Circle Of 5ths Question and Small Rant

Yup, it works. Bm pentatonic contains the same notes as the D major pentatonic scale. The song is in a D blues key and a big part of blues music is combining major and minor tonalities, the great blues players typically use the minor pentatonic scale along with major pentatonic notes. You can go back and forth but it's alot trickier to do so (compared to improvising using just the minor pentatonic), but again this is what the great blues players do and they do it well. I think it really comes down to developing your ear and understanding what notes to play and when (of course, I haven't come close to mastering this).

A D minor pentatonic scale over a song in D is what gives it a blues feel, if you strickly use a major pentatonic scale or a major scale then it's going to sound more like country or pop music. That's not to say you can't mix and match scales, but again, it comes down to listening and knowing what to play.

Thanks Stevo. Once in a while I can go from one scale to another. I try to do that when things are not just sounding right. It's pretty rare. :lol: :lol:

OK, so key of D means that I can play a D Maj Pent, D Maj, D min, D min pent, B min and B min pent scales? I'm wondering if I'm getting way ahead of myself and making sure particular chord progressions (modes?) will render one or more of these options faulty?

OK, so key of D means that I can play a D Maj Pent, D Maj, D min, D min pent, B min and B min pent scales?

Not exactly. It's really the chords that are important. If you see a chord progression like this:

G major - A major - D major

Then the D major or D major pentatonic scale would probably sound best. The reason is that all the notes you are playing in that scale are found in the chords. If the progression looks like this:

G minor - A minor - D minor

D minor or D minor pentatonic scale would probably sound best because you're playing in D minor and again, all the notes from those scales are also found in the chords. If the progression looks like this:

G7 - A7 - D7

That's a blues progression and can use either the D minor pentatonic or the D major pentatonic.

B minor and B minor pentatonic are called the relative minor of D major and D major pentatonic. All that means is that B minor and B minor pentatonic contain the same notes as D major and D major pentatonic.

So trying to keep things simple:

1) When playing in a major key - Play a major or major pentatonic scale
2) When playing in a minor key - Play a minor or minor pentatonic scale
3) When playing over a blues progression - You can use either a minor pentatonic or major pentatonic scale
4) B minor and D major contain the same notes, when you play over a D major progression it's D major, when you play over a B minor progression it's B minor

Sheesh, reading all this re-affirms why I'm still drumming. :lol:

Sheesh, reading all this re-affirms why I'm still drumming.
Don't sweat it Bish, just play what sounds right.

Sorry RParker. In seriousness, though- sometimes I can't TELL what sounds right. THat's what some of this theory stuff is for...

Best,
Ande

OK, Steve-O. It took me a few tries, but I think I digested it. Most of it. I have to go re-read a section about the circle of fifths in a book. I think I might have been guilty about making it do too much. That's my current thought path anyhow.