This lesson is part of a Study Group for Mandolin Master Class by Brad Laird. To start at the beginning, go to this thread: https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/g...865&do=discuss To purchase a copy of the book we're using, go here: http://www.bradleylaird.com/mandou-site/buymmc.html List of all lessons in this series can be found here: https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/g..._message_61714 Playlist of all lesson videos can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...e_polymer=true Lesson Eight: Pentatonic Scales Hi folks. This is ole HonketyHank, aka Henry Stevens. I wanted to try my hand at this MMC thing and Mark agreed, so here it is. My assignment was to gin up something on Pentatonic scales and call it Lesson 8. As it turns out Mark got hung up with some actual remunerative dayjob kind of work, so I am getting Lesson 8 posted before his Lesson 7. No problem. I can't think of anything in this lesson that depends on material in Lesson 7. We will be studying concepts from pages 19 through 22, so read that first. Then start with the videos in the order I list them. Have your mandolin in hand as you watch the videos and plink along when you can. The longest video is only 10 minutes, so you can take them one at a time and practice some of the concepts before moving to the next. Note that I had to break this lesson into three parts due to a forum restriction on the number of embedded videos per post. Assignments: 1. Watch the intro video where I tells ya what I'm a-gonna tell ya: 2. G Major Pentatonic Scale video: Practice the G Major pentatonic scale until it sounds good. Get familiar with the sound of the intervals between the notes in the scale just as much as the notes themselves. Noodle around. See if you can find some familiar tunes while using only the notes from the pentatonic scale. Play Tennessee Waltz (links below). Simple Tennessee Waltz - pdf Simple Tennessee Waltz - tef 3. Other Major Pentatonic Scales video: Practice pentatonic scales all over the neck – whereever you can reach. Continued in the next response in this thread (scroll down) Feedback: To get feedback, just post a comment or video in this thread (lesson 8 thread). You can also ask Brad Laird about any of his material at this link which he monitors. Navigation: Previous Lesson ( make this link when lesson 7 gets done) ******************* List of all Lessons
4. Minor Pentatonic Scales videos. Two parts: Watch part 1, then practice the G minor pentatonic scale to get familiar with sounds of the notes and, just as important, the intervals. Then watch part 2. Play Pretty Polly in various keys from the tabs or notes linked below. Simple Pretty Pollies - pdf Simple Pretty Pollies - tef Continued in the next response in this thread (scroll down) Feedback: To get feedback, just post a comment or video in this thread (lesson 8 thread). You can also ask Brad Laird about any of his material at this link which he monitors. Navigation: Previous Lesson ( make this link when lesson 7 gets done) ******************* List of all Lessons
5. Fretboard Diagrams videos. Three parts. Watch part 1 which examines a fretboard diagram of the G Major (heptatonic) scale starting on the G string of the mandolin. Watch part 2 which shows a repeatable pattern for Major Pentatonic scales (the "boat" pattern). Practice the A Major pentatonic scale going up the neck. Just for fun – can you do the third octave? OK!, just like Mike Marshall! Watch part 3 which shows ALL the places on the fretboard where you can find a note in the A major pentatonic scales plus my attempt to make sense of that diagram. It also covers the related minor pentatonic scale (F# minor pentatonic) and its repeating pattern. A pdf of this lesson can be found here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9...Dlvc1ljM3M3TDA Feedback: To get feedback, just post a comment or video in this thread (lesson 8 thread). You can also ask Brad Laird about any of his material at this link which he monitors. Navigation: Previous Lesson ( make this link when lesson 7 gets done) ******************* List of all Lessons
OK, I think I got the problems taken care of so far.
Fine job, Henry, and a really good lesson on pentatonics and fretboard diagrams. I really appreciate the time and effort on this.
I've been working on pentatonics this evening, and playing along while re-watching your videos Hank. It's been a lot of fun. Thank you for The Tennessee Waltz and Pretty Polly! I'm having a lot of trouble remembering where to put my fingers when working out a scale, but finding the scales and the finger placement using the movable patterns is coming much easier. I really like the clarity you have in your presentation here, thanks again.
Thanks for the comments, Mark. It was fun putting it all together.
A clarification on fretboard diagrams: There are many ways that a fretboard diagram can be used and my comments in the video lessons cover how Brad uses fretboard diagrams in the MMC book. He places numbers on the black dots to indicate which note of the scale the dot corresponds to. This is quite appropriate for the context of teaching what is a scale. Another common, and related, context might be what fingers to use while making the notes in a scale. A fretboard diagram could be used in this context with numbers on the dots that indicate which finger to use to fret that note. A third context might be teaching the names of notes. In that context, the black dots would have the name, not a number, printed on them. That's three different ways to use a fretboard diagram. There are many more. But the idea is the same - the diagram is just a map of the fretboard with dots (or maybe squares or other shapes or colors) and numbers or letters or other symbols indicating positions on the fretboard that are of interest in whatever context the diagram is being presented.
