Lesson

In this first lesson we start out on the theory side of things and talk about what the major pentatonic scale actually is. There are a few different ways we can think about it, but my approach is always harmony first, starting with the chord. I like to think of the major pentatonic as a major triad: 1, 3, 5, with two extra notes added, the 2 and the 6. That makes sense to me because it connects our triad sounds directly to scalar ideas.

Another way to hear it is as a major scale without the 4 and the 7, which are the more tense notes that we do not really want to sit on. What you are left with is a less colorful but more focused sound. We also look at it purely as intervals: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and spend some time getting that sound in our ears.

From there we get onto the guitar and do everything in the keys of G and C.

A big part of this is internalizing the sound of the scale and being able to anticipate it, because scales are sounds first, not finger patterns. I want you to really hear that major six sound and start to think of this as a softer major sound, rather than something with a strong major seven pulling on it.

We work around triad shapes, playing small pentatonic fragments that fit directly around those forms, and the first exercise stays on the top of the E shaped triad so we are not always starting from the bottom of a scale.

As we go on, we play the scale ascending and descending around the root on the D string, then through the full position, always reinforcing where home is. This is important, because one of the common mistakes is treating major pentatonic like minor pentatonic and phrasing it the same way. We want everything to clearly sound like the key we are in.

From there we move into a sequence in fourths, starting from different notes in the scale so it becomes automatic and musical, and then into a more angular idea that breaks the scale into low notes and high notes across the strings. All of these exercises are done in G first, then repeated in C, with the focus staying on sound, interval awareness, and knowing exactly where home is at all times.

Routine