Using Minor & Major Pentatonic Together Effectively

Patreon: / fretjam
Learn how to combine the minor and major pentatonic scales effectively and play smoothly between the two scales.
Sometimes, one scale is all you need to create the perfect guitar solo. But by marrying major and minor pentatonic, your vocabulary doubles and you can "say" a lot more.
Usually, mixing major and minor scales creates too much dissonance, but in this lesson, I show you how the two scales can really complement each other, as long as you know how to move between them.
I'm sure that, if you haven't already been combining these two scales in your licks, you will after going through the lesson.
You see, minor pentatonic gives us those bluesy b3 and b7 intervals.
Whereas major pentatonic gives us the sweeter 2, 3 and 6 intervals.
If you're unsure what these numbers mean, don't worry! They simply refer to the position of a note in the scale. I'll show you these in the diagrams in the lesson so you know exactly where to put your fingers to get the note you want.
When you combine these major/minor tones, you can express yourself more freely than if you were restricted to one scale. You have more notes to choose from, which can be more difficult at first, but the more you play around with the "merged scale" the more you'll get to know what works.
Lesson Page: www.fretjam.com/minor-major-p...

[@1971SuperLead]

These lessons are the best I've seen anywhere, and I've been playing guitar for 35 years and have watched many thousands of instructional videos. My guitar playing has radically improved after watching just two Fretjam videos. The first thing I did this morning was pee and then plug in my guitar so I could practice what I learned last night about target notes. I feel like a painter who has just discovered the color red. It completely changed my sound. Now I sound like I really know what I'm doing.Thank you so much. I wish I learned this stuff 35 years ago.

[@youbetyourlifejeffwalker7826]

1971SuperLead I totally agree. I've been playing for 30 years but was stuck until I finally thought of trying utube for instructors. These videos have instantly unlocked my musical mind, as I play by ear, not music. Buying stickers right away, but I know for sure I'll be playing serious blues in a months time due to these to videos. Thank you!!

[@wilsonbrannan3620]

100% agreed. Could not say it better.

[@maxalbino1356]

Jeffrey Walker j

[@indomitablespiritletsgocra1688]

you been playing for thirty years and you still need lessons. over them years how often have you played?

[@georgecantero6604]

@@indomitablespiritletsgocra1688 There's more to music then fingering a fretboard.

[@francescocaridi]

1 year of guitar course in 12 minutes ....i love you

[@bigfuckingdeal9474]

100000% agree.....after 12 hrs of rewatch making some senses to me finally....talk about masterclass :D

[@AirsoftSniper0915]

Your missing only one thing. The actual practice and time it takes to have your brain put all of the information together. Shit is a trip man 😆

[@1963murf]

Absolute gold! The charts are amazing and we don’t have to put up with some guy saying “ 12 fret a string to 9 fret d string and constantly rewinding it top quality!

[@ferdoman7036]

I tried to learn this mixing thing for days with hundreds of leading you tube channels, but no one teaches like you guys do. very clear and theoretical and practical. coolest thing is no any fancy backgrounds, fancy guitars and fancy teachers....just the subject. really appreciate your work here. nicley illustrate, even without showing a guitar. remarkable teaching ability. please accept my humble gratitude.

[@inspir3d81]

This is by far the best major/minor pentatonic guitar lesson on KZbin!! Thanks!

[@Smoothaltheleet]

Hey man, I really want to take a moment to sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for these amazing lessons. Very, very rarely does one come across such a concise, clear lesson with such useful examples-- visually, aurally, etc. I don't know who you are, but I want you to know just how useful and appreciated these have been, and I really hope to see some more. Thank you so much.

[@gitsurfer27]

You're by far the best guitar teacher online. You don't just give a few examples of whatever it is, you shine light on HOW and WHY it works. And your theory breakdown is so concise and well structured. I can't believe you haven't got more subscribers. Thank you for all the amazing lessons.

[@resb1714]

Not one word too much ... not one missing ... through all the lessons! One of the must know pages for every guitar player. No matter of what league you think you are playing in! Cheers

[@tranceencounter]

The fact that you added phrasing, makes this lesson gold! Thanks so much!

[@stevekap8]

I've learned the note and scales already, but it's the meaning that you add that makes this so good. The idea that some notes are bluesy, so are sweet, what creates tension.... that's what i was missing. Thank you so much for this. IT IS EXCELLENT!

[@bodywithoutasoul]

WOW! This is basically everything I spent the past couple years and 400+ youtube videos trying to learn! Thank you!!

[@ttmguitar]

One of the most informative music theory channels on KZbin!

[@DeepakEapenKoothoor]

Great explanation! I think no one else has explained this interchange so simply on KZbin. Although a bit confusing initially, it really pays to understand these concepts for becoming a complete musician. Thank you for your immense effort in putting this video together!

[@Jake66564]

Just recently got more comfortable with the Dom7 arpeggios and targeting changes over a 1-4-5. I had started to explore this, but found myself hitting a lot of notes that clash. This is perfectly timed!

[@sellisrodrigo]

Fretjam has the best guitar videos ever!!! Tks

[@gtrdoc911]

Thanks Mike. I bought a book ca 1980 titled"the Heavy Guitar Bible" that talked about this concept of mixing minor and major pentatonic. It had the mixed scales mapped all over the fret board but never mentioned your point of never losing track of the chord tones of the particular chord being played at the time. That's ultra important in making the solo jive with the progression. Great pithy lesson. Thanks for making those notes light up as you play them. I'll be coming back to this lesson lots.

[@begue95]

Superb outstanding lesson! target notes, intervals involved, backing chord, all integrated, I finally find an excellent teacher and lesson that dissect the point to the bone, so clearly. This depth of integration of concept plus graphs is unmatched. As a beginner I was stuck until this gem EXPLAINS what is going on. Thank you so so much, I wish you 1M subscribers! You deserve it. Greetings from Argentina, cheers.

[@ckjjclan]

THANK YOU... This is such a well laid out lesson. I'm actually starting to get this. My translation to the fretboard, and actually using this in a song is still behind my "understanding"... but thanks to lessons like this, at least I have a shot at getting there!!!

[@guitarpat]

Great job. Love the way you explain using numbers as it relates to the scales or chords because it is the way i look at the fretboard and makes the lesson easy to understand. I have been trying to add Maj pentatonic to Min pentatonic for a while, and with the concepts you have presented it will just be a matter of playing with it for a while. THANK YOU so very much!

[@garga79]

WOW!! Thank you SO much for this!! This is exactly what I was looking for. This will keep me busy for months now... Love it, great lesson!!

[@VGlover007]

Every time I say to myself let me go and find someone who explains it in a way that's easier to understand I always seem to come back to your channel. Lol

[@johndoeit]

Absolutely incredible lesson and masterful instruction. Thank you for helping me take my playing to a totally new level.

[@drutgat2]

Many thanks for this wonderful lesson. This is fantastically helpful; just what I have been looking for, and it has taken quite a while to find this. And very clearly explained. Many thanks.

[@scottwillott1]

Thanks so much!! It's an epic lesson for me (I thought I'd learn blues so I could better solo over chord changes & I thought it would be easy but the rabbit hole keeps getting deeper & I'm loving it!)

[@andrewbeattieRAB]

THE BEST BLUES LESSON EVER! Especially for people already playing the blues harp like me.

[@MyTube4Utoo]

Such FANTASTIC lessons. The best on the Internet!!

[@fjavimarti]

Wow! This can be one the best lessons on pentatonic soloing! Great!

[@joseluisleal1103]

wow! instant upgrade in my playing style after seeing this in detail. Thank you!

[@andrewptob]

Thank you so much for this. It explains so much in such a straightforward way. Cheers

[@bluejazzcat]

Great lessons. Love the lesson about playing Blues thru the changes. I am trying to learn jazz guitar and that lesson helps a lot. Thanks a lot. Cheers from Brazil. CB

[@chatmax5938]

I feel like found Dimond in the deep blue sea. Thank you so much.

[@fretjamdotcom]

That honestly made my day. Thank you.

[@benjaminwlang]

This is exactly the information I was looking for!

[@JammyGit]

What well explained and well thought out lesson videos. This is stuff i wished i'd learned years ago that passed me by as being made to sound as difficult and complicated as possible. These videos actually make me feel like i'm about to understand some soloing ability, and they're not too long in length as to frazzle your mind and you can come back to individual lessons as and when. These are probably the best videos i've seen for where i am in my musical ability. I might have to subscribe to this channel.

[@fi2280]

thank you! the clearest explanation I've ever run across!

[@Husterization]

This is awesome man, better then most of tutorials. Quick theory information direct to the brain, thanks!!

[@gmlasam]

Thanks!! Great video and very easy to follow and understand.

[@justinowdfart8155]

Fabulous tutorial, explains WHY. Thank you very much

[@newjack2166]

Very succinctly informative. Highly useful. Excellent.

[@Orpheussegeln]

very good teaching, very helpful and complete.

[@Nox2468]

Great! Finally I`m starting to understand how to combine major n minor scales!

[@zshathick]

You marry minor and major pentatonic and it gives birth to sweet harmony to my playing.... Thanks!

[@fretjamdotcom]

Thanks Alex that means a lot. Yes there is more on the way and I'm always open to requests.

[@syip687]

Excellent video on this topic. Thanks a lot!

[@jdubchek5939]

Thanks for getting back to me on that, Another little bit of knowledge gained...So a Major penta will always be the same as the sixth note in the scale which is a Minor penta,,,Thanks, Great stuff Cheers

[@nercohen]

Whenever someone starts using NUMBERS to talk about music my brain explodes! I learned by reading and memorizing classical pieces, with NO knowledge of the theory behind them. When I took my first lesson from a jazz guitarist I left in tears - it was as if this instrument that had been an extension of my physical being since age 6 had suddenly morphed into an alien creature, speaking in a completely foreign tongue. This is taking me right back into that room in Winnipeg with a brilliant guitarist, Tim Cummings - a beloved friend who scared the crap out of me!!!

[@AlexAquarius963]

Exactly my story. Classical since 5, read music scores, even played in a stage pit with the written music. Got to college, tried out for dance band, failed miserably. I think it was "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer. I didn't know fancy chords or any number system. I'm in my 50's and love to go to blues jam. These lessons are awesome. I'm am just now into music theory, and I've played on stages in Texas, like Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff. I've always played by ear and been a great mediocre player.

[@Jackc8201]

Fantastic lesson! This stuff will keep me busy for a looooong time :)

[@emjee]

thank you for posting this, I have learned a lot.

[@rafa_guitar]

Very very very instructive!! Thank you so much!!

[@franciscojose3628]

Thank you! It is a great blues guitar lesson

[@mark07421]

luv your lessons mate !

[@somprinniyomthai54]

Very useful for all, Many thanks

[@MyGuitartime]

Your lessons are excellent!

[@downhill240]

Excellent lesson!

[@iianderson1770]

Great lesson. just what I was after and some.

[@brulextrulex]

Great lesson ..you make some important lesson understandable for ordinary guitarist.

[@syip687]

excellent lesson, yes the best I have seen on this topic ! thanks a lot.

[@barakados]

Excellent. Right to the target. Thank you

[@jorgedanielfranco1420]

muy bien explicado muchas gracias !ya me suscribí!

[@mikeymic4150]

This is very helpful. Thanks

[@martinis801]

wow this is great!! thanks so much.

[@quini7]

Very very useful, thank you a lot.

[@miketsai4288]

the best guitar videos！super love it！

[@wetcoldkid]

Thanks man, very useful !

[@alfredo2768]

very good lesson.

[@Moorzo83]

very good lesson

[@123ubuntu666]

Wow, that's pretty cool - never looked at like that before. Basically what you have there is a Dorian 'Scale' but with an added third (representing the Major), and the flatted third (representing minor) already being present. When I play a blues scale I always slide chromatically up and down at certain points anyway, this just makes it official! I've also noticed the Mixolydian 'Scale' in there as well. It's a mixture of both. Which makes sense as the Dorian represents the minor intervals, and the Mixolydian represents the Major intervals. You do some great lessons. I only look at the shapes you put in the vids, I haven't watched one through all the way yet. You seem to have a knack for visualising shapes though, and that's really what scales/modes are all about.

[@fretjamdotcom]

On the subject of Mixolydian, I've just uploaded a blues lesson covering just that. As you demonstrate well, there are different ways to look at how these scales merge. All good for helping the brain internalise it.

[@123ubuntu666]

You're a musical genius. I'm really looking forward to sitting down and actually watching the vids when I get a bit of time. I can only learn more. Thank you.

[@ceeswagenaar4259]

Thanx! a very good lesson i like your channel!

[@vijitsrivastava987]

Super as always

[@jirivychodil2222]

You are great, thanks!!

[@ivanpizarro3375]

Excelente, Muchas gracias ¡

[@aeksinsang932]

Flipping brilliant

[@oneeyemonster3262]

sweet...more stuff to learn, grow and expand.

[@stephenbowyer7269]

A question: At 8:37 are we looking at the G7 chord arpeggio, dominant 7 chord, even though the notes are scattered, and if so, is there a more compact (playable) G7 chord arpeggio? Similarly for the other chord progression 7 chords? Thanks.

[@bigfuckingdeal9474]

been a week and about 60% understanding level...someone said here that it is 1 years lesson in 12 mins...could not agree more :D :D

[@TheM00ndawg]

Not sure I'm quite here yet, but the diagrams are super useful!

[@conradkriel6279]

Fantastic lesson mike While I was soloing last week I was thinking to myself how do I move from minor pentagon to major penta as using all the notes doesn't sound right '

[@bigfuckingdeal9474]

this is like someone deciphered the heaven on earth....absolutely the BEST explanation

[@123ubuntu666]

Effectively what you have there is a G Mixolydian scale shape combined with a G Dorian scale shape, one representing the Major elements and the other representing the minor elements, respectively. That is what you get when you combine a G minor pentatonic scale and a G Major pentatonic scale. I never knew that. Cool! That's like 4 scales in one man!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Keyznguitarz]

Tight. I love it.

[@Cosme422]

this is platinum!

[@tennisbumojai]

For a player at my level this is a really fantastic lesson. Mixing major and minor pentatonic scales over dominant 7th chord progressions. Is it appropriate to say that blues and rock and roll are based on dom7 chords? Is that flatted 7th the magic note that opens the door for the flatted 3rd (and 5th)?

[@emjee]

Yes, blues and rock are pretty much dominant 7th based chords. Not all, but many. I would say yes about your last question.

[@richhirano4549]

tennisbumojai inb

[@123ubuntu666]

So this SUPER SCALE will sound great over Dominant 7th chords (G7) due to the Mixolydian influence, and also great over minor 7th (Gm7) chords, due to the Dorian influence - apart from your general Major and minor chords. Dorian is particularly great for minor 7th chords as there are no avoid notes. You may still need to avoid the odd note here and there though if you are going to throw that all together will all those chords! But still... It's a whole new way of looking at guitar. This may be the only scale you ever need kids. This is a SUPER SCALE!

[@fredteoh8288]

Thanks

[@timshannon3193]

fantastic

[@alexlang178]

Hi Mike thanks for the great lesson! I started to practice your lesson by trying to blend Cmin and Cmaj pentatonic together on the 8th fret overlaying pentatonic box pattern 1 with pentatonic box pattern 2 and the realized that - with exception of one note ( major 3d ) , I am getting the box pattern 3 of the major scale Eb! Since the note of resolution is C, it seems that this exactly corresponds to C-Dorian. So blending major and minor pentatonics seems, with exception of one missing note (major third), identical to playing the Dorian mode. Is that true? It seems to work for me on the guitar as well and makes it mentally easier to blend the scales. Would you agree? All the best and happy new Year!

[@stevenbeechey]

FINALLY SOMEONE DID THIS

[@allen764]

great outro music...hendrixy!

[@samanizadyar305]

Respect!!

[@erichenry3794]

great lesson! subscribed immediately. Loved the accent, too lol. "Cheers!" Maybe you're the British Pierre Robert! Or Pierre Robert is the American you... We'll probably never know :(

[@jimsaunders8395]

Why is there 91 thumbs down negative . If you slightly understand music theory this would make sense , and you would learn from this VERY well explained lesson . So if you dont understand , go to a lesser skilled lesson then come back to this when you have come a bit more advanced , its unfair to give a thumbs down just because you dont understand it your self. Sorry little rant over.

[@fretjamdotcom]

Thank you that means a lot, especially with such an old lesson. I admit I could do this better today. I'll probably redo it at some point. Don't worry about the thumbs down. It's not for everyone and I accept that.

[@taramoore7156]

Damn! Thats what I call a video.

[@fortuneasuoma7073]

Can this be applied to our normal major 5th chords or does it work for only dominant blues chords

[@dpbrinkm]

hey man great video! thanks for sharing! i didn't really understand that last part with the G7 it was a bit confusing cause all of a sudden the notes that we could play like tripled..... why is that?

[@fretjamdotcom]

We've added the major 3rd of G7 to the root pattern, as the 3rd of the V chord doesn't occur in the root pattern.

[@dpbrinkm]

so i can use any of those notes that are introduced? even the ones that appeared before?

[@dpbrinkm]

thank you for the help btw! really enjoy all your vids they are helping me a bunch!

[@danielvitalis1858]

Great !!!!!

[@user-hj4eq6td8u]

Hello, I need some help with something , doesn't the C minor scale(Aeolian) belongs to the D# Major(Ionian) ? and if yes shouldn't we just change the starting point and play from the D# note? My point is if we mix C minor/major scales together its like we mix C and D# as roots x2 roots, because C minor belongs to the D# Major and C major its from its self the Major so we have x2 roots . I've been looking in internet for quite a while but still cant understand it correctly , if someone has some info for share please leave me a comment . -Thanx

[@fretjamdotcom]

Yeh a lot of books and sites give you the roadmap but don't show you any destinations. Now I'm not saying all players need these destinations. Many amazing guitarists learn through trial and error (with the aid of a sharp ear) where to phrase in a pattern for a given chord. I would always encourage a bit of trial n error - to occasionally venture "off the beaten path" (ala Jeff Beck). Think of those chord tones as safe retreats when you need time to get your bearings and plan your next move.

[@mattd2641]

Sweet outro tune

[@Roycely]

Awesome

[@mgrahame4473]

Great course well done love the writer that ripped some idiot spewing off about a guy that said he has been playing for 30 years. Time and life gets in the way and the time I had in my youth life kids and family get in the way. I have always said if I had KZbin back in the 70s how much better I would have been and how much better our covers would have been. You couldn’t find out about alternate tunings etc unless some dude showed you. Anyways loving the journey enjoy.

[@davidwpower]

Is this the first video or an intro before this ?