Practising the pentatonic scales

[jeannot18]

I took the plunge and bought a cheap loop pedal (still working out on how to use it though). Let’s say i want to practice the A minor Pentatonic scale (all the 5 positions), what is the formula (if there is one) to know exactly what chord to play as a backing track on a loop to “solo”/practice the scale? TIA
J

[Sal]

jeannot18
You can do a twelve bar blues backing tract-Am-Dm-Em,then just stay with the Am notes in all positions………………..Sal

[jeannot18]

Sal, with open chords? or barre chords? Thanks
J

[Sal]

jannot18
You can go either way,whatever is easier for you to get.If you want to,you can throw in an Am7th on the change to Dm for a better sound,and alerting the rest of your band that a change is comming,lol….Sal

[Bryce-AKguitar]

Which one did you get?

-Bryce
Anchorage, Alaska

[sunburst]

What you could do first is subscribe to a jamtrack site for free,, QuistJam is awesome and you can also pick up very quickly what you are asking and do not even need the looper!..I rarely bother with a boss rc 20xl loop station.. I have everything bookmarked and when I want to study or learn or be sure about something,I just research it from the many free supportive sites bookmarked,, lot of cool people here and youtube!

[Sal]

http://www.guitar-chords.org.uk
jeannot18,this site gives you a selection of chord progressions that you might want to use……….Sal

[Luca]

Sal wrote:

http://www.guitar-chords.org.uk
jeannot18,this site gives you a selection of chord progressions that you might want to use……….Sal

Oh, my gosh. This website is a godsend! THANK YOU.

[jeannot18]

Bryce, this one (very cheap, but plenty for me as a first, i had it at a special price £24) [https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01GG0YR60/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1] .

I hear you Sunburst but the plan is one day to be able to play in front of people and I would love to be able to use the loop pedal to make my guitar playing a bit more interesting

J

[Steng]

Look up the chords that are in the key of A minor and play a progression using any of them. You can solo over the top using the A minor pentatonic patterns. You can use the same A minor pentatonic scale over chords in the key of A major as well, gives a more bluesy feel.

Steng

[Sal]

Good price on the looper!!!………..Sal

[sunjamr]

When I was learning the pentatonic scale positions, I just chose some of Brian’s 12 bar blues jamtracks (mostly in the key of E, Em, A, and Am) and played along with them. Your goal should be to be able to jump from one position to another position several positions away. So for example, if you’re playing in 2nd position, jump straight up to 4th position and see what you can do with it. 3rd position is not so often used, but there are still some licks that use it.

Also, you need to study what some of the highly skilled loopers are doing. Check Youtube for “guitar loopers”. JustinGuitar has a good tutorial on how to use a looper. Two of my favorite loopers are Hvetter and Tash Sultana. I’ve gone through several looper pedals and ended up with a Boss RC-300. With it, I can build 3 different loops and easily turn any of them on or off. So maybe I build a bass loop, a strum loop, and an accent loop, for example.

Sunjamr Steve

[sunburst]

I’m going to suggest a beginner coarse in basic theory ..so you have a really broad understanding of your question.. A loop pedal doesn’t help you understand basic scales and the theory to what you think can be answered here! I read above, Steng makes the most sense .. nevermind thinking about the loop pedal.. that ain’t going to help you understand what you are playing or make you excel learning basic theory or progressions,, I’m just being honest! Brian has great beginner coarse for your question,, loop pedal ain’t going to teach you as a beginner with little knowledge of basic theory /pentatonic is just a five note scale inside a full major or minor 7 note scale “penta=five.. so it has little relevance the looper is going to help you practice or understand scale shapes or progressions. Just being honest..you need edjamacation but you should still enjoy the looper after you understand the basic theory I’m pitching you! Really is no other way to get the most out of the looper.

[GnLguy]

Earlier Jeannot posted:
I took the plunge and bought a cheap loop pedal (still working out on how to use it though). Let’s say i want to practice the A minor Pentatonic scale (all the 5 positions), what is the formula (if there is one) to know exactly what chord to play as a backing track on a loop to “solo”/practice the scale? TIA

I hear you Sunburst but the plan is one day to be able to play in front of people and I would love to be able to use the loop pedal to make my guitar playing a bit more interesting
———————————————————————–
Jeannot

Good plan with your long term goal stated clearly. Very important

A looper will help you in practicing these scale – as would jam tracks – and to learn how to use your looper creatively and in a manner that you understand is a good way to start. After all, the looper is in the goal that you set forth.

As Sal mentioned, lay down a loop of Am7 – Dm7 – Em7 and play the Am pentatonic. After you play that for a while, play the A Major pentatonic over the same progression and notice how sounds in comparison to the A Minor.

Then lay down a loop of A7 – D7 – E7 and repeat the process of playing the A Minor pentatonic first and then the A major. Take your time and really listen how the scales sound over a major progression.

Another thing that you can do with the same loops is to pay attention to how each note of these scales sound against the chords.

The minor pentatonic is A C D E G, the major pentatonic is A B C# E F#. Play each note in one of the scales against the Am7 chord and see how it “blends” into the overall tone; do this slowly over & over. Play each note repeatedly over the chords and just listen. Develop the ability to listen – not just to hear what is happening but listen with your ears, your spirit & soul
You will find that some of the notes sound very dissonant against some of the chords, almost like fingernails on a chalkboard.
Players like Alvin Lee, Kim Simmonds, Duane Allman, etc played the chord tones and scale tones interchangeably and their solo sound much more full and have more depth. This skill takes time to develop but is one that is worth the investment of time. Your looper pedal will serve you well in this.

As you grow as a player, continue to set clear goals for yourself as you did with in this – your goal this time was two-fold: 1) to learn & practice the pentatonic scales and 2) to learn how to use a looper in a creative manner for use in the future.
I advise you to write these goals down in a journal with the date; as you set new goals, write those in the same journal. Every six months or so, review your goals and reflect on how well you traveled in your creative journey to accomplish the goal.
By doing this, it will help you to not get thrown off course by other things

Keith

[jeannot18]

Thanks for all the replies guys, really nice to be part of a community like AM. Not evident to use the loop pedal that’s for sure. Watched a couple of You Tube video but they make look easy as they are accomplished players. Still something else for me to practice, as mentioned the ultimate goal is to create a loop and just play along to make it more interesting, of course using an already made track would be easier as it is already all done for you, and I already do that.
J

[Author]

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