it that way and you get exactly the fingerings you'll find in books.
The other ♭5 location is there if you decide you like it. If you use it, leave out the one just above the stack, because they are the same pitch.
Here, the added note is ♭3, which sits in the same locations as the ♭5 in the blues scale. So the minor blues and the major blues have identical fingerings: the A minor blues and C major blues scales are the same notes, differing only in the root. Like the ♭5, the ♭3 here is a passing note, adding a little grit to an otherwise very bright scale.
The added 2 sits one fret below the ♭3, or two frets above the root. This is a subtler addition than the blue note. The 2 is usually consonant and sits comfortably over most minor and major contexts, so it adds melodic options without adding much tension. This makes it a good halfway point between the minor pentatonic and the minor modes we'll get to later.
In the rectangle, it lands on the upper string, one fret below the ♭3. In the stack, it sits just below the lower note on the upper string. Building in-position shapes now gives you three notes on some strings and two on others, which makes melodic sequences harder to play cleanly and worth some extra practice time.
You can use the minor hexatonic any time you'd reach for the minor pentatonic or the blues scale. The one exception, which will make more sense later in the course, is over the minor three chord in a key, where the 2nd is usually flattened.
These are specialty scales, less common than the ones above but useful later. Both are called the dominant pentatonic scale, but they are not the same scale. Both contain the root, 3, 5, and ♭7, all four notes of a dominant seventh chord, so they both work well over a dominant chord. A basic blues progression is made entirely of dominant chords, which makes both of these scales a good way to add variety to your blues playing.
The first is the major pentatonic with the 6 raised to a ♭7. Along a single string this produces an interesting symmetry: all three two-fret spans become adjacent, with the root between the lowest two, and the two three-fret spans end up next to each other. In the rectangle, raising that note turns the shape into a trapezoid; in the stack, the lower note on the middle string moves up a half step. It has a bright, open quality.
The second is the minor pentatonic with the ♭3 raised to a 3. It has a slightly exotic edge, from a four-semitone interval sitting next to a one-semitone one. In the rectangle one corner of the shape moves up a fret; in the stack the same note shifts up a half step. In position, the four-fret stretch between the root and the 3 makes these a little awkward.
The connection between a scale and the harmony under it is what turns a fingering exercise into a musical tool. Seventh chords add one note on top of a triad, and three types matter right now.
| Chord | Formula | Character | Scales that fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| maj7 | 1 3 5 7 | stable and bright | major pentatonic, major blues |
| 7 (dominant) | 1 3 5 ♭7 | tense — this is the blues sound | all seven |
| m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | smooth and dark | minor pentatonic, minor hexatonic, blues |
Over a dominant 7, the major pentatonic and the two dominant pentatonics fit especially well, and in a blues context, the minor pentatonic, blues, and minor hexatonic all work too, as long as you watch the ♭3 and give it a bend.
Rather than a single-note drone, use a shell chord — just the root, 3rd, and 7th. Shell chords sound thin and open, leaving room for the scale to breathe, and they make the chord type explicit. One common voicing puts the root on the low E string, the 7th on the D string, and the 3rd on the G string. From the dominant 7 shape, move the 7th up a fret for a major 7, or the 3rd down a fret for a minor 7.
Exercise 3-12: Pick a scale and a matching shell chord, and play. Start with something you know well, such as the minor pentatonic over an m7 shell. Add the 2 to make it the minor hexatonic and listen to the difference. Try the blues scale over the same chord, then move the shell to a dominant 7 and play the blues scale over that, and then try one of the dominant pentatonics. The point is listening and exploring, not fingering. A scale is a set of sounds relative to a chord, and the more time you spend with each combination, the faster you'll reach for the right one when you're actually playing.
The m7 shell to start. Work the table above by retyping the chord: A7, then Amaj7.
A2 · C3 ♭3 · G3 ♭7
The takeaway is that a new scale is often a close relative of one you already know, so your existing skills can transfer without starting from scratch. If any of it feels difficult right now, go back to the beginning of the module and reinforce the minor pentatonic, because everything else is built on it.
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