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Beyond the Pentatonic Scale by TrueFire Educator Rob Garland is a free lesson series that will help you break free of the pentatonic prison, blurring the lines between musical genres. Be sure to subscribe for more lessons and check out Rob’s online classroom, Guitar Babylon.

In this video guitar lesson, Rob introduces the series. Topics covered include adding the major 3rd to the minor pentatonic scale (moving away from a traditional blues sound), hearing the 3rd resolve against a dominant chord, finding the major 3rd in scale position and several example licks of how to include the new note in your phrasing.

You’ll also learn how to add the 6th to the minor pentatonic scale in the root position, replacing the b7th with the 6th throughout the scale, and check out an example lick using the minor pentatonic scale with the 6th replacing the b7th, establishing a less traditional pentatonic sound.