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Minor 6th Pentatonics - Introduction

Tom Quayle 164 lessons

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Hi there guitar lovers!

This months tutorial is on Minor 6th pentatonic scales. What an earth are those you may ask?

A minor 6th pentatonic is a hybrid pentatonic scale built from a Dorian or Melodic Minor scale and differs from our standard minor pentatonic by only one note. But this one note makes a huge difference when it comes to soloing and the applications of the scale.

A normal minor pentatonic scale has the formula,

R, b3, 4, 5, b7

The minor 6th pentatonic has the formula,

R, b3, 4, 5, 6

As you can see, the b7 has been changed to the major 6th interval from a dorian or melodic minor scale. Because the b7 has been removed the scale can fit a dorian or melodic minor tonality and any of their associated chords. Very useful!

This scale is used a great deal by Sax players such as Jerry Bergonzi and the late Michael Brecker and by notable guitarists such as Robben Ford and John Scofield.

In this tutorial we'll learn how to use and apply the scale over chords and specifically over a minor blues.

Lets move on to the next video to learn how to play the scale on the guitar.

Good luck!

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