Blues scale + minor 9th and major 7th intervals

Here are 6 licks that will introduce you to the G minor pentatonic scale, enriched with a few extra notes that give it a different color.

1. The minor pentatonic scale

We start with the minor pentatonic scale, built with the following intervals:

• I – minor III – IV – V – minor VII
• In G: G – B♭ – C – D – F

2. Adding the blue note

First, we add the famous blue note, i.e. the diminished fifth:

• I – minor III – IV – diminished V – V – minor VII
• In G: G – B♭ – C – D♭ – D – F

3. Adding the major seventh

It is then interesting to add the major seventh, which creates a chromatic pull toward the root:

• I – minor III – IV – diminished V – V – minor VII – major VII
• In G: G – B♭ – C – D♭ – D – F – F♯

4. Adding the minor ninth

Finally, we can add the minor ninth (the minor second, one octave higher):

• I – minor II (or minor IX) – minor III – IV – diminished V – V – minor VII – major VII
• In G: G – A♭ – B♭ – C – D♭ – D – F – F♯

The diagram

Here is the diagram of this blues pentatonic scale with major seventh and minor ninth. The colors follow the steps above: black for the root, red for the minor pentatonic, blue for the blue note and orange for the added notes (7 and b2).

Use it to spot the position of the different intervals relative to each other. For example, the minor IX (A♭) sits one fret above the root (G), while the major VII (F♯) sits one fret below. The root is thus surrounded by two notes a half step away, which makes for very effective chromatic approaches.