i was talking to a musician friend of mine, that I know from church, about blues soloing. He uses the relative minor scale. What is it on 3 and 4 string cigar box guitar? Are there tabs and lessons for it? Thanks.
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I'm just looking for blues soloing tips. He does all the crazy hammer-pjs, pull-offs, trills, and other embellishments. He said relative minor, in relation to the major scale. I think he said 3 frets back. When theory is thrown in, it's like throwing a monkey wrench into the equation.
You can get it without theory: take my eight bar blues as an example, play the chords, and whistle or sing the solo lines, maybe you'll find the scales which work on each step of the progression...
Timothy Hunter > Dustin AurandFebruary 28, 2017 at 9:13am
here you go for a GDg tuning.... to get the blues feel dont play too square. ie on the beat.. you have to swing it a bit.. lay back...
Write a song using only those notes and it's in the Key of G.
Allowable chords are GBD, ACE, BDF#, CEG, DF#A, EGB, F#AC
Now if you back up 2 notes for your starting point the scale is called E Minor, which is the relative minor of G Major, same notes just starting 2 spots earlier.
E F# G A B C D E
and same chords.
Blues (and many rock) solos are based on the pentatonic minor, a subset of the minor scale, 1-3-4-5-7 notes of the minor scale, in this case
E G A B D
same notes in the major scale
G A B D E which are 1-2-3-5-6
so what's the point of all this? to solo just play the 5 notes in whatever order/syncopation moves you.
If you know the key, you can figure out the 5 notes.
But this got me wondering: why didn't you (Dustin) just get yer buddy to show you? That's the bestest, fastest way to learn riffs and scales. Or is it you play 6-stringers at church, didn't have your 3- or 4-stringer with you, and simply had trouble mentally translating from 6 to 3 and 4?
JL has given you the key (pun intended)...
Dustin Aurand > Ron "Oily" SpragueFebruary 28, 2017 at 9:01am
I was planning on it. He plays 6 string, and I play 3 and 4 string. I was just on my way to Sunday School, and I'm sure he was, too. He explained it in an email.
It can get confusing. Wikipedia lists a couple of definitions for relative minor. The first definition for minor is as Russell has it: 3 semitones below the major key. So C major, count down 3, A minor. However, many musicians also understand it this way (and as Donald Tovey, a British musicologist, argued in the first half of the 20th century): the relative minor of, say, C major, is (sounds logical)...C minor.
Ask your friend to demonstrate, because he might possibly be referring to the minor pentatonic scale. If so, there's a nice explanation of how to use it for Blues soloing here:
Another thing I recommend to people, is to map the notes on their fretboard, for their specific tuning, for any number of strings. Once you do that, you can start to map specific scales. Much blues soloing is done using the minor pentatonic scale.
Yes, I could probably find what you're looking for for you somewhere on this site, as I'm sure I've seen (and Searched for) it. But where's the fun in that? ;-)
I suppose your musician friend with «relative minor scales» meant this: let's start with blues progression, a G minor eight bar blues on power chords:
1: G chord open, four beats 2: C chord on 5th fret, four beats 3: G chord open, four beats 4: D chord on 7th fret, four beats 5: G chord open, four beats 6: C chord on 5th fret, four beats 7: G chord open, two beats D chord on 7th fret, two beats 8: G chord open, two beats D chord on 7th fret, two beats
Different from jazz improvisation, for soloing over a G chord you play in G minor, over a C chord in C minor, and over a D chord in D minor, whatever «minor» exactly means...
The Minor scale starts at the 6th of the Major Key. If the song key is C then the 6th is an A which would be the relative minor of C. Just count up 6 notes from any Major key to get to the minor. Actually it is easier to go back 2 notes to get there, As from C you go back one to B and then another to A.
Hope this helps.
EDIT: Actually you count back 3 note as you always count the starting note as 1, So it is C=1 , B = 2 , and A = 3
Replies
Theory is JUST A SET OF LABELS for what sounds good so that musicians can talk about it to each other, nothing to get flustered about.
Do that taking-off and moving about thingy you did for me a few times back - or - rotate the tires.
That pointer kinda doo-hickey that you in-and-out stuff with - or - a screwdriver
3 frets - or - a minor third
4 frets - or - a major 3rd
You can get it without theory: take my eight bar blues as an example, play the chords, and whistle or sing the solo lines, maybe you'll find the scales which work on each step of the progression...
here you go for a GDg tuning.... to get the blues feel dont play too square. ie on the beat.. you have to swing it a bit.. lay back...
Pick a scale, such as G Major
G A B C D E F# G
Write a song using only those notes and it's in the Key of G.
Allowable chords are GBD, ACE, BDF#, CEG, DF#A, EGB, F#AC
Now if you back up 2 notes for your starting point the scale is called E Minor, which is the relative minor of G Major, same notes just starting 2 spots earlier.
E F# G A B C D E
and same chords.
Blues (and many rock) solos are based on the pentatonic minor, a subset of the minor scale, 1-3-4-5-7 notes of the minor scale, in this case
E G A B D
same notes in the major scale
G A B D E which are 1-2-3-5-6
so what's the point of all this? to solo just play the 5 notes in whatever order/syncopation moves you.
If you know the key, you can figure out the 5 notes.
Major -> 1-2-3-5-6
Minor -> 1-3-4-5-7
But this got me wondering: why didn't you (Dustin) just get yer buddy to show you? That's the bestest, fastest way to learn riffs and scales. Or is it you play 6-stringers at church, didn't have your 3- or 4-stringer with you, and simply had trouble mentally translating from 6 to 3 and 4?
JL has given you the key (pun intended)...
Ask your friend to demonstrate, because he might possibly be referring to the minor pentatonic scale. If so, there's a nice explanation of how to use it for Blues soloing here:
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/index.php/The_Minor_Pentaton...(lesson)
Another thing I recommend to people, is to map the notes on their fretboard, for their specific tuning, for any number of strings. Once you do that, you can start to map specific scales. Much blues soloing is done using the minor pentatonic scale.
Yes, I could probably find what you're looking for for you somewhere on this site, as I'm sure I've seen (and Searched for) it. But where's the fun in that? ;-)
I suppose your musician friend with «relative minor scales» meant this: let's start with blues progression, a G minor eight bar blues on power chords:
1: G chord open, four beats
2: C chord on 5th fret, four beats
3: G chord open, four beats
4: D chord on 7th fret, four beats
5: G chord open, four beats
6: C chord on 5th fret, four beats
7: G chord open, two beats
D chord on 7th fret, two beats
8: G chord open, two beats
D chord on 7th fret, two beats
Different from jazz improvisation, for soloing over a G chord you play in G minor, over a C chord in C minor, and over a D chord in D minor, whatever «minor» exactly means...
The Minor scale starts at the 6th of the Major Key. If the song key is C then the 6th is an A which would be the relative minor of C. Just count up 6 notes from any Major key to get to the minor. Actually it is easier to go back 2 notes to get there, As from C you go back one to B and then another to A.
Hope this helps.
EDIT: Actually you count back 3 note as you always count the starting note as 1, So it is C=1 , B = 2 , and A = 3
Russ in Tucson