tab question

[guitorture]

i have a pentatonics guide and it lists some basic scales...but some of the numbers have a lowercase "b" beside them. here's a pic: http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=4/10315424813.jpg&s=x402
can someone explain their purpose?

[HoWheels]

You linked the thumbnail
http://x402.putfile.com/4/10315424813.jpg

But my guess is that the b stands for "bend."

Blah, I hate tab!

-a

[thetroy]

No it's the notes value relative to a normal major scale. If the notes in a major scale are 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, then the minor pentatonic scale has 1 b3 4 5 b7. Meaning that you take the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th notes from a major scale and bring the 3rd and 7th down one half step to construct the minor pentatonic scale.

[Guyver1]

No it's the notes value relative to a normal major scale. If the notes in a major scale are 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, then the minor pentatonic scale has 1 b3 4 5 b7. Meaning that you take the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th notes from a major scale and bring the 3rd and 7th down one half step to construct the minor pentatonic scale.

is that right tho?

Am - A B C D E F G

Am pentatonic - A C D E G <--- no flats

the jpeg is showing Em variations, and Em Pentatonic is E G A B D <-- again no flats.

[Guyver1]

I think the person who did that jpeg has done it wrong, to my limited theory knowledge a minor 3rd ISNT a flatted 3rd??? its simply a minor 3rd?

i could be completely wrong here tho but Am doesnt contain any sharps or flats and its the mirror of the Cmajor scale.

The classic minor pentatonic box is based on the 6th (Aeolian) position of the major scale minus the 2nd and 6th of the major scale its derived from.

warning - self taught musician spouting crap

[Guyver1]

although the interval is a half step (minor 3rd) compared to the full step of the major 3rd, but that doesnt mean the actual note is a flat... or its it the interval that defines whether its maked as a flatted 3rd, 7th etc?

[jjw]

its just a min3rd-thats a min pent so its based on min chord notes.

[thetroy]

is that right tho?

Am - A B C D E F G

Am pentatonic - A C D E G <--- no flats

the jpeg is showing Em variations, and Em Pentatonic is E G A B D <-- again no flats.

You're comparing it to a minor scale. Whoever made that pic is comparing it to a major scale. They used b3 and b7 instead of m3 and m7 but it's the same thing. They're just naming the intervals compared to a major scale rather than calling them minor 3rd and 7th.

[VitaminG]

is that right tho?

Am - A B C D E F G

Am pentatonic - A C D E G <--- no flats

the jpeg is showing Em variations, and Em Pentatonic is E G A B D <-- again no flats.

Am has no incidentals because it's the relative minor scale to C major. So any flatted notes are already there.

As thetroy said, if you compare it to the A MAJOR scale:

A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G# - A

you can see that Am scale does indeed have a flatted 3rd, 6th & 7th, the flatted notes in the minor scale removing the sharps to give you the relative minor to C major.

If you apply the interval theory from the pentatonic scale in the jpeg to the MAJOR scale rather than the minor, the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th become A C D E G

likewise, the E major scale contains:

E - F# - G# - A - B - C# - D# - E

and using the same intervals from the jpeg will give you E G A B D