Pentatonics and modes, together

Every mode is a pentatonic plus two

The pentatonic leaves out the two notes that make half steps. Put two notes back and you have a seven-note scale, and which two you add decides which mode. The major pentatonic plus 4 and 7 is the major scale; plus ♯4 and 7, Lydian; plus 4 and ♭7, Mixolydian. The minor pentatonic plus 2 and 6 is Dorian; plus 2 and ♭6, Aeolian; plus ♭2 and ♭6, Phrygian. Only Locrian, with its ♭5 in place of the 5, is not built this way.

So you do not need seven new shapes: keep the box you know and add two notes. Those two are the mode’s colour, so they are also the notes to lean on.

Next: Major and minor →

Mixing major and minor pentatonic

Over a blues or a rock song in A, players use both A pentatonics. Together they make eight notes, R 2 ♭3 3 4 5 6 ♭7. The move at the heart of it is the ♭3 slid or bent up into the 3: minor rubbing against major, the sound of the blues.

Lean major (the 2, 3 and 6) over the I chord for a sweeter, country-blues line; lean minor (the ♭3 and ♭7) over the IV chord, or whenever you want grit.

Next: Three in one key →

Three pentatonics in one key

In any major key, three minor pentatonics fit: on the 6th, the 2nd and the 3rd of the scale. Over a Dorian vamp, three again: on the root, the 2nd and the 5th. They are the same box moved, but each one brings out different notes over the home chord, and that is how players get more than one sound from one shape.

Next: By chord →

Which pentatonic over which chord

When the chord changes, the pentatonic can change with it. A short list for A, each to hear:

Next: Soloing and writing →

Soloing and writing in a mode

• Stay pentatonic, touch the colour. Play the box you know and land on the colour note on a strong beat: Dorian’s 6, Mixolydian’s ♭7, Lydian’s ♯4, Phrygian’s ♭2. A few touches are enough to say which mode it is.
• Let the chords do the work. A two-chord vamp sets the mode up; your line only has to agree with it.
• Write from the colour note. Pick the vamp, then write a melody that keeps coming back to the colour note and resolves to the root at the end.
• Borrow across. Over a minor song, a Dorian 6 for one bar lifts the mood; over a major one, a Mixolydian ♭7 relaxes it.

Three to play over, in A: