TAC Family Forums

Hey @Cadgirl ;

So, by the time you got to the Puckstopper, you should have realized that the D scale shape couldn’t be correct because it gave you the key of F, and Tony tells us the Puckstopper is in the “key of Em”. There is no such thing, so the “correct” way to say it is the “scale of Em”. Remember, the scale of G major is not a key either. Both of these are modes, which means that a certain note is designated as your tonal center. A key is simply the 7 notes you are using and it does not tell you which note to use as a tonal center. You can use any one of the 7 notes which is why you have 7 modes. Major and minor are 2 of those modes.

Now, I’m unclear on the assignment you are talking about. The notes of the Puckstopper are the 5 notes of the G major pentatonic or the Em pentatonic, which are the same notes. You leave out the 4th and 7th notes counting from the major root, G. So you leave out the C and the F#. (Counting from the minor root, you leave out the 2nd and the 6th. This is an example of why I always think in terms of the major scale, because everything can be derived from that and I only have to remember one formula. If I think in terms of the “key of G major” and the “key of Em”, now I have to remember 2 formulas. And if I want to do the rest of the modes, I have a new formula for each one. That’s means I need 7 different formulas to work with the modes. But I can derive everything quite quickly from just the major scale formula.)

Now, analyzing the notes on the 1st and 2nd strings, the open and 3rd fret is in the G shape scale; the 3rd and 5th frets are in the E shape scale; the 5th and 7th/8th are in the D shape scale; the 7th/8th and 10th are in the C shape scale; and finally, the 10th and 12th are in the A scale shape. And again, you are only playing the pentatonic scales, but you can easily add the 2 extra notes for the diatonic as soon as you correctly label the scale shapes you are playing.

MG 😀