What Makes the "BOOMER SCALE" So Popular?
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- Опубликовано: 23 авг 2024
- What Makes the "BOOMER SCALE" So Popular?
Many of my fellow guitarists felt slighted when Tim Henson coined the term "Boomer Bends." I realized there's also a scale form that might deserve the term the "Boomer Scale." Here's why I love it. Thanks for watching!
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Your channel has really developed into something pleasantly unique. I have always enjoyed it, but it seams to somehow have gotten even better. It's like stopping in on a guitar playing best friends house, that happens to like all the same music, bands, styles and gear that I do. Perfection!👍🎸
Awesome hearing this. Thanks Steve, means a lot.
As a boomer who started playing in 1975 this was the first scale everyone learned back then.
And when you say "everyone", you mean *everyone*! I learned to play this scale on guitar back then, and I was the drummer in the band!
My dad taught me this scale when I was 10, in 1990. Lmao! Still use it like to this day!
Yes indeed ..this form was already the defacto standard back in the mid to late sixties...who even knew a pentatonic from a mode or blues scale back then...it was just learn this pattern son and you're good to go!
And you never have to guess, where you can bend. You can bend every note. You hear if it has to be a half or a full step while you´re playing. I think it was an advance not to have thousands of youtube videos explaining everything. It saved a lot if time. 😆
@@ModernGolfer The drummer ist the engine of the car, the guitarist is the paint. 😁
I love the Boomer scale. It’s so musical and makes people tap their feet. I actually don’t mind the term Boomer. Sure, we have sore knees these days but we did get to see all the best bands at realistic ticket prices. 😜 Great video.
I’m with you…only my knees are about the only thing that don’t hurt regularly these days, 😆😆😆😆
Yeah but when people say "boomer" online it is a pejorative. I'm not saying it should be, it just is.
Im a Millennial and love that classic boomer scale ! The legends of guitar use it for a reason because it has a great sound. Great for blues playing .
At 77 years old and playing for 70 years and a hired gun session player after college I probably played scales like this in all kinds of forms. I just used to go on automatic and play scales to fit the song. I just like to improvise when I am on stage. Sometimes really good and catchy. Sometimes just comes out sounding like everyone else. Which bored the crap out of me. So now as I sit look out on my farm and mountain view. I play blue grass and flamenco. I catch you from time to time.. I have to say. Not bad kid. Lol.
I'm 68 and I had to chuckle when you said "Not bad kid". I don't watch many guitar channels, probably because I'm so f%@king jealous. He's older than me, but Paul Korchuk and I didn't have what young guitar players have today back when we were growing up and I wish we had. And after 2 years in isolation we should have some wicked good players standing on the sidelines, waiting for their turn. I sure do hope so, anyway. I don't normally watch Beato either but I'm going to have to scroll through his channel and find that episode. I did see his interview of Maynard James Keenan and it was excellent. But then, I love Tool! I was able to gain a little insight into the years between Tool albums and his other projects. What an amazing talent! That whole band just kicks ass.
Knowing that there is a scale named after my age group is rather comforting to know. Here, all this time I thought it was just because I've lost flexibility and can't stretch over 4 frets anymore. I'm a plumber, as my screen name implies and have beat my hands up pretty badly over the years. Who knew that there were other reasons for playing with 2 fingers? I continue to live and continue to learn.
Keep kicking ass "kid". LOL! You really are good at what you do. I'll try to tune in a little more often.
Ever since I learned the minor pentatonic scale, I find it very VERY easy to get distracted and just jump into running up and down the neck. Sometimes it makes me feel like BB King, and other times it makes me feel like a broken record, but damn if it isn't a fun and natural scale. It's so human, I think that's why so many people connect with it. Love it! Keep up the good work Mike!!
There's an almost endless amount of variations you can do within that one pattern. That's why it's so great
Boomers ROCK!!!
From a Gen Xer...
I've used this method since the late '70s. Listen to the Cream Live Volume II version of Steppin' Out. Many of those riffs are rendered there by Clapton. Any Cream and so many others really.
That 70s KISS riff you mention was pulled from a couple 60s tunes by Blues Magoos and The Who
A.) I love your Dolly shirt and
B.) I’m solidly Gen X, but I’d be lying if I tried to say I haven’t been using and abusing this scale my whole life.
I'm a Gen X who loves the blues scales... it's awesome and smooth
Funny, I find myself in this scale form all the time and I feel like I'm playing a game of "Name That Tune" with myself. Almost every combination of notes in this form sounds familiar. Great vid as always!
For the past 10min I've been playing this scale in a DADFAD tunning and wondering why the hell what I'm playing sounds different than what you play
The main reason why boomers used the blues scale is due to the popularity of the genres at the time.
Blues was the main new thing in 60s pop. But this shifted towards blues-rock into the late 60s
Be thinking The Yardbirds evolving into Cream (Eric Clapton) and Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page).
This new genre needed more aggression than the minor pentatonic scale, and boom, that one extra note (#11 or b5) added the extra attitude required.
So the blues scale, not the minor pentatonic, was the choice for guitarists to play over adapted blues progressions.
Later, the nasty, demonic b5 note was used and emphasized even more, and this gave birth to heavy metal (notably Black Sabbath and Deep Purple).
So the boomers used this scale to adapt to the changes in popularity of musical genres, as their audience demanded new musical flavours.
Thanks for being one of the few guitar teachers out there who can go 30 seconds without saying the word "pentatonic"
It's sort of cute that anyone over 30 now is considered a boomer. So Gen X ers from the Era of nirvana soundgarden and pearl jam being called boomers lol
ha, boomer here. Born in '57, 65 in May.
Played a few party and bar gigs, last in '05,,,,started at 15 in '73. Just covers.
Quit for family in the mid '80s for work and family. All in '94. Got pretty good again.
Moved to an apt about 7 years ago,,,would go months without playing (head phones, hand full of amps. dozen or so guitars).
Got into it again during the pandemic. Almost back.
This year, bronchial infection then covid. Anything resembling speed maybe gone for good.
The epitome of 'use it or lose it'. I'll play for fun. Can't worry about anything else.
Great observations. The E minor runs are very similar starting on low E and running from 3-5 then using almost the same shapes up to the 12th.
I would rather call it the classic rock scale... The Boomer scale sounds condescending in a way.. Plus I use this scale all the time.. Like you said, the middle position it great to jump into at any time.. But you can get some decent slides in that over all shape and into double stops and so one.. Great video!
If you are a true boomer, you won't care about your feelings being hurt! I consider myself a boomer, although i was born 1 year too late. I'm proud to be a boomer/ 1st year GenX er.
I would rather call it the BLUES scale, seeing as that's what it obviously is. I think "classic rock" sounds condescending. It's just rock 'n' roll, period. Calling things "classic" is a back-handed way of saying it's old, irrelevant, and nobody cares about it.
It is the blues scale, it comes from the blues. My god.......
You can move this pattern up and start on the 8th fret but you reverse the sequence so that you're playing the notes that you would normally be playing on the A string but playing it on the E instead. So you'd go 8-10-11-12 on E then 10-12 on A, etc until you get to the 17th fret on the high E string.
I literally did that today woth free bird. Never tried playing it but playing around with pentatonic I was like, hey this is freebird
As a guitar teacher I’m so glad you gave this a name!!
The boomer scale seriously ! The freaking pentatonic rock scale !!
Junior player here ... this is exactly what I needed today! It immediately makes sense and sounds so satisfying. Thanks!!
I always call those scales “70s scales” pretty much every 70s rock song had those twangy sounds. 80s on the other hand is more heavier and faster plus all the evh influences there too. You should do “Gen X Dad Scales”
I was born in 1980. We learned it first, then basically every way possible to play a minor pentatonic as fast as possible. Hahahaha!
@@coreybrown3572 True Dat! I learnt the minor pentatonic scale back in the 1980's and stuck with it ever since! Kinda handy for playing along to my favourite metal bands such as Iron maiden!
It's the blues scale
@@UnchainedEruption thank you. 🙏
@@UnchainedEruption Yep! Just connected pieces of pentatonic boxes 5, 1 and 2 with a flat 5th. Was using this as lead guitar in my band in the 60s. (Yeah, I’m a bonafide Baby Boomer - my dad was a WWII combat vet.)
I've used the Boomer (blues) scale for many years. I can almost always find something there that sounds great, as many guitarists much better than me have proven over and over!
Ah yes, the good ole A minor blues scale. It’s popular because it’s one of the first every one learns and uses the most often. Myself included unfortunately. 😆
Nothing unfortunate about using this scale, one of the best scales going around. Rock on Burnt Gerbil…🤘🏻
16 years in, can confirm haha, the hours i've pentatonic wanked over Parisian Walkways by Gary Moore continue to this day haha
Booooooomer 😜
Especially if you're playing a 22 fret guitar.
You are not alone.
When Tim Henson used the term "boomer bend" in Beato's interview, he pointed out that it's not necessarily a "negative term", just an "identifying term". People would have to actually watch the interview to know that, rather than just read a thumbnail, and get upset :)
I think we will find, in the future, Henson will play more blues, as he evolves as a songwriter, and player. Look at guys like Gilbert- started out as a neoclassical player, now he’s a straight up 70’s rock shredder. We all love our heroes, and we develop our own sound based upon them, then we get older, and those heroes rear their heads, as we explore our heroes’ heroes, searching for the influences that influenced our influencers.
I really found this one eye opening, thanks!
Man, I always get something great out of this channel. One of the best guitar channels on RUclips.
I agree!! He so reminds me of myself! Playing old video games and trying to learn Ozzy and Metallica songs out of tab books when we were kids
if it works (for the most part) for Hendrix, Angus, Wylde, Slash, Sambora... works for me!
Lo/Hi by the Black Keys starts by running up the first seven notes of this scale.
The minor pentatonic scale, yes it was the first one I learned as I taught myself to play Jimmy Page licks. Still my goto scale.
Great video, thx. I use this pretty much but i'm very weak when it comes to "standard repeating patterns". There are thousands of them out there based on this pattern i know.
Maybe you can touch the topic sometimes? Keep up the great work!
What is this scale called? I'm fairly new to guitar and want to Google it. I'm learning black dog and the riff fits exactly on this scale. I don't know much theory but it's cool when you see things connecting and have that ah ha moment as a beginner.
I learnt this as the blues scale, but then in 12 bar blues you can use major 3rds over the tonic chord, the major 7th over the V chord, and the major 6th over the IV chord, and the b5 is usually for passing and not for resting. You could say it's a mishmash of minor pentatonics and mixolydians, but I'm not sure that's helpful to a learner. I just knew the one minor pentatonic shape and did a little bend on the 3rd sometimes and it sounded cool. In some ways it can be misleading to think in scales when the real decisions about what notes to play are often just what's ergonomic on the instrument being played. Like when a pianist runs their finger up all the black keys regardless of what key they're playing in, it's not necessarily that they wanted to hit all those particular notes. It's more of an effect.
I learned that slidey pattern from playing along with Black Sabbath's first album, it's all over it. 🤩 Also sounds great to add the natural sixth into the blues scale, and even the second, sometimes add the major third... soon you have all twelve notes in the scale! 🙃
Chromatic scale is best scale.
thats the key add those other notes, all the greats do this.
Hellooo SRV
@@skaldlouiscyphre2453 Kerry King approves
Thanks for laying out this set of boxes so clearly. I was already sort of using this while wandering around the fret board but locking into this form seems particularly powerful. I'll be practicing this specific pattern for the next couple of weeks.
I didn't know that scale shape! I always use normal minor pentatonic and add some little spicy notes, like a major 3rd, etc., but now I'm learning this shape! Love the tone and SG - what model and bridge is that? You mentioned Angus Young in your video, and he has a particular solo technique that I can't figure out. If you listen to the timestamps in the songs Rising Power (2:04) and You Shook Me All Night Long (2:28), you'll know what I'm talking about. It's sort of like a pinch harmonic, but it's not that. I'm a huge AC/DC fan, so I hope you make a video about that!
Mike, I am so inspired by all of your videos. I would have to say that you are my favorite out of all the big guitar channels. When I saw the title on this one, I thought “boomer scale, what in the heck is that?” Then I realize oh cool it’s an A blues scale which I’ve been playing for over 30 years. The interesting thing is since I’ve had my RUclips guitar channel, I keep hearing all of this new terminology such as the Caged System which I’ve been playing again for over 30 years, but now I have a cool name for it. I love how you are always doing videos that keep up with the guitar in this day and time. This is an excellent example of that!!
Very musical explanation... love your approach 👍
Nice video, I enjoyed your analysis but it seems wrong to give the well established blues scale a boomer label. Even if you're calling the incorporation of bits of position 5 and position 2 its own thing. Let's give Muddy Waters and all the giants before him their proper due.
Thanks for your insights, I just wonder if there is something similar with the 4 string bass?
Bass strings are tuned like top 4 strings on guitar so its the same
Great video! I look forward to each one you put out. Gonna spend some more time with the boomer scale now.
Captain Sensible leads. From The Damned. A true SG Rock master.
Been watching this channel for years and this one video has been the most helpful one yet for me personally
Everyone plays the same thing. There are a limited number of notes in a vocal range. There is unlimited possibility of imagination. The ear wants to hear what it knows but the mind wants something new. When the musician converges all of these well, then they reach the tone.
The Gorillaz song “All Alone” starts with an A minor blues lick
So inspiring, Mike. I mean, it's not something revolutionary or new: my teacher once gave me uniting all shapes of the pentatonic scale as a task, but I absolutely didn't have a clue about how to do it, either I lacked the proper mindset to connect the shapes or I needed some examples. There's still one little thing missing to replicate what you played - patterns. But as far as the concept and for giving actual examples, your video is priceless and invaluable!
What model SG is that? It's beautiful. I've never seen that bridge before.
When I first learned guitar I learned the basic major and minor pentatonic shapes but I never learned this scale. Might have opened up a lot more improvisation and learning options if I did. But it's not in the book I learned from.
If You learned pentatonic You already have it covered. It’s a mix of 5th, 1st and 2nd minor pentatonic boxes, with added blue note, basically a blues scale.
Hey Mike - Like this one. I’ve been doing this without the blue notes to connect some of the positions. For some reason I only play the blue notes when I’m in that most common first position - so I really like this as a reminder to hit and use them up the neck and not just across!
What is this scale called if I want to google it to find the chart you have in the thumbnail etc?
Look, I'm not an expert on music and definitely not an expert guitar player....but that "Boomer Scale" is just a Blues Scale. It's been around since at least the early 20th Century (long before there were any boomers) and it's very likely to be around for a long time to come. Not sure who/why/how it got named the "Boomer Scale". But yeah, it's DEFINITELY a major component of rock music, because rock comes directly out of the Blues (plus other influences).
So, I can kinda of create new scale shapes? Or simply spread the horizontal shapes in a more vertical way? I thought I had to follow the normal shapes all the time.
Try playing reverse ernies only. (Some bands outlawed the Ernie altogether).
cool. now I'll actually raise the volume a bit at the Guitar Center! Ha! Thanks for your video!
As soon as you played it I instantly heard Led Zeppelin’s heartbreaker. The main riff is basically this scale lol.
Everything Tim is doing jazzers have been doing for decades. What a ego
Thanks this made a lot of sense for where I'm at.
Gary Moore made almost all of his lightning fast riffs... all over the neck... using just two fingers.
Great guitarist :-)
When I learned the "Boomer Scale" back in the late '70s, my teacher taught it with all groups of three notes: G, G#,A--C, C#,D--D,D#,E, etc. I think you get it.
Yeah, that way you get the major 7 which is also used in a blues sound as a passing note, and you get the major 3rd, which gives you that minor/major blues sound when you want it.
hey, I noticed that tremolo you got, I was thinking about getting one, but I didn't know if it was worth it since I don't think I'll be using it a lot on my lp. I was just concerned about it getting out of tune easily and also I think I heard cant really dive bomb, again not that I do that a lot but just something to mess with. just wondering what you think of it. thx
" I'm not a Boomer....but I grew up really close to The Boomers ". That is such a beautifully funny line !
People miss one important thing.
Songs ! It's about The Songs.
And the Blues singers everybody stole from.
People will say that _They stole from each other though_
Yeah....great sidestep.
Excellent video! Have you done a video about your SG? It sounds perfect paired with the amp sound. What kind of bridge is that?
Boomer scale is fun, has groove and feeling. Way better than the current djent that does nothing beyond "this is so hard and complex"
Interesting I see 3 different positions mixed together I am used to seeing played independently
Let's see if in 50 years Eric Clapton Angus Young Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy page are still remembered, or the guy who made fun of their playing.
See, I don't even remember his name 8 minutes later 😉
I made fun of them? 🤣
@@TheArtofGuitar he might be talking about Tim Henson, idk
@@frankiecampos8909 yes
@@TheArtofGuitar No, not you. Tim Henson. You're good
I think in 50 years his name will still be on a list. Just my opinion tho.
Excellent treatment of a popular topic. Thanks!
the dude that named this the "Boomer Scale" is a very talented guy, but shunning bends seems strange to me. Like, bends and vibrato are the most expressive things you can do with a guitar and he's like, "Nope, gonna do math all over the fretboard instead lol"
My first guitar teacher called this the "grandma's underwear" scale.
I never knew why.
I love the sound of the SG👍
Great info! Is the boomer scale also what I have learned as being called the extended A minor pentatonic blues scale? They both seem to be the very same thing, unless I am confused......
Is that a Dolly Parton shirt ? Awesome! Dolly was a fox!!
Great advice.
What Tom Henson and a lot of people aren't getting is that the word "boomer" is strongly associated with political views or a certain mentality nowadays.
I understand where Tom is coming from. Technically, he's 100% correct and boomer is a certain generation, but he has to know about it's common use as a derogatory term for people with dated world views.
I personally don't mind it, I actually think it's hilarious, but I think people shouldn't be so dismissive of why some people feel offended, especially if they don't hold the same views that boomers see typically associated with.
I know Tim isn't trying to be political, but fortunately the word "boomer" is closely tied to politics these days.
I like to add -9 and Maj 7 to my Boomer Scale.
As always so greatful to see a new upload 🙌 thank you I always come away with a little gem or too 👌👌
Thanks, I’m learning, but this helps and it’s really easy and cool.
This is why i want to learn theory because yeah the second you play it you get so many recognition from different people but say different bands. I do get a kick out of people that see that and don't know scales, i don't know them either but i know what it looks like yeah. But they day oh that was Hendrix right and someone else like no that was kiss man you don't know it? Then an actual guitarist is like no he's just noodling around in scales it's no particular song...... Then the people like arguing over what song it is look at each other and are like....... _"nahhhh"_ oooh i sometimes get a kick out of that it's hilarious
I'm definitely a victim ... ahem ... proprietor of the boomer scale. It makes legato licks just so much more intuitive, and not only that, it's extremely easy to go from bluesy to modal just by adding the missing notes, which are always just one fret off no matter the mode (as long as you're not in harmonic minor or something). There's a smooth version with the 3rd & 4th positions of the pentatonic as well.
Boomer or not, who cares? It's cool and it helped form everything rock & metal...
🔥🎸🔥
Yep Am scale. I guess Ive been using the boomer scale for awhile now lol. Cool
Off subject but what kind of bridge is that on your SG
The humbuckers on your SG aren't bucking much hum.
Kept waiting for it to turn into have a drink on me!
I have to check this out , thanks and I’ll comment later ..
What is attached near the bridge of your SG?
Who tf was upset? I think everyone was amused.
There's nothing to be ashamed of. People still listen to Boomer Rock 40 and 50 years on. Most modern attempts have a shelf life of about 6 months.
I consider Malmsteen to be the king of the minor blues scale. With SRV a close second.
If only Malmsteen could sing like SRV.
GenX’er and 90% of my improvisation dwells within this realm.
Never tried thumb over. I have small hands (I'm 5ft LOL). I do finger/hand yoga and spider exercises. How else can I ease left wrist pain? (Maybe I'm pressing my thumb too hard into the back of the neck?)
Edit: Just saw the post about the advice video and submitted this via email 😁
Great video Mike! I was wondering, are you going to make more bad tab videos? There hasn't been one in a long time and that was my favourite series!
Just discovering Mike. I need to see those, Blunder.... as a low-intermediate hobby player, I only recently have been able to "tell" when is tab is really off... well kinda. lol.
Is that Heather Locklear on your shirt?
Weird, in 50 years of blues-based rock guitar wrestling I've seriously never used this form of the blues scale. I always used a totally different way of getting around the fretboard based on joined up modes to create an entire fretboard scale that I could start and finish anywhere. I used the 'blue notes' and double (and triple) stops of course but moved around at entirely different points. I'm slightly too young, at 63, to be described as a 'boomer', but my favourite guitarists, when I was starting out, all were. Odd how I never adopted this. No wonder, when playing in front of blues die-hards, I noticed the front rows had a 'what's he doing' look on their faces.
Mike, would you consider doing a video reacting to modern prog rock/metal bands? I would be interested to see what you'd say 😄 I'm thinking Animals As Leaders, Polyphia, etc
What in the world is going with the bridge on your guitar ?
love it...thanks!