Stay in key?

[sausage fingers]

Sorry about this question but I’m trying to understand.
If I play a 12 bar blues in the key of E using the pentatonic scale, when the chord changes to A or 4, can I go up to the 5th fret and barre an A and then play a quick first position lick in A and then continue on back to my open E scale for the rest of the song? So basically I can play 1,4,5 using barre chords and first positions under all the chords E,A, and B?
I hope this makes sense. I don’t know how else to explain it. Thanks

 

[Paleo]

First, Welcome to the forum.

What I think you are describing is changing chords using "6th String Root" barre chords and using Box 1 of the minor pentatonic scale that follows each chord, i.e. has the same 6th string root.

E minor pentatonic Box 1 over E7 (open), A minor pentatonic Box 1 over A7 (5th fret) and B minor pentatonic Box 1 over B7 (7th fret).

Following the attached "cheatsheet", you could play the minor pentatonic of each chord, but it's not what people "usually” do.

You probably won't like the sound.

It would be "simpler", if a beginner, to play the 3 chords in open position and stick to E minor pentatonic in "open" Box 1 throughout.

Like in "Beginning Blues Guitar".

This is what Griff calls “Level 1” soloing.

Playing the minor pentatonic of the first chord over all the chords.

 

[snarf]

According to the attached "cheatsheet", you could play the minor pentatonic of each chord, but it's not what people "normally" do.

You probably won't like the sound.

What Paleo said. You can do it, but it's probably not going to sound the best. There's a little more to playing follow-the-chord (or what Griff calls "every chord is I" - that's level 3 soloing) than just transposing licks from one key to another.

If you're still more of a beginner player, then I'd suggest exactly what Paleo did. Stick with the open chords and Box 1 E minor pent.

If you're a little more than a beginner and trying to branch out, you might try using the chord changes to solidify the other boxes. When the chord changes from E to A, move to the 5th fret for the A and then throw down a Box 3 Em pent lick. When the chord goes to B, move up to the 7th for the B and then drop a Box 4 Em pent lick. If you do that, since you're sticking with the Em pent, it's going to sound good.

If you're more advanced than either of those ideas, then it sounds like you probably want to add some flavor. That's where you want to play some Emaj pent on the I and Em pent on the IV and V.

Take a look at this blog post from Griff. Let us know where on that scale you are in your guitar journey, and Paleo (that dude's a wealth of knowledge and help!) and some of the others may be able to point you in a direction to get you where you want to go.

 

[Paleo]

For a beginner (or even more advanced player) this can seem to get "convoluted" real fast.

A "Blues in E" isn't actually in the "key" of E Major.

It just means the first chord will be an E7.

But E7 isn't in the Key of E Major either; it's the V chord in the Key of A Major!

On top of that, if you play E minor pentatonic you're not in the Key of E or A.

Nothing matches. Not the "Key", the chord or the scale.

But that's what we do.

That's the Blues for ya.

We got our own "rules".

And the "beauty" of it is we don't even have to know "why".

The simplest approach for a blues in X would be to stay in one position and play the X minor pentatonic scale over the entire progression. Go nuts! Nothing will sound "bad".

That's where we all start.

As we progress we can begin to use more "sophisticated" approaches.

Or maybe not.

 

[sausage fingers]

Fantastic.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Great answers. I will use both approaches of staying in open E and if I drop to the A on 5th fret, I’ll just use the 3rd position scale. It’s just that to me, nothing sounds better when playing in the key of E than those simple open chords
Thanks again.