Hello and welcome to this week’s harmonica lesson, where I will be showing you how to improvise using the major pentatonic scale over a 12 bar blues. We will be paying particularly close attention to which notes from the scale to target over each particular chord. This is the last of a little series of lessons on the major pentatonic scale; you can find links to the others at the bottom of this page.
You will need a harmonica in the key of C, and we will be playing in 2nd position in the key of G major.
Backing Track
Here is a backing track for you to practice playing along to.
Other Major Pentatonic Lessons
Here are some other lessons I have done on the major pentatonic scale.
Introduction to major pentatonic blues harmonica licks in 2nd position
Bring It On Home To Me – Sonny Terry
Thank you
Thank you so much for taking part in this lesson. I hope it was useful for you. If you enjoyed it please feel free to share it with your friends on Facebook and/or Twitter.
If you have any questions just send me a wee email.
Happy harping and see you next Wednesday for the next lesson!
The pentatonic improv lesson is great! Very helpful ideas on how to improvise.
I have a lesson idea that might be helpful to your followers, whether blues or not. Singers will often ask you to take a break at the end of a song verse. When I’m asked to do this I just repeat the same verse melody the singer used. This is okay I guess, but gets boring if asked to take another break in same song.
Could you take a well-know old-time standard or old gospel song (not a blues song) and show how you might improvise over the basic melody, giving both your theory and a real example, notes included. This would be an enormous help to me and likely others.
Vern
Hi Vern, I think that is an excellent idea and one that I’ve been prepping material on – so roll on 2017 🙂
Great lesson, Tomlin! I was in the same position (or maybe, in reality, a more elementary one) as Vern. This lesson’s guide to which notes fit with each of the chords is a great guide more me.
Grazie mille!
(No, I’m not Italian. I just think it sounds better than “Thanks a lot”)
Bob
Dang fat fingers! It was supposed to read “a great guide for me.”
Bob
Prego Bob – I’m glad you found it useful 🙂