In the example shown in the table above, that would mean adding a B note to the A Minor Pentatonic scale. When I refer to adding the 2 to the minor pentatonic scale, I mean that you should add the note with the number 2 above it. Notice how there are some numbers written above the note names of this scale? These numbers are called scale degrees. Here’s a table that shows the A Major scale written out…

Just in case you don’t know what I mean by this, it’s probably a good idea if we do a quick review of some important theory. In this lesson we’re going to focus on adding one of my favourite colour notes to the minor pentatonic scale…the 2. We’ll leave the music theory debates for those types of guitarists who spend countless hours arguing about trivial things on guitar forums. What I’m primarily concerned with right now is showing you how, by adding a new note to the minor pentatonic scale, you can expand your soloing vocabulary in a very simple way. And, of course, they’re right-but we’re still going to ignore their comment. I should mention here that all the music theory pedants out there reading this will be saying “But it’s no longer the minor pentatonic scale if you add extra notes to it!”.

I call these extra notes colour notes, and they can really breathe new life into the minor pentatonic scale. What I mean by “tweaking it”, is to add extra notes to it. 🙂 So if you’re getting a bit sick of it’s sound, it’s nice sometimes to “tweak it” to create some new sounding ideas in your guitar solos. While the minor pentatonic scale certainly has a cool sound, it also sounds, well…like the minor pentatonic scale. Well, like anything, too much of one thing can get a bit boring. It sounds great, works well in a wide range of musical settings, and can be used to generate an almost endless supply of musical ideas. If you’ve been using the minor pentatonic scale in your guitar solos for a long time, then you already know just how profoundly useful this scale is.

Minor pentatonic scale guitar