Blues Licks in E Pentatonic - Major & Minor - Guitar Tab

About Major & Minor

Understanding how major and minor tonalities coexist is one of the most practical skills in Blues, and this piece puts that relationship front and centre. In E pentatonic playing, the "major and minor" concept means learning to blend the E minor pentatonic scale with the E major pentatonic scale across the same positions on the fretboard, which is exactly what experienced players like Blues Licks in E Pentatonic demonstrate. The critical move is the bend or slide between the minor third and the major third, a small interval shift that carries enormous expressive weight. Getting that note choice right in real time takes repetition, so isolate the phrases where the scale shifts and use the Practice Toolbar to loop them slowed down until the targeting feels natural. Pay close attention to which scale tones you land on at the end of each lick, because resolving to the major third sounds warm and resolved while landing on the minor third keeps the tension alive.

• The core challenge is navigating the overlap between E minor pentatonic and E major pentatonic, particularly targeting the major or minor third in each phrase.
• In E standard tuning, the defining bend occurs on the G string, where the minor third can be pushed up to meet the major third for that classic blues inflection.
• Practise each lick at a slow tempo with the Practice Toolbar before building speed, since accurate note choice matters far more than velocity here.