3 Places You Can Use The Minor Pentatonic Scale On Bass

►► FREE: Master the Pentatonic Scale On Bass with my Pentatonic Cheat Sheet. Download it here → becomeabassist.com/minor-pent...
It's one thing to 'know' your minor pentatonic scale on bass, but it's another thing entirely to know where and how to use it.
It's not too difficult to randomly play up and down the scale on your bass, but will that actually make good music?
Probably not.
In this bass lesson, you'll learn 3 places where the minor pentatonic sounds great and works nearly all of the time. Plus, you'll see how you can use it for yourself to create beautiful melodies, wicked bass solos, or just spice up an existing bass line.
Normally, if you play the minor pentatonic on bass, it'll work 95% of the time, but you'll also learn one place where it doesn't work and why. Then, you can apply this to whatever song you're playing so you always sound good.
You'll also learn a trick that you can use to play the minor pentatonic scale - even if you're in a major key. This opens up a ton of new possibilities for you and lets you explore even more of your creativity.
If you need a bit of a refresher for your minor pentatonic scale for bass, be sure to check out my Pentatonic Scale Cheat Sheet.
In it, you'll learn how to memorize and combine your pentatonic scales all over your fretboard. You'll learn the 5 positions of the pentatonic scale and you'll start using them fluidly across your bass.
When you really get your head around the pentatonic, you can do all the things we talk about in this lesson - write melodies, improvise or create your own blistering bass fills.
But it all starts with really knowing your pentatonic scale on bass. To get the cheat sheet, just click here:
becomeabassist.com/minor-pent...
Fill out the form on that page and I'll send the cheat sheet straight to your email address - completely free.
Of course if you have any questions, the best way to reach me is to fill out this contact form: becomeabassist.com/contact/ I'd be happy to help out however I can.
Cheers,
Luke

[@thomasp3218]

Dude it's MINDBLOWING to me that you don't have 1M subscribers. All your stuff is so practical and musical.

[@Likeaforest]

Don't worry KZbin is for life

[@Likeaforest]

Well , what do you think now about the 1 million

[@thomasp3218]

@@Likeaforest Well deserved

[@keighzcaberoy476]

You're one of the best teacher mate! Thanks a lot! yeah! Clear and precise!

[@captbss]

YOU ARE A FANTASTIC TEACHER

[@wmkennard]

Great lesson thank you.

[@piusdshresth2564]

Love u boss💕 Thanks for the lesson

[@ryanstrozeski976]

To many it may seem trivial, and I personally didnt notice it myself until now but I really grab onto your lessons eaiser than others because you refer to most sharps as whichever flat they corresoind to. Ive always prefered calling sharp notes as flats even when theyre actually supposed to be sharp theoretically speaking.

[@BassPotter46]

Thanks Luke!

[@Jihadbearzwithgunz]

From one spector bass player to another love the top on that one gorgeous bass mate..

[@BecomeABassist]

Cheers Josh - it's a beautiful bass! I love that Spector sound!

[@donnyklein2296]

Really helpful video! Thanks Luke.

[@BecomeABassist]

Glad you think so Donny! That's great to hear.

[@alethallinger]

excellent pow!

[@croft1024]

Thanks! Great tip about mixing the 2 scales over the blues.

[@BecomeABassist]

It was a game-changer for me when I learned it for sure.

[@patrickdaia6099]

great lesson, thanks :)

[@BecomeABassist]

Cheers Patrick - I really appreciate it!

[@suiheisensongs]

Thanks for the lesson man! :)

[@BecomeABassist]

No worries Alfido - thanks for watching.

[@giarusai83ss]

Great! Thanks 👍🏼

[@BecomeABassist]

You're welcome, friend - I'm glad you liked it!

[@pranavjohn2571]

I like your lessons bro keep it up, although could you use numbers too

[@marek9194]

The best teacher!!!

[@BecomeABassist]

Cheers Mark - you're too kind!

[@GrupettoGaz2905]

I agree Mark, Luke has a great teaching style. I always find his lessons very engaging, but still easy to follow. Long may they continue!..

[@vernahill5818]

I like the tone

[@BecomeABassist]

Thanks Verna. Me too!

[@gristamshackleford2102]

im still a bit confused on when i should use major instead of minor. i understand in a blues i can use major on the 1 chord but what if its a dominant7 key(non blues) like a funk in G7?

[@valencia1135]

Im a guitar player and been playin bass for a little while now. So usin scales with bass is pretty much the same concept as guitar scales.

[@Jeff-ej5mm]

I’ve been following your vid in youtube. Just want to know about the cheat sheet for pentatonic. Is it only applicable for minor pentatonic? How about major pentatonic? Thanks!

[@TheRobGuard]

The difference is the position of the 3rd note in the scale, so "minor" really only means the 3rd note is closer to 2nd note (a half step), while "a major step" is therefore further away from 2nd note, like a whole step... Thats not 100% acurate in music theory, but works for me... For example the minor to an A is the C, while major to A is the C#, and so on...

[@artolan_illusive]

Will this tricks also work for major pentatonic? For example, when I know that song is in major key, and I see let's say Dmaj chord, can I mess around on D maj pentatonic?

[@BecomeABassist]

Absolutely Adam, if you’re in D major, the D major pentatonic is going to work great.

[@crazeyjoe]

I see a Spector bass, I click!

[@yosiaprinceleardonlase6019]

link backing track pls

[@welbeckduciel1610]

maestro

[@BecomeABassist]

Haha! Thanks friend!

[@jamieetchedinstone7351]

These lessons help alot. Love the tone of Bass guitar. Very difficult to find a bass teacher in my country😣

[@BecomeABassist]

That's great to hear Kevin. Thanks for the kind words.

[@michaelweiser8780]

Maybe I'll take up the flute. :(

[@markrodgers2976]

You kinda lost me around 5:30. As a (alleged!) guitar player, it's my understanding that if someone is playing in G major, if you don;t play the scale on that same 3rd fret (the minor pentatonic), as you would for a lot of rock and blues, then (as you mentioned) you can drop down 3 frets and play a pentatonic scale there, and you're playing in the MAJOR pentatonic (also referred to as the relative minor), which is typical in a lot of country grooves. But you're calling it the E Minor pentatonic. or are they just the same thing, in the way that a C sharp is the same as a D flat? I'm just starting out with the bass, and I'm finding there's a lot of informational cross-over, which is handy, but then there's a lot of stuff that doesn't cross-over so seamlessly. Anyway, keep up the good work, I think I'm getting more out of your lessons than from a couple of the other popular bass gurus here !

[@guillo1306]

I think that he refers that the same notes are played in both scales but ending in different chords

[@DSUS33]

Why does your improvisation of minor scale sounds great and easy, but when I try to improvise it sounds boring? :(

[@vernahill5818]

VS hang in there with it

[@BecomeABassist]

Hey VS - If you tell yourself (and other people) that your playing is boring, you are setting the expectation that your playing IS boring. This means that others will automatically judge your playing as 'boring' - even if it's not. It also paints you into a corner psychologically because you've identified your playing as 'boring' and it becomes easier and easier to just say 'Well this is the way I am and this is the way my playing is' - which isn't true. There's always something to improve. If you're in the habit of describing your playing negatively, I'd try and reframe it in terms of 'My playing isn't as exciting or interesting as I want it to be yet, but it's something I'm actively working on'. This way, you're actually giving yourself permission to improve and take your playing to the next level. As far as why we sound different, I want to challenge you to really analyze the differences between what you hear when I play vs. when you play. Avoid using subjective terms like 'sounds great', but look beyond that and try to see what it is that we do differently. I've never heard you play, so I can't speak to that exactly, but it could be that I use more repetition, I articulate differently, my rhythmic feel is different - there are tons of things that make everyone sound different. If you can figure out what it is you like about what I do specifically, then you can work towards baking that in to your own playing. I do actually have a lesson about improvising in a way that's not boring. You can find it here: becomeabassist.com/the-antidote-to-boring-bass-solos/ I hope this is helpful VS. If you have any more questions, just let me know. I'd be happy to help out.

[@DSUS33]

Hi Luke, I see I used wrong words to describe my ''problem''. I meant to say: When I try to improvise it either sounds trivial or doesn't make much sense. Of course it's not always like that. Sometimes I really surprise myself, but most of the time I randomly pick notes and hope for the best and that is something I'd like to change. It's not hard for me to recreate bass line that someone already made, it's hard for me to come up with my own stuff. Ironically my bass lines were much more interesting when my music theory knowledge was poor unlike today when i have some music theory knowledge. It's like I've built a cage and now can't get out of it. Do you have any thoughts about that?

[@danielfitzgerald4678]

I felt the same way. After learning theory, The Cage. Before learning theory, I didn't know I had to "break the rules" to get the sound I wanted to hear. There was no cause for restraint. Now my approach is to enjoy breaking the rules. Put on your bandit mask. It gets easier.

[@BecomeABassist]

VS - this is a great question! Thanks so much for responding. I went through this exact same thing when I started getting serious about my own bass playing. I was learning a ton of different sounds and scales, but I didn't really know how to use them. As I was going through the process, I remember seeing a video of myself playing from before I learned any of the stuff I was trying to learn at the time. The problem was - I compared my playing in that video to what it was at the time, and I actually liked my playing better when I DIDN'T know anything. I felt like knowing more things was somehow getting in the way of playing. In reality, I just hadn't fully internalized everything yet. There's a big difference between knowing different sounds/where they fall on your bass, and knowing them to the point where you could create musical ideas with them. For you I'd also recommend you go through the process in this video: becomeabassist.com/how-to-play-more-melodically/ It will help you get out of your head and hopefully unstuck and out of this rut that you've found yourself in. Daniel above is right too - it absolutely DOES get easier. I'm here as well if you have any specific questions.

[@biggils8894]

You have a problem with the word "yeah" I have a problem with drinking to much Beer.

[@SM-ym8ww]

Why are you playing lead bass. Where is the groove, I am of the opinion and experience that it would be more valuable to demonstrate the scale in groove bass lines in the pocket rather than fills. Too many bass players play too many notes. The scales should be in the context of the bass players main job, so many miss that. Flash and fills are fun but propelling the tune is the job.

[@BecomeABassist]

I totally I agree with you about laying it down and playing in the pocket. It's the single most important job as a bass player - I talk about this in other videos. That being said, I don't think playing a solid bass line and playing fills are mutually exclusive. It's totally possible to play a fill AND keep the groove solid. Done well, a bass fill CAN propel a tune forward. I'd rather explain how something can be done rather than saying 'Don't do this'.

[@emreozturk4627]

what happend on your teeth?