Mixed Pentatonic scales

Today we are drawing upon many of the different Pentatonic scales that we have studied throughout this series.The purpose of extracting various triads, arpeggios and Pentatonic scales from within a scale is to provide us with fresh musical perspectives. Each one sounds different and will also make us play in a different way. Diagram 1 lists all the different Pentatonic scales that exist within A Mixolydian.

One thing to remember is that, although Mixolydian is 1-2-3-4-5-6- b 7, it is common practice in blues-based music to add a minor third ( b 3) because it sounds a bit darker. This opens the door to Minor sounds being used from the root of a dominant 7th chord (such as Minor Pentatonic, Blues and Dorian scales), but also augmented 2nd (#2 or #9) sounds such as the 7#9 and 6#9 Pentatonic scales shown in Diagram 1.

So, throughout the solo, you will notice ‘1/4 curl’