Okay so I have a few questions. Probably stupid questions but when it comes to theory I know almost nothing. First are the notes involved in the guitar scales (example B blues scale: B, D, E, F, F#, A, B, D, E, F, F#, A, B, D) all the notes in the scale because I found a "Blues scale variation" that added in a few more that weren't surprising since I've seen them in blues licks. But what I want to know is are all the scales/modes like this, with extra notes around them? My next question kind of ties in with that, how come, for instance, Pentatonic minor scales and the different positions have different notes in them but sound the same? I find it hard to wrap my mind around moving the scales up and down the neck horizontally, I've seen Hendrix start from the 5th fret and walk right on past the 12th. Is memorizing every note on the neck necessary in order to do something like that? And is memorizing every note in the scale as well as the neck the only way to walk around the fretboard and jam with some blues? I know I'm probably over thinking this but I want to be a good guitarist who isn't just throwing around blues licks played the same way in different areas, I want to make sure I do it right.
Welcome!
The way I try and look at this is that there really is only ONE scale..the chromatic scale. That consists of all 12 notes that are available. The 7 note Major scale which is a subset of the chromatic scale is the foundation of all Western music.
The Blues scale is a 6 note scale as you've described..but here's the thing...the vast majority of people playing in the blues/rock genres will almost always use a
combination of pentatonic minor/major, blues scale and select other notes from the Major or minor scale (forget about modes for now!) all in the same solo! ...this "super-scale" looks something like this in A:
A B C C# D D# E F# G G#
Bear in mind that in blues, the underlying chords are
nearly always dominant, i.e. A7/D7/E7..NOT regular major chords. This allows you to create more "flavours" than a regular Major or minor chord might.
Over a typical blues/rock tune played by Hendrix or Page or SRV..you'll often hear ALL those notes..some of them only as very quick "passing notes" like the Maj7 (G#), some of them more often...bending from the min3 (C) to the Maj3 (C#) is a VERY common blues move (particularly if you don't actually get to C#!..just head in that direction!). Note that the two notes missing there are the min9 (Bb) and the min6 (F) and the reason for that is that
I find that the min9 (Bb) works in a jazzier blues context as a passing tone, and the min6 (F) is really integral to a
minor blues/rock progression..think Zep's "Since I've Been Loving You" .. ..however, YOU should try them!, you may be able to make them work!
Now, playing that "superscale" one note at a time isn't going to sound very musical!..your main framework for the blues is still going to be the 6 note Blues scale...with the other notes added in for
flavour. Listen and
learn a ton of solo's that you like and things will become clearer to you!.
I'm not sure that I've understood your second question correctly..Mark has some really good lessons on pentatonics that I'm sure he'll point you to. There are five positions for the minor pentatonic scale and you do need to learn them all and be able to navigate from one to the other in order not to get locked into a "box".
I think it is important to learn
every note on the guitar regardless of what genre you're playing. Ultimately, it's good to play what you hear in your head and immediately play it on the guitar, and you'll need to know your way round the fretboard to do that.
BTW Peeker
..you'd need the "B" string notes to be 12, 13,
16..for the harmonic minor
