Breaking out of the Box
Pictured above is the world's most used scale by guitar players. It's a five-note scale called the pentatonic scale. ("Penta" is derived from the ancient Greek word pente, meaning five).
To be exact, if we play the above scale pattern in ascending order with the root note be an A (5th fret, 6th string), we would sound out the A minor pentatonic scale.
While the pentatonic scale might seem dependable, tried and true, there are many other ways to express and communicate on the guitar.
Is it crucial for guitar players to break out of the pentatonic box? No, not necessarily; however, breaking out of the pentatonic scale and box shapes can expand our musical vocabulary and creativity.
While the pentatonic scale is a great starting point, relying solely on it can lead to repetitive and predictable guitar solos. By breaking out of these familiar patterns, we can gain insights and skills in order to become less of a predictable guitar player.
To break out of the pentatonic box or shape, we can start by learning new scales that complement the pentatonic scale. Or we can think of it another way: we can add additional note(s) to the pentatonic scale to form new scale(s).
Sounds difficult to break out of the box right? No, the process is actually rather simple, but incredibly profound. The mere fact of simply adding just a single note or two to the pentatonic scale can make one become a better guitar player (there, I said it!) by:
Providing us with an expanded vocabulary in order to create and express more effectively, after all, just as in the English language, adding new words to our vocabulary helps us express more effectively and communicate better.
Allowing us to explore new melodic possibilities and add complexity to our playing.
Supplying us with a broader range of musical vocabulary to communicate with other musicians.
Rewiring our brain that, for so long, has been hardwired and stuck (so to speak) within the same predictable neural pathway. With a rewired brain, new connections (or synapses) are formed and pathways created, allowing us to learn and expand our knowledge and creativity, thus we become a better guitar player as a result.
Giving us the scaffold needed to be able to garner more neural connectivity, ultimately resulting in increased musical knowledge and playing skills.
MOVEABLE Shapes
The nice thing about scales and chords on the guitar is that the scale shapes that we learn are "moveable" patterns or shapes.
Once we know a certain scale or chord pattern on the fretboard, we can move the exact same pattern to a different area of the fretboard and play the same scale or chord type in a different key.
Learning the guitar for beginners is tough as it is, and to have this as our ally is tremendous. To be able to learn one pattern and apply it all over the fretboard to produce scales and chords in different keys allows us to learn them quicker and cuts down the time spent to master them.
I've always loved this about the guitar, and many other musical instruments as well.
Notes on Major Scale and Minor Scale
In Western music, the "mother of all scales" is the heptatonic (7-note) Major Scale. The major scale is a DIATONIC scale having the following sequence of intervals:
Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half
For a review of intervals, head on over to article on intervals:
https://guitarsparks.com/the-building-blocks
This is the formula for all major scales. If we recall from our knowledge of intervals, we know that "Whole" refers to a whole-step interval and "Half" is known as a half-step interval.
On the fretboard, a half-step is the shortest distance from one fret to the next, up or down. Starting on a note on any given string, going a half-step is going up (or down) one fret, such as from A to A♯ (up) or A to A♭ (down). A whole-step is going up (or down) two frets, such as from A to B (up) or A to G (down).
Example -
You'll note that the formula is written in this way as well:
Major: 2-2-1-2-2-2-1
Let's back up a little bit. What the heck is a DIATONIC SCALE anyway? I'm sure you've heard it before but might have wondered what diatonic scale means.
Let's take the mystery out of it once and for all.
A DIATONIC SCALE has the following qualities:
It is a 7-note scale (Heptatonic Scale), or has 7 notes, pitches, or tones per octave.
It must have five whole-tone (whole-steps) intervals and two semitone (half-steps) intervals.
and the two semitone intervals are separated by two and three whole-tone intervals.
You'll note that the major scale examples above have these qualities.
What about Minor Scale?
The minor scale has following sequence of intervals:
Whole Half Whole Whole Half Whole Whole
You'll note that the formula is written in this way as well:
minor: 2-1-2-2-1-2-2
Example -
You'll note that the minor scale is also a DIATONIC SCALE due to the fact that, as with the major scale, it has the qualities described above.
There are many other scales that are DIATONIC in quality.
What about the Pentatonic Scale, or the BLUES Scale? These scales are not DIATONIC scales because the qualities (or rules) of being DIATONIC don't fit with these scales.
Right of the bat, for a scale to be considered "diatonic," it has to have seven (7) notes. The pentatonic scale is a five-note scale and the BLUES scale is a six-note scale.
How about the CHROMATIC SCALE?
A chromatic scale is a 12-note scale. The notes in a chromatic scale are separated by half-step (semitone) intervals.
Again, this particular scale is not a diatonic scale.
Example - C Chromatic Scale
Interval Patterns and Scale Degrees
In music, an interval refers to the distance (in pitch) between two notes. An interval pattern refers to a sequence of intervals that form scales and chords.
Scale degrees refer to the notes in a particular scale and how they relate to the root note (or ROOT).
The example below of a C Major Scale illustrates the notes in the scale, the interval pattern of the scale, and its scale degree.
In the C Major scale, the ROOT note is C (and the following applies in ascending order):
The second note (or degree) of the scale is D
The third note (or degree) of the scale is E
The fourth note (or degree) of the scale is F
and so on......
We had mentioned that the Major Scale is the "mother of all scales" in Western music. The scale degrees of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 generally refers to those of a major scale.
When discussing the scale degrees of a scale that is not a major scale, we use the major scale's scale degrees (1 2 3 4 5 6 7) as the "benchmark" and either alter (sharpened or flattened) or omit the degrees (or notes) to form that particular scale.
(I know this is a mouthful, but you'll see in the examples below of scale degrees of non-major scales...again, this is also a mouthful! sorry!)
Let's go back to the beginning... to why we started this in the first place.
How to break free from the Pentatonic Scale!
Minor Pentatonic Scale
The 5-note minor pentatonic scale has the following scale degrees:
1 b3 4 5 b7
In ascending order, the above A minor pentatonic scale begins on the 5th fret, 6th string, and has the following notes as shown in the below diagram:
Scale Notes: A C D E G
How do we begin to break out of that scale pattern?
By adding just one note to the 5-note pattern, you can start playing the blues. Well sort of..
You'll be playing a BLUES scale that contains a single "blue note."
Minor BLUES Scale
By adding a b5 to the sequence and you'll have a 6-note BLUES scale with the following scale degrees:
1 b3 4 b5 5 b7
The minor BLUES scale can be thought of a minor pentatonic scale with a flat 5 (or ♭5).
Some people refer to this as the "Pentablues" scale.
In the A Minor Blues scale, the flat 5 (♭5) is that "blue note." This note, combined with the minor pentatonic scale, gives your playing that bluesy sound.
Want an even 'cleaner" break out of the pentatonic pattern?
Try adding Major 2nd and Major 6th intervals (relative to the root) to the pentatonic scale and you will have the following scale degrees:
1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7
The above interval pattern is that of the heptatonic (7-note) DORIAN mode, or the second mode of the major (Ionian) scale.
The Dorian mode is DIATONIC, as it embodies the qualities previously described.
Example - A Dorian Mode
Here's how we would play the A Dorian mode on the fretboard. The diagrams below illustrate the notes as well as the scale degrees.
Note that the notes in red are the additional notes ("Dorian notes") we add to our A Minor Pentatonic scale to form an entirely new scale and, hence, breaking out of the PENTATONIC BOX entirely.
Below is the scale degrees of the Dorian Mode. We arrive at Dorian by adding the 2nd and 6th degree (of the major scale) to the minor pentatonic scale.
1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7
DORIAN Mode - Scale Degrees
Notes of A DORIAN Mode