Part 6: Mixing Major & Minor Notes

Description

When most of us first learn to solo, we use the minor pentatonic. Then we eventually learn the major pentatonic and finally we get to the awesome, bittersweet sounds that you get when you mix up major and minor. 

This powerful blend is a harmonic cornerstone of so much music - especially blues, country and rock - and while a lot of players get away with soloing through all of it with the minor pentatonic, it can be really cool to learn how to emphasize that magical blend of major and minor in your lead lines as well. So today we'll explore some of the most useful ways to add major notes to our regular minor pentatonic patterns. 

I'll be using my Gretsch Duo Jet for this practice tune, on the bridge pickup, and I'll be running it through a small Fender amp with a bright tone and a little bit of reverb. In front of that I'm using this distortion pedal called "Mudhoney". But you can of course play this practice tune with any guitar and amp combination that you have available. Let's get started!