The RIGHT Way to Practice Pentatonics
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- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2019
- Did you know that you're probably practicing pentatonic scales the wrong way? Peter Martin shows you an exercise to fix your fingering.
Free PDF worksheet: openstudiojazz.link/pentatonics
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UPDATE: See the 30-minute deep dive on practicing pentatonics here: • A DEEPER dive into Pen...
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What's goin' on everybody? Peter Martin here for 2 Minute Jazz. Want to talk to you about pentatonics. I've got a brand new exercise for you over C minor, or E flat major, however you wanna think about it. And we go through two different levels, three different rhythms for each one.
The first thing we're doing, we're starting down here, an octave below middle C. Too many of you are practicing only in this [upper] range of the instrument and then you end up soloing only in these two octaves. We got great stuff down here. Great little tenor region of the piano we wanna explore. So if you wanna play it, you gotta practice in there, okay?
So we're going up. And then we're (on four) coming down and here's our shape, skipping. Lots of use of the four. A lot of you are just playing with one two three and there's some false information goin' out here that you only have to use three fingers. We've got five fingers. If you're not gonna practice with the fourth and the fifth, they're never gonna get strong and independent and be able to at least come close to equaling one two three.
So many situations, what we have to be able to play with strength and agility with our fourth and fifth finger, so we gotta practice it. So I've worked that into the fingering here. And we're just changing up the rhythm.
Level 2A, same thing: goin' up straight. Pentatonic. Now we gotta new shape. And this is really based upon something a lot of players use. That's just going up a half step. So it gets your hand ready for that. And now we're introducing a lot of fifth finger. A lot of you are gonna wanna go four or three there. But the idea is we wanna keep that wrist smoothly gliding up and down.
Pentatonics. Happy practicing!
Warning: I go FAST in this video, but see description for a longer version of similar concepts. 😀
hello what is the name of this scale E F# G A Bb Db D which sounds very good over E minor 2 5 1 (F#m7--B7--Em) ? I need the name so i can learn it in other keys thanks.
Hold my beer
@@johnanderson9494That scale is a mode of the D harmonic major scale.
The D harmonic major scale is same as D major except has flat 6 (B♭ instead of B) - your D♭ would be written as C♯ in this scale.
When played from E to E, that is second mode (Mode II) of D harmonic major, which is apparently called “Dorian ♭5” according to Wikipedia page for “Harmonic Major Scale”.
Note these are harmonic major scales, rather than the more common harmonic minor scales.
thank you very much! you must be a professor of music@@matthewjones255
yep cpmpletely useless for me at this speed....couldn't see the fingering even slowed down
Ok, so a few things he didn't mention that may be useful: The structure of the pentatonic scale he's playing for C minor is basically the pentatonic scale that goes with the relative major chord. So for C minor, the relative Major chord is Eb Maj. And so, the pentatonic scale that goes for Eb Major is: Eb, F, G, Bb and C. It's called pentatonic because this is basically transposed from the resulting "scale" you obtain if you play only on the black keys (Gb, Ab, Bb, Db and Eb) which contain only 5 notes. This 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 pattern is the basic foundation for the pentatonic scale and chords (which by the way, since the chords are stacked 4ths, they can only be built on the 2nd and 3rd degree. So again, if we do this on the black keys, you have the chord built on the 2nd degree, which would give you Ab, Db and Gb, and the chord built on the 3rd degree which would be Bb, Eb and Ab)
So the scale in this video is basically Eb Maj starting from its sixth degree (C), resulting in C, Eb, F, G and Bb. The fingering for this scale is 1, 3, 1, 2, 3 and so on.
Additionally, if you're eccentric enough as I am, and you wanna practice this scale with both hands, the fingering for the left hand is 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
When he descends, he plays two different variations.
Variation 1: Where he skips one interval going down, then plays the next interval going up, then on and on (C, G, Bb, F, G, Eb, F, C) The best fingering I can recommend for that is 5, 2, 3, 1, 5, 2, 5, 1, 3, 2, 4. Notice when I land on the C an octave below, I land on 4 and not on 5. If you wanna keep it consistent, you can start with finger 4 on the C above, but you will definitely need the 4th finger once you complete an octave and are going for the next octave down.
Variation 2: Where he plays groups of two notes that skip one interval, one going up, the other one down, forming a cool "chainlink" type of pattern. The notes are: G, C, Bb, F, Eb, G, F, C Bb, Eb, C, G. Best fingering for that is 2, 5, 4, 1 for all groups of 4 notes.
Keep in mind these fingerings work for C min and maybe other keys, but with different keys, there will be different variations.
Hope that helps a bit.
Ron Tomkins you sir.... yes
Why can't you stack fourths on the V and vi also, since it's only 3 notes?
Thanks from France monsieur.
@@mjazzguitar Because you would have to include notes that do not belong to the pentatonic scale. Again: the pentatonic scale has only five notes. So for instance, the pentatonic scale on C is only C, D, E, G and A. If you stack fourths on top of the fifth degree (In this case, G), you get G, C and F, and F does not belong to the pentatonic scale.
This is not to say that you can't do it outside of practicing/learning. Of course you can break/bend these rules when you're improvising. But for the purposes of practicing and learning the pentatonic scale, you wanna make sure you stick to the notes that belong to the scale. Once you're out of practice mode and you're creating, you can break rules, but at least you're aware of when you're breaking a rule (as opposed to doing it without being aware that you're breaking it) This is true for everything you practice.
@@pierrebridenne8870
Mon plaisir :)
To everyone complaining about the content of this FREE video by a great piano master: This is broad guidance for people already experienced with pentatonic scales. Check the descriptions for more info and PDFs. We’re very fortunate to have this channel. Thank you Peter for the inspiration!
1000% this
Why do these people believe that every lesson in this world should be 100% spoon-fed like the world only consists of people who know next to nothing? It's really strange. If I was just starting out now I'd have access to pretty much every conceivable thing that I've ever figured out through years of toil and infinitely more on RUclips - and all for nothing. The entitlement of these people is astonishing.
Pretty useful, thanks a lot Peter !!
Thank you very much, precious information! gratitude !! 🎶💓
Awesome lesson. Really useful for me as an early stage jazz student. Thanks
Man, Peter...your videos are probably the single best resource of fresh ways to improve our individual practice time. A wide range of topics is represented on your channel and my favorite thing is that you express the ideas in a very consumable way that shows HOW to think; not WHAT to think. Public educators should take note!
Amazing, thank you so much!
Bravissimo!nicest way of waking up!
Thanks for these man.
Your technique is flawless.
Man, you're so good.
That's great thanks!
Perfect timing! I just started getting into this
¿¿?🤪?¿¿
Very helpful introduction!!! Greetings from Germany! 🤘
Thanks a lot Master 😊😊
thank you for this very valuable information.
I have to learn those killer riffs !
Amazing 😍
Thanks!
I am enjoying these exercises!! Do you have a pdf of your preferred finger numbers for all 12 keys?
Nice Demonstration
excellent !
Wonderful lesson!! So what fingers do you suggest to use to run up and down the pentatonic scale?
I've recently discovered your You'll Hear It Podcast and sorry I can't rate it on Spotify. I teach high school jazz band near Seattle and your sessions have given me many ideas for creative lessons. In one recent lesson some of the students actually created a video imitating your style of banter Peter and Adam. During the pandemic I've been really enjoying your regular lessons and sessions. If I get into a slump I'll take a walk and listen to a session and it helps me get the fire restarted. Thanks for this excellent source of education and entertainment.
thanks for your kind words 🙏🏼
I love your left hand comping style under these .. so judicious delicious and rhythmic ..your left hand is a genius what do you feed that thing!?
Very Imteresting
So good! Thank you Peter!!
I actually thought you were going to yell "BITCH!" after saying pentatonics at the end
this will be great when youtube recommends me this video again in 1-2 years
Would u have this in piano transcription to learn better and study.. if so please dm me thanks or lmk asap
Great stuff! Looking at the comments here, better to put the required level/difficulty in the description haha
Is there a guitar version of this lesson
If you need this slowed down to get it, you're not ready for it yet I think... And he's referring to a book that has the sheet music for the excercises i think... so read that :)
Great material but I don't find it useful since I can't understand what's going on much. How about you slow down to explain
The other guy Matt did a full.90 minute video with all these shapes.
@@anonymousd5196 could you share the link for this video?
Wonderful grasp of the concept and a digestible explanation verbally. But Peter, couldn't you slow it down a bit. Like when you modulated up a half step. It would be nice if you could slow that down some for the less initiated. And you got beautiful hands too !
You can also change the playback speed within RUclips.
@@micknificent Can you tell me please, how can this be done?
@@etinterrapax2 Go into the settings. On the video the icon is the shape of a gear. On mobile, click on the screen and hit the 3 dots and go to playback and choose a slower playback speed.
When he moves up a half step, he’s still using a pentatonic scale Just starting on Db
So learn it Cminor pentatonic and copy the sound or any way else you can get it. And the patterns. This is the best way to learn.
Amen slow it down
Musicians come on RUclips expressing how well they play wit great skills. But intermediate and advance musicians do not have to show us anything. Although musicians are dying out if you want music to continue musicians must train people to play on instrument but recruite and tutored begginers to help music stay alive
It looks like you're referencing a written doc of some sort with specific exercises. Is that sheet music available somewhere?
This is great and I am working on it. But when I click the pdf link and enter my email, I don't receive anything. Clues?
Check your spam mailbox
Killer musician
Hey Peter, do you have a score showing the fingerings you recommend for this practice?
@@pianopeter Awesome, thanks very much!
Hi
I'm a guitarist with a piano question:
Y'all think about pentatonics like "shape one, shape two, etc" or do you refer to them by their actual modal names?
I'm just one of those people who has to learn things the "correct" way.
Even your top professional touring household name celebrity guitar players will say something like "I'm playing in A minor Pentatonic, box 5". And I'm like No, that's G Mixolydian Pentatonic.
IDK why but, we guitarists refer to position numbers instead of the correct modal names.
Just wondering if it's the same across instruments, or if it's one of those guitar-specific things
Nice video
Killer playing. In the beginning, you're just quickly running through the scales in a devil may care example but, you're still playing with soul and feel. That's rare in any genre on any instrument
Hi, pianists don't use these same box ideas that guitarist use. That's because the piano is purely linear. The nature of having the same note in multiple places on the guitar leads to the concept of multiple shapes for one scale in order to get comfortable all around the neck. For a pianist there is simply the one minor pentatonic all the way up. However, generally speaking, high level musicians in a jazz context will be thinking scale degrees in relation to the chord or sound they are playing over. So instead of "I use these notes" or "I play this shape" they are often thinking "1 b3 4 5 b7 8". Hope that helps
Sheet music?
¿Where's the tutorial?
I see a lot of restrictive fingerings listed In the comments. You should go out of your way to practice fingerings that are not simple. Ie , say doing triads using only your 2,3,4rth or 7ths with 2-5. Using only 1 and 2, 1 and 3 and so on, then 2 -3 , and so on. Scales should really be a revolving permutation exercise with both notes, fingers and rhythm. It should feel like a brain workout.
So many situations
If you want us to LEARN this exercise, do it (and explain it) SLOWER. If you just want to SHOW OFF your technique, just leave it the way you did it.
@@pianopeter Yes! this should be pinned to the top! this is a great video and these exercises are great but the speed at which you do them makes it hard to identify the fingering. also, I personally found your "showing off" (lol) helpful in terms of showing how the exercises actually apply to soloing and improving technique. Great vid man!
Love the sound but dang couldn't you just unpack the fingering you're using, since you *emphasize* that fingering matters?
Not a lot of teaching involved here, a lot of showboating it seems to me. Great stuff though...
Fingering matters I’m that you should be flexible.
You can literally play at like 1/4 speed. Man people need to be spoon fed everything. Stick to sheet music,
Its like ....music is love . Not a race track
0:48 Arabesque N ° 1?
Whats happening @ 2:25-2:35~
Would love to know
Maybe do a 2min and a 2hr version of each lessson?
check the description for a 27 minute version kinda 😀
this comment section is like a bunch of people getting mad at usain bolt for not teaching them that one foot goes in front of the other. good stuff peter, thanks for the lesson.
Amazing....i think the hard part is were the crossover happends
this sound so good but ita kinda fast, maybe a lot of begginers like me may be getting into your channel. maybe try explayning a bit slower once or maybe another video
Beginners aren't the only ones who come to learn though bro, there are different levels here has to teach at
@@kwamealievergreen4257 ya I know thats why I said to play it slow once so every one can catch up or just another video so it doesn't mess with the advanced ones
4 years of playing and this vid is too fast for me
Jazz ain't beginners stuff,
Go into the settings on RUclips and change the playback to a slower speed.
Viewers:
Start getting intimidated by how fast paced the video is.
Peter:
“Pentatonics! Happy Practicing.”
Trying to apply this to guitar😂😂
Headache
It's way easier on guitar because once you learn the 1-2 most common shapes, you can transpose by just starting on a different fret. No need to know the theory.
Couldn’t you spend just 30 seconds explaining how to form them?
For anyones info he’s using Cmin pentatonic - root, b3, 4, 5, b7. Guy takes it up half a step so just transpose to Db and use same intervals.
There’s also the major pentatonic, which is root, 2, 3, 5, 6. The two scales are virtually identical, all that sets it to major or minor is the starting note (C min - C, Eb, F, G, Bb or Eb maj - Eb, F, G, Bb, C)
There's a link to the pdf in answer to the pinned comment.
MERCI POUR L INFO
Look people he’s giving a free expert lesson, you can do a quick google if you want to learn about pentatonics, it’s free stop complaining.
👍👍Pentatonics could be the most fundamental
Root, Shell, Pretty concept:
C, Eb G, Bb F or
Eb, G Bb, C F
I kinda feel that for 5 note Maj or min 7ths, but then the word “fundamental” takes on a kinda weird meaning
Why did you raise the fourth an octave, isn’t it just C, Eb, F, G, Bb, C?
slapmyfunkybass
😊It was just an elaborate way of describing a Triad with 2 Tensions on top.
I was imagining “C=Root, Eb G=Shell, and Bb F=Pretty” although I now I realize that technically the Shell ought to be Eb and Bb.
The much jazzier spellings spellings are
Eb, G, C, F, Bb (Eb6/9)
and C, G, Eb, Bb, F (Cm11)
Joshua Marks Just to really pedantic it’s actually Cm7(add11) as no 9th is in your voicing.
Zappa
It’s the crossover technique that’s not explained
😞Had high hopes for this video. Seems the focus was more so on getting it done with 2 mins. Learned more from those in the comment section who spelled it out.
for us old dogs trying to improve, is there any law that says you can't actually slow down, outline the proper fingering.
too fast! please, show the exercises slower :) it will be really helpfull
Too slow it down you can click on the gear next to the box that says cc, but it doesn't sound as good.
It wouldn’t be 2 minutes if it was slower (;
Nice but it leaves nothing because it was hurriedly done 🎹🏵✈️🛬
You just can’t keep up… Slow the video down, if this is too advanced for you… or… hit up a different channel with easier, basic lessons. This ain’t the channel for you!
Nice but I think I prefer 1 minute jazz lessons.
Letters are hiding the keys
Didnt he mention an exercise he was trying to teach? Didnt really explain anything
Wow.... I play the piano and don’t even know what Pentatonix are.....I wish he had explained that
it means as much as a five note scale. But of course there are specific scales :)
C major pentatonic, only play R, 2, 3, 5, 6 of the major scale. Start on the 6 and you have A minor pentatonic (R, b3, 4, 5, b7). That's it.
Not quite my tempo
It would really help if you did them slow so we can see what you're doing
Go into the RUclips setting and change the playback to a slower speed.
Check out Peter's full range of courses from beginner to advanced all with speed control on the videos at Open Studio openstudiojazz.link/yt-piano
Are you teaching or showing?
Not every lesson is for you. Nor can every lesson include all the background information you need. If you don't understand what he's talking about, research it. There are many lessons about pentatonics available.
What you CAN learn from this lesson is the SOUND he's making and HOW he's making it. Pentatonics played intervallically, rather than sequentially and with repeating patterns and at performance speed. We've all heard this. Now you know what you've been hearing and if you want that sound in your playing this is what you need to learn. Very valuable information.
How im i suppose to learn it, if your playing so fast. Smh
Literally just say your fingerings
can you go faster? I think it would be more educational.
“‘there’s some false information out there that you only have to practice with three fingers” haha! Really?
There's a free pdf that he kindly gave a link to in answer to one early commentor.
Nice content. Too bad its too fast to understand!
There is a tool in RUclips settings to change the speed of the video you're watching. They sound like they're drunk when they speak, but it helps a lot to see the fingering in this case. I hope it helps.
@@PabloTarantino yes , its not a good teacher
@@kralkrauterblach414 Not everything in this world is aimed at people who know nothing. There are hundreds of videos that explain this stuff for beginners. If you don't get it, maybe it says more about your level at this time than it does about the man's ability to teach. What he is teaching here is extremely simple.
@@garethharrison5797 you talkl bulllshit , total bulllshit , its not simple , and he is bad teacher , fact , so shut up
@@garethharrison5797 see other comments dumbaa.....s , so im right he explain really bad , to fast
How could you teach so fast for beginners! You have to describe what a pentatonic scale is so beginners will be more interested to listen to you. I just feel you are showing off.
Check out Peter's full range of courses from beginner to advanced at Open Studio openstudiojazz.link/yt-piano
Are you actually trying to teach something here or just showing everybody how well you can play?
He's not trying to teach, he's letting you know that he had something new to teach. Oh wait this comment was 2 years ago sorry
Your comment suggests that you may be at an early stage in your studies, so it’s possible that this video, which explains basic pentatonic line development for the right hand, is more suitable for people at a more advanced level than yours. Perhaps reassess your learning approach and strive for more meaningful contributions rather than leaving useless comments here.
Clearly this lesson isn't for you. There's tons of students who not only learn from this but actually can use it and create stuff of their own
Iam a guitarist, we use pentatonics extensively, it was interesting to hear how you used them, the phrasing, it’s very different to guitar, I learnt something here… new approach, new licks and patterns. 😎👍
It's more for experienced musicians that want to expand their toolbox. A lot of classically trained pianists didn't get a chance to learn these scales or jazz theory.
Slow down and explain a bit more please.
aaaaaa
Finally intermediate and advanced exercises, so much superficial garbage out there, you have to add jazz to find anything decent
the scriptures keep us from seeing your fingers
I think you gotta deactivate the subtitles yourself,i was having the same issue hehe
if you could slow down a little would be nice...
Come on guys, it isn't so hard, close this page and look for someone explaining what notes form a pentatonic, than come back here and you will understand: It's like asking Philip Roth about the rules of syntax while he talks about his latest novel. Read the f*****ng title before writing stupid comments. Thanks PM, this is a great video.
Does everyone get that this is the FREE content? Does everyone get that this is Peter Martin playing this stuff? Not a youtube star. Not a local talent. Not someone who went to music school and is a self appointed genius. Peter Martin. Look him up. Look up who he's played with. There's amazing talent on RUclips. They studied the masters. Peter Martin, he PLAYED with the masters. There's too many people here on RUclips giving CST all day, everyday. And there's plenty on RUclips about music theory (which is very important, no doubt). But the missing element is real discussion about rhythm and feel, and building melodies. Peter talks about that in his courses. Check out Open Studio if you wanna see how Peter really lays it down. For starters, check out the "Modern Jazz Pack" in the curated lessons if you wanna get some real insight into modern modal playing. With the Black Friday sale, you get 50% off. At that price, it's like they are giving it away. I buy stuff on TrueFire, on My Music Master Class, on Mike's Masterclasses. They are all great. But then I found Open Studio Jazz... Let's just say that if you can attract Dianne Reeves and Christian McBride--you gotta be doing something right, and something way different. So yeah, quit heckling and head over to OpenStudioJazz dot com already!
I find this to be a problem with a lot of RUclips teachers. I’m sure that they mean well,, but they mostly show of how great a player they are. Instead of taking the exercise slow so that way other people can comprehend what you’re doing. Of course there’s a way to slow down the video on RUclips. But it is best if the teacher shows exactly what cord they are playing in the left hand and slowly go up the scale or down the scale so that way the listener can actually comprehend what they’re doing. So instead of being a video/tool. Instead the video becomes an audition demonstration performance.
Honestly if you aren't capable or don't have the patience to slow down this video and sit at the piano and study what's happening, working through it yourself and doing the hard work then you're never going to get better. There's hours and hours of information in his playing right in front of you and you can see every movement his hand is doing. You're not going to get better by listening to someone baby walk you through it. Watch, listen, dissect, and practice.
Exactly what type of speed are you on? The show-off type! It's supposed to be a lesson on the subject of pentatonic, not narcissism!
Almost 3 minutes
Yeah, he didn't play fast enough to get under two minutes. 😂😂
It would be great if you played it slow.
Yep he's fast but that's what rewind for
Boy I suck
I think you're being much too dismissive of Oliver's work. He does have a series on three-fingered jazz but even in that, he stretches out to the other fingers. The point is as always that jazz is not unapproachable.
Too fast to learn anything. You play nice. So what are pentatonics?
This comment section, oh danny boy..
Art Tatum did pentatonic runs with three fingers. Guess you’re better than him right?
It is too fast 😏
The chops were fantastic. The educational lesson portion of it?
Meh.. I either wasn't paying attention or it went by so fast and I missed it.