Just as chords come in two versions—major and minor—so do scales. The pentatonic scale you've been using is actually a minor pentatonic scale, and it's the most common for rock and blues music. But many rock bands, such as The Beatles, the Allman Brothers Band, the Grateful Dead, and Phish make use of the major pentatonic scale in their music.

The major pentatonic scale differs from the minor pentatonic scale in only one important way: You start on a different note. The major pentatonic scale starts on the second note and calls that note its root. FIGURE 3-10 shows a C-Major pentatonic scale.

Notice how all the minor pentatonic examples start with the first finger on the low E string, but all the major pentatonic scales begin with the fourth finger on the low E string. Visualizing the scales as shapes can help you learn them quicker.

You might be a bit confused now. How can the minor pentatonic scale use the same basic shape as the major pentatonic? Did you play it yet? If not try it now. Sounds totally different, right? It's an amazing little thing you've just discovered. All you did was change the starting note and the whole sound of the scale changed. This is a crucial concept in music and one you will return to throughout this book.

Music is very economical; it uses only twelve different pitches. Reusing those pitches in a new order yields more variation. Scales often have immensely different sounds if they're played from different starting notes. What's important now is how the scales are different and where we can use them.

Scale Settings

Utilizing the basic shape, you know the only difference between major and minor pentatonic, other than its sound, is what finger you think of as the root. The minor pentatonic uses the first finger on the low E string for its root. The major pentatonic uses the fourth finger as its root. The basic shape stays the same but the name of the scale changes depending on what finger you start on.

So we can now refer to the A-minor pentatonic scale as possibly being a C-Major pentatonic scale. This duality is referred to as a scale relation. Scale relations are discussed in greater detail in Chapter 7. For now, just understand that there is an important connection between A minor and C Major.

Use It or Lose It

Now that you have two scales under your belt, it's important to discuss when and where to use them effectively. If you know the key of the song you're playing, you're in very good shape. A song in the key of A minor uses the A-minor pentatonic scale. A song in the key of G Major uses the G-Major pentatonic scale.

Sometimes you'll run into situations where you don't know which scale to use. Many rock songs utilize power chords for their chordal rhythm playing. Power chords are neither major nor minor, and they actually contain only two notes. Major and minor chords always contain at least three.

When you play power chord–based songs, it can be hard to decide whether to use major or minor pentatonic scales. FIGURE 3-11 shows three different versions of a C chord: C Major, C minor, and C power (also called C5). Notice how the C power chord sounds neutral compared to the other major and minor chords. Power chords, because they contain fewer notes than major and minor chords, will never sound as rich as major and minor chords that contain three or more notes.

Since power chords don't provide you with a positive answer to whether minor or major pentatonic scales are appropriate, the best way is to experiment with both scales. Try this: Record yourself playing the chords that you'll be soloing over; then try playing both pentatonic scales over the tape to see what sounds best. Your ear will be the ultimate guide as to what sounds good and what doesn't.

For example, if your song ends with an E power chord and you're sure that E is the root, you can try playing an E-Major or an E-minor chord in its place to determine which pentatonic scale to use. Once you have determined which chord sounds correct, you can then play the correct scale. See, this isn't so hard!