Chords in natural minor keys follow the pattern, minor diminished major minor minor major major. Easy 251 jazz improvisation with pentatonic scale youtube. C pentatonic works over those chords as well as am7, cmaj7. Which chords go along with pentatonic and blues scales. In part 1 of this tutorial, we created a full solo piano arrangement.
Just as in improvising, or soloing, the pentatonic scale avoids problematic dissonance. Welcome to this course on the minor blues progression. Lets have a look at c major pentatonic the minor one will come later. The minor blues chord progression online piano course. While this does the job as far as creating that bluesy sound, there is a far more. Then string them together to create chord progressions. The black keys on your piano are pentatonic and theyre in the key of g flat and its relative minor, e flat minor. Now i tried to build a little chord progression with this knowledge. If you listen to any blues piano recording of your choice, youll hear the pianist connecting. Forcing a dmi sound over a g7 chord gives a g7sus sound. We will learn a very practical method to improvise jazz over the 251 chord progression in major. Jul 23, 2019 and again this scale can be used over pretty much any chord progression in the minor key.
Do i have to decide on what scale scales my chord progression is playing and then find the right chords which fits together. How to use the pentatonic scale in jazz progressions guitar. The following piano key chord chart shows all the triads in b minor as well as four note extended chords. Whole and a half, whole, half, half, whole and a half, whole. Try a different lefthand pattern i have a free download for this too.
Melody generally uses the notes of a chord or notes that return to it. Despite the age and history of the pentatonic scale, it is used extensively in modern jazz improvisation. Lets now take a look at common chord progressions in the key of c minor natural. The ragtime progression is a chord progression characterized by a chain of secondary dominants following the circle of fifths, named for its popularity in the ragtime genre, despite being much older. For example, a common resolution sequence is ii v i 2 5 1, and while the root minor pentatonic scale of that key wouldnt work so. Lets now take a look at common chord progressions in the key of b minor. Lets take a look at common piano chord progressions in minor keys. Chord progressions for minor pentatonic soloing guitarhabits. The chords of the pentatonic scale are the same as the standard minor, so theyd be im, iiim, ivm, vm and vii. Posted in piano arranging tagged 12 bar blues, blues songs, boogie woogie, chord changes, chord progression, chord progressions, chords, classical piano, country western piano styles, gospel piano, gospel styles, improvisation, jazz piano, minor pentatonic scales, new age piano, piano style, ragtime piano, rhythm and blues, sacred liturgical. Moving to dm, the iv or 4 chord, were looking for d minor chord tones within a minor pentatonic as our target notes. So both the chord and scale share the same root and therefore this is the most natural and resolved chord to use minor pentatonic over. Change chord tonalities from major to minor or vice versa. If you want to connect the chords to the keyscale, you may target chord tones within the scale patterns based on the caged shapes.
The pentatonic scale, major and minor free piano lessons. The reason you could use the d minor pentatonic over a g7 chord is because the dmi chord and g7 chord often go together in chord progressions. The progression is an example of centripetal harmony, harmony which leads to the tonic and an example of the circle progression, a progression along the circle of fourths. Dec, 2017 we will learn a very practical method to improvise jazz over the 251 chord progression in major. Chord i is a minor chord, chord ii is a diminished chord, iii is major, iv is minor, v is minor, vi is major and vii is a major chord. The pentatonic blues scale is built upon three dominant chords. Try to play chords like c, em, f, g and am with your left hand and then create melodies from the white keys c, d, e, g, a with your right hand.
Pentatonic scales are the oldest musical scales in the word. If i harmonize the a natural minor scale above into 7th chords i get am7 bmin7b5 cmaj7 dm7 em7 fmaj7 g7 am7. Chord families every melody and accompaniment is based on a chord. Try playing the progression in different registers of the piano. If you want to build chords exclusively with the five notes in a pentatonic scale, just go ahead and stack those notes in different ways and find pleasant chords. In this lesson im going to introduce you to the concept of pentatonic harmony. How to build chord progressions with pentatonic scales quora. We start by introducing the minor blues form and exploring the similarities and differences to the standard 12 bar blues.
Moving to dm, the iv or 4 chord, were looking for d minor chord tones within a. Sep 18, 2018 choose the appropriate scale based on the key ie. Notice how both an e minor em chord and a g major chord fit into pentatonic pattern 1 in the open position. How to solo and improvise on any chord progression free. Try to play chords like c, em, f, g and am with your left hand and then create melodies from the. According to jermaine griggs, scales form chords, while chords form chord progressions. Pentatonic scale chord progression piano world piano. If you want to connect the chords to the keyscale, you may target chord.
Melodies built on the pentatonic scale have a very special property to them. Now, you could change scales for 1 bar, but thatll just complicate things. Blues piano scales, chords, and chord progressions for. Major pentatonic scales are especially common in traditional folk music, country and gospel. Apr 12, 2014 notice how both chords consist exclusively of notes from the a minor pentatonic scale. In most cases, as long as the chords used in the progression lie within the same key more on this in a minute. Piano pentatonic blues scales overview with pictures. Heres the formula to find the chords to your progression. So far we have started each progression on a minor chord. Piano accessories and music gift items, digital piano dolly, music theme party goods, and more.
So as a soloist you need to be confident with playing over it. How pentatonic scales work piano questions answered youtube. Creating beautiful minor chord progressions free online. Soloing over the v chord using major pentatonic fretjam. Pentatonic scale improvisation pentatonic scale soloing. Because these identical notes are arranged in different ways, each voicing has a unique sound. In order to improvise you need to know and play every chord very well. What i love about this progression is how it sounds really unfinished. Maybe i dont get what it is exactly that you are doing, or how you intend to be using a pentatonic scale. Take, for example, the 3rd note e in c major pentatonic. So g major pentatonic fits over the entire chord progression except bar 6, which is in g. This one starts on the minor ii, before moving to the i and then the v. Even if the progression doesnt follow the traditional blues 1 4 5 sequence, you can still use minor pentatonic over the v 5 chord of a progression, before the resolution back to a major or minor tonic. While this does the job as far as creating that bluesy sound, there is a far more effective and expressive way of playing through blues changes.
The v 5 chord is an important chord in major key progressions. If they are confident, they can also record themselves playing thru the progression on their phone or digital piano and then play it back and improvise over the top using a pentatonic scale. You can play them in any order, together or on their own. There we do have f, ab, bb, c, eb which is the f minor pentatonic scale. The f pentatonic can be used over chords dm7, fmaj7 and g7sus chords that contain f. Without speaking, he placed sheet music on the music stands in front of us, revealing the chord changes and melody for the classic jazz standard on dolphin.
If we were writing a song in c major, we could pick three chords. At first glance, it appears that the minor blues are the same as the standard, except with minor chords instead of dominant. Chords in the key of c minor cm free piano lessons. Like the natural minor scale, you can also use the minor pentatonic scale to solo over a song or chord progression in a minor key. The pentatonic scale can function as both major and minor on the guitar. This is the second lesson in a 2 part study of the tune blue moon by richard rodgers. At first glance, it appears that the minor blues are the same as the standard, except with minor chords instead of dominant 7 chords. However, it also works over sequences of chords chord progressions. The fondamental drill is playing every chord and every inversion of each chord. We can see the relationship when comparing the notes in the scale. Sometimes a song becomes so well known and widely played that it becomes a jazz standard.
How to superimpose the pentatonic minor scale over chord progressions in a number of different scenarios. Though creating or featuring chromaticism, the bass if the roots of the chords, and often the melody, are pentatonic. Jul 09, 2018 take, for example, the 3rd note e in c major pentatonic. In the case of c pentatonic, the three chords are c7 f7 g7. Something i teach in depth in my 4 chord composing course. From scales and chords theory to a chord progression. Chord progressions for pentatonic melodies the essential. Oct 28, 2006 maybe i dont get what it is exactly that you are doing, or how you intend to be using a pentatonic scale.
Great blues guitarists will use the d dominant pentatonic scale when improvising. The big difference between the pentatonic and the major and minor scale is that the pentatonic contains no semitones. Relative to the a root, the other three notes are the chords b3, 5, and b7, respectively. C, d, e, g, a, c which are the 1st,2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th degrees of the major scale. Common jazz chord progressions the jazz piano site. Also typical of parlour music, its use originated in classical music and later spread to american folk music. Sep 25, 2018 melodies built on the pentatonic scale have a very special property to them. In the minor pentatonic its notes 1,3,4,5 and 7missing 2 and 6.
You can start with e minor pentatonic, but the same notes and patterns can also produce g major pentatonic. Whole and a half, whole, whole, whole and a half, whole. Jazz, like every music genre, has its overused cliches and standard repertoire. So, am, the tonic or i or 1 chord, wed start with a minor pentatonic. In the classroom, there was another guitar player, a piano player, a drummer, a bass player and our teacher, who was standing at the head of the room, examining his pupils as we walked in. Notice how both chords consist exclusively of notes from the a minor pentatonic scale. I guess a chord progression if based around notes from a given pentatonic scale would simply be the notes used within that pentatonic scale, eg. How to form major pentatonic scales on piano one way of forming the pentatonic is to use the following formula after picking the starting note of the scale.
In the key of a minor this would give us the chords, a minor, b diminished, c major, d minor, e minor, f major and g major. From the c major scale, three pentatonic scales can be derived. Theres a powerful connection between scales, chords, and chord progressions. One other chameleon quality the minor pentatonic scale has is its ability to fit perfectly over any straight minor chord, no matter where it is in the chord progression. Similar to the iv chord lesson, well be jamming over a 1 5 track using our elementary major key scale major pentatonic. The whole thing with the piano scales and chords is really difficult to understand, but i have a lot of fun learning it. We will use the chords derived from the natural minor scale to build your minor key chord progression. To understand how this works, look at this example.
Pentatonic scales are really useful if youre improvising on the piano, because theyre very reliable if you have a regular chord progression then if you use the right pentatonic to solo over it. This lesson is closely related to the pentatonic improvisation lesson so if you havent watched that tutorial id recommend you check that out first. Most effective way of soloing over blues progressions. The one pentatonic per chord approach to soloing over a. The following piano key chord chart shows all the triads in c minor as well as four note extended chords. Similar to the iv chord lesson, well be jamming over a 1 5 track using our elementary major key scale major pentatonic but theres a slight twist which well come to in a moment. How to use the pentatonic scale in jazz progressions. What makes the pentatonic scale so amazing is that you can play those notes over pretty much any progression in the key of g. How to use the pentatonic scale as major and minor on the. Soloing over blues progressions a more effective approach most guitarists are taught to play minor pentatonic or the flat 5 blues scale when soloing over a 1 4 5 blues progression. There is so much to explore and discover with the pentatonic scales. How to solo and improvise on any chord progression piano.
Once you have a chord progression, you can write a melody using notes from the pentatonic scale. Similar to the pentagon, which has 5 sides, the pentatonic scale is a 5 note scale which can be used in any key for improvisation. Next lesson, make sure you have a listen back to what theyve achieved before either building on it, or trying another progression. How to solo and improvise on any chord progression piano lesson. This fivenote scale is similar to the major scale, but with the 4th and 7th degrees removed. With the same principle to make voicings for the f minor pentatonic scale we get example 2. And these jazz standards often become or are built from commonly used chord progressions. Chords in the key of b minor bmin free piano lessons.
Blue moon 1625 progression the iviiiv progression for. Nov 16, 2018 in the classroom, there was another guitar player, a piano player, a drummer, a bass player and our teacher, who was standing at the head of the room, examining his pupils as we walked in. Notice how all the notes in the chord are covered in this dominant pentatonic scale. And again this scale can be used over pretty much any chord progression in the minor key.