Major and Minor scales

ThomasTully

ThomasTully

@BBQnBLUESOYEAH
I feel like I am right on the edge of understanding this. Box 1 starting on the fifth fret of the sixth string is Am scale, if I switch to using Box 2, starting on the same fret and string, is that A major scale? I hope that this question makes sense, I'm trying to figure out how to use major and minor scales together.
Thanks in advance and Happy New Year
 
dvs

dvs

Green Mountain Blues
That is also correct. The A major pentatonic scale consists of the same notes as the F# minor pentatonic scale. In the box 1 shape for a major scale, the root is the "second" note on the sixth string (that's the fifth fret when you put the first note on F# at the 2nd fret). The first note in the box 1 shape is the root of a minor scale.
 
ThomasTully

ThomasTully

@BBQnBLUESOYEAH
I'm getting closer Doug, I tend to overthink things sometimes, I was trying to figure out why there was no G# if I played Box 1 starting at the second fret. Maybe I've done too much for tonight!
 
dvs

dvs

Green Mountain Blues
Notes in a minor pentatonic scale are R(1) - b3 - 4 - 5 - b7 - R
Starting Box 1 on the 2nd fret, you're playing an F# minor pentatonic scale, and the first note is the root (F#).

G# is the 2, which is not in the minor pentatonic scale.
 
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PapaBear

PapaBear

Guit Fiddlier
ThomasTully said:
I'm getting closer Doug, I tend to overthink things sometimes, I was trying to figure out why there was =no G# if I played Box 1 starting at the second fret. Maybe I've done too much for tonight!
Click to expand...
G# Would be the 4th Fret and the 7th of the major scale, which wouldn't be in the pentatonic
 
Rancid Rumpboogie

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
I don't know if this will help or confuse. It helped me immensely. I suppose it all depends on how your brain / perception works. I am almost 100% pattern-oriented. Hardly know the name of one note or the other (and at this point after 45 years of playing don't really care a whole lot).
Major - Minor.jpg
This is taken directly from page 6 of this from Griff.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tyh5m6w351gqrn6/major-minor-blues-boxes.pdf?dl=0
 
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BoogieMan

BoogieMan

Blues Junior
What really helped me was imagining the 5 pentatonic boxes as being on a movable piece of clear plastic. When you position the plastic with box 1 sitting over the 5th fret, you have the A minor pentatonic scale. If you slide the imaginary plastic down so that box 1 now sits over the 2nd fret giving you the F# minor pentatonic scale, you see that box 2 now sits nicely over the 5th fret giving you the A major pentatonic scale at the same time. The other boxes will also fall nicely into place. As Doug said, the two scales (F# minor pentatonic and A major pentatonic) have the same notes. This gets into the concept of relative minor but I wouldn't worry about that at this time.

BTW, this little mental exercise makes it easy to see why playing box 1 three frets back from Am pentatonic box 1 will give you A major pentatonic box 1.
 
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JohnHurley

JohnHurley

Rock and Roll
The wheel goes round and round.

Each major scale a for example has a relative minor with the same notes

Major RWWHWWWH or R2212221

Minor RWHWWHWW

Everyone learns differently ... 8 notes to an octave in major minor scales.

Pentatonic R32232
 
jmin

jmin

Student Of The Blues
There are two different tricks that Griff has shared. The first being the "3 fret rule" - If you start with the box 1 Minor pentatonic on the 5th fret (A minor), by shifting down 3 frets (2nd fret, F#) and playing the same pattern you are now playing the A Major pentatonic.
Or, a slightly different take on the same thing - just move your pinky to where the first finger was. For example, playing an A minor, first finger on 5th fret, pinky finger plays the next note (C, on the 8th fret). If you put your pinky where the first finger was (again, moving down 3 frets) you end up on the second fret with your first finger and are now playing the A major scale. These are just "crutches" to help while you master the scales (and actually not recommended as a substitute for mastering the scales).
 
ThomasTully

ThomasTully

@BBQnBLUESOYEAH
Thank You everyone,
There is some great stuff here, and thanks to you I think I get it, now to just start implementing it. I signed up for the BGULab and started last night. It's a bit above my skill set, but there is great info there that is actually benefiting me by forcing me out of the scales and into the boxes, if that makes sense!
 
blackcoffeeblues

blackcoffeeblues

Student Of The Blues
Rancid Rumpboogie said:
I don't know if this will help or confuse. It helped me immensely. I suppose it all depends on how your brain / perception works. I am almost 100% pattern-oriented. Hardly know the name of one note or the other (and at this point after 45 years of playing don't really care a whole lot).
View attachment 6920
This is taken directly from page 6 of this from Griff.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tyh5m6w351gqrn6/major-minor-blues-boxes.pdf?dl=0
Click to expand...
Looks more like a 5 sided Rubic's Cube---I never figured out the 4 sided.:)
 
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