By PT
For many guitarists, learning the pentatonic scale was an early milestone in our guitar playing journeys. They were five little notes that opened the door to a much larger world. I’ll never forget the guitar high I got the first time I grabbed the G-string and bent the heck of out of it while playing over a 12-bar blues progression. Now that was guitar playing! Watch out world; PT is armed with the blues box!
But as Uncle Ben taught us, with great power comes great responsibility. The pentatonic scale is an alluring master, eager to pull well-meaning guitar players into the jaws of tired, clichéd soloing.
Below is a conversation I had with the cool kid who first showed me the pentatonic scale when I was an impressionable sophomore in high school. Note: This was nearly twenty years ago, so it is possible (though highly unlikely) that this may not be the conversation verbatim.
PT: Wait a minute. So you are saying I can use this to solo over anything?
Cool Kid (Les Paul in hand): Yep.
PT: So if the song is in the key of A, I just play any note in this scale on fifth fret?
Cool Kid: Yep.
PT (his mind officially blown): So this is pretty much the secret to being a good guitar player?
Cool Kid (a man of few words who prefers to let his pentatonic scales do the talking): Yep.
It took years of awful guitar soloing for me to realize the inaccuracy of Cool Kid’s statements.
If, like me, you find yourself easily thrown by odd chord changes and unsure why sometimes your trusty old pentatonic licks don’t sound quite right, allow me to introduce your new best friend: 'The Blues With Brains' series by Chuck D’Aloia.
Mr. D’Aloia is a tasteful player with a glorious tone and oddles of style. He teaches in a casual, laid back manner, but don’t be fooled. There is a plethora of information in these lessons. 'Blues With Brain Part 1' is about an hour and fifteen minutes long. I have gone through that lesson at least five times, and I’ve picked up plenty of nuances on each viewing.
Chuck starts with the basic pentatonic scale over a both a major and minor blues progression in the first lesson. He demonstrates how making fairly minor changes to the way you approach a blues solo can have dramatic results. And that is just the beginning.
I can’t say enough good things about this series. It has me excited about blues in a way I haven’t been in a long time. I am considering tracking down my old buddy Cool Kid and buying him a copy.
Mr. D’Aloia has priced these lessons quite reasonably: $20 for any one lesson, the complete six-part 'Blues With Brains' series for $50, or the 'Blues With Brains' series plus four additional advanced lessons for $100. And I think it’s fair to say that these lessons will have a far greater impact on your playing and sound than that $100 pedal you’ve been eyeing.
The lessons presume a basic knowledge of pentatonic scales in various positions, so you may want to brush up on those if it’s been a while since your last blues solo.
To learn more, hear Chuck’s music and get a free lesson, check out http://chuckdaloiamusic.com/id2.html
PT is the co-host of the guitar talk podcast Six-String Bliss. He also writes fiction and has been known to throw a little disc golf. He lives in the birthplace of country music.
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