Pentatonic, Blues & Mixolydian Scales on Guitar

When improvising a solo, beginner guitar players tend to pick one scale and go with it for the entire solo. While this strategy can be really cool, solos are often made more interesting by mixing together a variety of scales in order to achieve different sounds.
 
Let’s pick a chord as a jumping-off point: 

A7 (A C# E G)

E-------5---------0-----------
B-------5---------2-----------
G-------7---------0-----------
D-------5---------2-----------
A-------7---------0-----------
E-------5---------------------

By default, many guitar players will go straight to the minor pentatonic scale:
 
A Minor Pentatonic Scale - A C D E G

E------------------------------5--8---
B------------------------5--8---------
G-------------------5-7---------------
D-------------5-7---------------------
A--------5-7--------------------------
E--5--8-------------------------------

To alter the sound slightly, we can add an Eb as a passing tone between D and E. This one added note turns the minor pentatonic scale into a blues scale, a popular choice in many musical contexts:
 
A Blues Scale - A C D Eb E G

E-------------------------------5--8---
B-------------------------5--8---------
G-------------------5-7-8--------------
D--------------5-7---------------------
A-------5-6-7--------------------------
E--5--8--------------------------------

​To further vary our range of sounds, we can also explore some modes. The mixolydian mode is a popular alternative to the minor pentatonic or blues scales, and it works well over a dominant seventh chord such as A7 (as you can see, the A mixolydian scale contains all the same notes as the A7 chord: A, C#, E, G).
 
A Mixolydian Scale - A B C# D E F# G

E------------------------------5-7----
B------------------------5-7-8--------
G------------------4-6-7--------------
D------------4-5-7--------------------
A------4-5-7--------------------------
E--5-7--------------------------------

To get you started, here are some licks that make use of these new scales:

A Minor Pentatonic Scale Example Lick:

E-----5---------------------------
B--------8p5----------------------
G--7b---------7br-p5--------------
D---------------------7-----------
A---------------------------------
E---------------------------------

A Blues Scale Example Lick:

E---------------------------------
B---------------------------------
G-----5-7/8/7-5----5--------------
D--7-------------7----------------
A--------------------7-6-5--------
E---------------------------8--5--

A Mixolydian Scale Example Lick:

E---------------------------------
B------------5--------------------
G-------5h6-----6-5--6p5----------
D--5/7--------------------7--4b---
A---------------------------------
E-------------------------------5-

If you are curious about other ways to spice up your solos, book a lesson with your favorite teacher and ask about different scales and modes, or perhaps how to apply the above idea into different keys. Happy practicing!

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