{"id":128,"date":"2014-11-19T18:41:12","date_gmt":"2014-11-19T18:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/proproach.com\/piano-techniques\/?p=128"},"modified":"2014-11-19T19:15:42","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T19:15:42","slug":"piano-improvisation-tutorial-pentatonic-scale-solos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/proproach.com\/piano-techniques\/piano-improvisation-tutorial-pentatonic-scale-solos\/","title":{"rendered":"Piano Improvisation Tutorial: Pentatonic Scale Solos"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Piano-Improvisation-Tutorial-Pentatonic-Scale-Solos\"If you have an interest in developing some pentatonic scale solos, as a beginner this is a good choice since you can really come up with some impressive sounds with little effort. Who said it needed to be complex to be good, right? It certainly doesn’t. Actually, when it comes to creating simplistic solos that sound “pro,” the utilization of pentatonic scales is an excellent choice.<\/p>\n

Let’s see how to come up with a pentatonic scale:<\/p>\n

“Pentatonic” is derived from “penta,” which means “five” in Greek. Therefore, a pentatonic scale is a five note scale. Let’s first take a look at a G Major scale:<\/p>\n

G\u00a0 A\u00a0 B\u00a0 C\u00a0 D\u00a0 E\u00a0 F#\u00a0 G
\n1\u00a0\u00a0 2 \u00a0 3\u00a0 4\u00a0 5 \u00a0 6 \u00a0 7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 8<\/p>\n

Let’s extract the following scale degrees from this major scale:<\/p>\n

1, 2, 3, 5, and 6<\/p>\n

Thus, this leaves us with the following, which is a G Major pentatonic scale:<\/p>\n

G\u00a0 A\u00a0 B\u00a0 D\u00a0 E<\/p>\n

Of course, we can repeat the 1 as we do with the major scale, resulting in:<\/p>\n

G\u00a0 A\u00a0 B\u00a0 D\u00a0 E\u00a0 G<\/p>\n

An\u00a0 interesting characteristic of the pentatonic scale is the unique flavor we get from simply playing it in either an ascending or descending fashion. However, some of the real magic can happen when using bits and pieces of this scale and creating patterns with it.
\nHere is one example of a descending pattern that can be used to create some interesting pentatonic scale solos:<\/p>\n

G E D\u00a0\u00a0 E D B\u00a0\u00a0 D B A\u00a0 BAG etc.<\/p>\n

The use of the pentatonic scale is unlimited. The possibilities go way beyond the scope of this particular piano improvisation tutorial since this is simply an introduction. Below is a short video clip excerpted from Sneak Peeks #2,<\/em> illustrating the G Major pentatonic scale. Of course, you will want to play this scale in other keys as well!<\/p>\n