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The Major Pentatonic Scale

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This course is a deep-dive into a very popular and useful scale – the major pentatonic. As you’ll learn from the course, the major pentatonic is derived from the major scale and works well in all styles of music.

As bass players, the major pentatonic is an important scale for us to learn. With that in mind, this course covers ways in which to learn the scale all over the fretboard (without relying on shapes or patterns) and then puts it to use in a series of ‘real world’ bass grooves. The first few exercises are written in C major (a logical key to start learning the scale with), after which there are lines written in other keys. By the end of this course you should be very familiar with the sound of the major pentatonic scale and you’ll find that it makes a valuable addition to your scale vocabulary.

As you work through this material, you might find the following courses useful (all included in the monthly subscription cost):

Don’t forget to hit the Download Resources button above to get the PDF worksheet and audio files for this piece (available to subscribers only).

This course is 1 HOUR & 1 MINUTES long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:

1. Introduction to the Major Pentatonic Scale

This short video gives an overview of the course and what to expect from it. As you’ll learn here, the major pentatonic scale is derived from the major scale.

2. Playing the Major Pentatonic Scale

This lesson will get you playing the C major pentatonic scale all over the neck. Here, the focus will be on the notes themselves, not on any restrictive fretboard patterns.

3. Exercise #1

This rock bassline makes use of the C major pentatonic scale. This is a simple exercise and a great place to start if you are new to the scale.

4. Exercise #2

This is a funk bassline that uses the C major pentatonic scale. This is a more complex line but illustrates how effective the scale can be for building bass grooves.

5. Exercise #3

This is a chordal exercise. When playing this line, it’s important to let the C on the E-string continue ringing as the upper notes are played.

6. Exercise #4

This is a busy line that will put your finger fitness to the test. Once again, we’re using the C major pentatonic scale here.

7. Exercise #5

This is a challenging rock bassline. The fill in the fourth bar might seem quite complex, but it’s a lot easier to play than it might seem.

8. Exercise #6

This exercise uses the G major pentatonic scale (G-A-B-D-E-G). This is a simple line that features some common pentatonic patterns, with a long fill in the fourth bar.

9. Exercise #7

This exercise is a funk groove that uses the A major pentatonic scale (A-B-C#-E-F#-A). It’s important to allow certain notes to ring together in this line.

10. Exercise #8

This exercise is a slap bassline that uses the B major pentatonic scale (B- C#- D#- F#-G#-B). The pentatonic scale works well for slap grooves.

11. Exercise #9

This line uses the E major pentatonic scale (E-F#-G#-B-C#-E) and consists of an upper register melody line over an open E-string foundation.

12. Exercise #10

This groove centres around the root, fifth and sixth. This is another common use of the pentatonic scale. This line uses the Bb major pentatonic (Bb-C-D-F-G-Bb).