Hi Andrew,

I really like your lesson on the Minor Pentatonic scale.
There is one thing that I don't understand. If you figure out the boxpatterns for the different keys, with some of the keys, for instance B, you start with box 1 at the 7th fret.
Am I right that in those cases boxes 4 and/or 5 move to the beginning of the neck? Otherwise the last box would end at fret 19.

I think it sounds a bit vaque, but look at the attached picture to see what I mean

I hope you can clear this up for me...

Hmm

that's usefull, thanx!

ANDREW PLEASE REMOVE THIS TOPIC!

This post has been edited by Hemlok: Oct 22 2007, 10:43 PM

Lets just ignore botoxfox, he's obviously been on the beers again

The answer to your question is yes, no or both!

When we get past the 12th fret, the notes repeat an octave higher. So, it is musically valid to play a box on the 19th fret, but it is equally valid to play it an octave lower on the 7th fret. In both cases you are playing the same scale. Theoretically, a scale goes down forever and up forever, repeating itself every octave. In practice, you can only play a few octaves on a guitar, but they are still valid.

Thanks Andrew,

I understand that I shouldn't think in boxes to much. Hemlok explained that already.
So the boxes are just aids in learning the scales, right? A sort of bite-size piece which you can handle without changing the position of your fretting hand.

Thanks Andrew,

I understand that I shouldn't think in boxes to much. Hemlok explained that already.
So the boxes are just aids in learning the scales, right? A sort of bite-size piece which you can handle without changing the position of your fretting hand.

Thats a very good way of putting it - people usually learn boxes first because they are easier to digest than the entire fretboard. The flipside of that is that sooner or later, to progress you have to train yourself to break out of the boxes.

One thing boxes are good for though is arpeggios ...

Hi. Need some guidence.
I have some (probably stupid) beginners question
I can only play the basic chords like C, Em, D, A, G and so on + I have just completed the "kick off" and have started on the scale practising (10th day now).

My questions:
1. If I play a C minor pentatonic scale, will all the "C chords" be found inside that scale ?
2. Also I wonder about the backing tracks, say the backing track is made entirely of chords, and I play the C minor pent. scale, what are the rules, chord-wise, for that backing track?
3. Last question, If I play the C minor pent scale in a song, dose the entire song have to be in that scale then?

Ok, in order ...

First, there are a couple of oddities with the Pentatonic scale when it comes to matching up chords.

The first one stems from the fact that the Minor Pentatonic can also be thought of as a Minor scale with missing notes, and when working with chord we would tend to go back to the minor scale rather than use the pentatonic sincs it is technically quite difficult to make nice chords just out of the pentatonic scale. Since the Minor Penta is a subset of minor, it will work ok over chords made up fgrom notes in the minor scale.

Secondly, it is usually a nono to mix minor and major 3rds, however, when playing minor pentatonic this rule is suspended and you get the blues

So with this in mind, I will answer your questions a little more loosely or we will run into trouble!



Not quite sure what you meant here, but if for instance you pick a scal, lets say C major, there is a list of chord cariations that work for that scale. In the case of C major you could use C, Dm, Em F, G, Am Bdiminished - these are chords that are made up from notes out of the scale, and there is a theory lesson on it here.



The rule (and it is more of a guideline) would be ti use chords derived from the scale (as in the lesson above). In the case of C Minor Pentatonic you could use chords from the C Major Scale - the ones I listed above.


Not at all! Three things here:

1. Chords and Scales interact - as longa s they align you can change between different scales. For instance, over a chord of C minor, you could play C Pentatonic, C Phyrgian, C Dorian ... there is a long list.

2. Even given the above, you can slide in notes or even parts of scales that conflict as long as you do it in passing - this is called playing outside (as in outside the scale)

3. Finally, Keys are not the same as scales, and you can change keys all the time in a song of you want to, its called Modulation, and generally includes a change of chord sequence )though not every change of chord sequence is necessarily a modulation).

Thanks Andrew I got it - in theory that is - Just need some 1000 hours of practise now
I will have to study more of your Theory lessons, glad I have lots of spare time at my daily work