THE PROFESSOR Although you might think it’s a bit cliche, as you can see demonstrated expertly in this lesson by Javier, knowing your blues and minor pentatonic scales inside and out can really help you when learning how to play any blues song in the style of Robert Johnson, SRV, B.B. King and other legendary players. These two scales are the backbone of this music, and you can hear in this lesson how they make the slide work sound gritty and down-home bluesy in a very cool way. 

Really nailing the minor blues scale and minor pentatonic scale all over the neck, and having an understanding of where to apply these two popular scales, will allow you to quickly grab any new blues lesson or song and start jamming on it right away. These are the two most commonly used scales in blues and rock, so they should be a priority in your practicing if you haven’t learned them already.