Improvising with Am Pent AND Bm Pent over A7

[Robert]

I've talked about this approach before, and after many demands - here is finally a video of how you can use this "trick".

This is a "secret tip" you can use when improvising over a static chord, in this case A7 (or just the first 4 bars of a blues, if it's not using the QuickChange). By using the B Minor Pentatonic in addition to the more obvious choice, the A Minor Pentatonic, you can come up with some cool ideas. Try it out! Remember to focus on those chord notes, when creating licks, phrases or motifs. Have fun!

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[SuperSwede]

That strat copy of yours really sounds awesome Robert :)

[Robert]

Thanks SS, some copies aren't so bad.... :)

[woodchuk]

I love these "substitution" ideas. They can be a really easy way to color pentatonic applications. For example, a minor pentatonic played a half-step back from the root of a major key is a great way to inject some Lydian flavor into a major chord vamp (for example, playing D# minor pentatonic over an E major vamp). Playing the minor pentatonic a fifth above the minor key works well too (like playing B minor pent. over a song in E minor). This can produce some interesting lines in terms of phrasing, because while every note of B minor pentatonic is within the key of E minor, the roots are in different places. You can also do these things in regard to chords - like superimposing an Emin7 arpeggio over a C major chord to imply a Cmaj9 sound, or a Gmaj7 arpeggio over an E minor chord to imply an Emin9. These are easy ways to add some "zing" to your playing.

Thanks for the video - nicely done!

[Katastrophe]

Great idea, Robert!

It looks like you could expand the idea to put in three note per string patterns in there, too, right???????

[Robert]

Yes you can play 3 notes per string. If you pay attention to what's happening here, you'll see we are in fact playing A Dorian when we combine the two pentatonics - cool huh?

There are only 2 new notes - the Major 6th and the Major 2nd/9th. If you add these two notes to the A Minor Pentatonic - voila! We have A Dorian mode! :)

[Katastrophe]

Cool! Thanks for filling in a very large blank in my theory knowledge!

I love the practical application of theory like this.