Guitar Scales
The following post talks about scales. If you really want to learn every major, minor and pentatonic scale for guitar (along with the chord-tone arpeggios), you’ll want to get my new ebook ‘Advanced Guitar Basics: Scales and Arpeggios’ (click the link for more!).
Well…this scale isn’t really Indian, but it’s definitely a variation on the pentatonic scale! The reason it gets called the “Indian Pentatonic” is that the sound you get from it is often reminiscent of Indian Classical music (at least it is to the untrained ear). It could also be called the mixolydian or dominant pentatonic, as it has qualities of the mixolydian mode, and fits well over dominant 7th chords.
The Minor Pentatonic Scale
The basic minor pentatonic scale has five notes:
1 b3 4 5 b7
This means that, in comparison to the major scale, we’ve taken only the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th notes and then flattened the 3rd and 7th. That’s how the minor pentatonic scale is made.
Here’s some tab for the A minor pentatonic:
You’re probably quite familiar with this shape (even if you weren’t aware of it!), but if you’re not, I suggest clicking the link above to learn more about the minor pentatonic scale first.
The Indian Pentatonic
Now, to get the Indian/mixolydian/dominant pentatonic we change only one note- the 3rd. We take away the “flat”, and make it a major third. So now our scale looks like this:
1 3 4 5 b7
Here’s the D Indian Scale in tab (compare to the tab above):
I’ve put all the 3rds in brackets.
We now have a scale that has a major third, and a flat seven- just like the mixolydian scale, or a dominant 7 chord! Try playing around with this new scale and see what you can come up with…
Guitar Scales
Ever wanted to learn the notes on guitar and finally unlock the fretboard? Then you’ll want to get my new ebook ‘Advanced Guitar Basics: Scales and Arpeggios’! It contains every major and minor scale for the electric guitar. It also has every major and minor pentatonic scale and major and minor arpeggio.
Treat it as a reference book for when you’re practising, soloing, or transposing into other keys. Part of the ‘Advanced Guitar Basics’ series- laying the foundation of advanced electric guitar playing. (click the link for more!).