Chords in Pentatonic scale

[12thfret]

Hi all,
This is a classic question, but it's modern to me http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/smile.gif. How to apply I IV V chords progression from diatonic scale to pentatonic scale, because some notes are left out in pentatonic. Or pentatonic has its own chords progression. Thanks.

[StoneDragon]

There are chord progressions (especially in rock music) where the root notes of the chords follow the pentatonic scale. Proud Mary by CCR springs to mind, because the opening of that song is played by moving a major chord around following the minor pentatonic scale.

But you won't really find chords and chord progressions that are specifically built on the pentatonic scale. I suppose it could be done... but it is not common at all.

This is due to the "primitive" nature of the pentatonic scale. You'll find the pentatonic scale used in practically every ancient culture. Most of this music is not concerned with chords and chord progressions.

"Western" music itself was not concerned with chords and chord progressions either until the advent of "Diatonic" harmony somewhere around the 15th century (not sure on that date so don't quote me http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/wink.gif)

A great way to think of pentatonic scales is to see them as simply major and minor scales with a few of the notes left out. This means that you can use pentatonics anywhere and everywhere that you could use major or minor scales. The notes that are being left out are really just "color" notes. These notes don't define the basic sound of the major and minor scale as much as they add "flavor" to those scales.

Pentatonic scales are simply potato chips without the dip... plain and simple. This makes them the logical choice for beginners to start soloing with. those "dip" notes can be hard to deal with in a solo until you get some mileage built up.

Specifically... over a I IV V progression, you can try major pentatonic in the same key as the I chord for a major (very country) type sound or you can try minor pentatonic in the same key as the I chord for a blues (or rock) type sound. You can even mix both major and minor pentatonic together for a more sophisticated "up town" sort of blues sound. I like to do that a lot.

[Josh]

Check out Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam. Major pentonic (mostly) over a I-V-IV progression. Pretty cool. Get on Napster and find a bunch of different versions to get a better idea of soloing. (Trust me, there are too many versions of this song to count... pearl jam bootlegs aren't exactly rare)