Now that you know the five CAGED major pentatonic shapes, let’s try using them in a standard 12-bar blues.
All solos use the same chord progression:
A | A | A | A |
D | D | A | A |
E | D | A | E ||
Solo 1
A | A | A | A |
D | D | A | A |
E | D | A | E ||
- Watch the video
- Play along with the video
- Play along with the backing track, which plays many times
- Play the solo as written
- Embellish the written solo using major pentatonics and arpeggios
- Improvise your own ideas
Pattern 1
Solo 2
A | A | A | A | D | D | A | A | E | D | A | E ||
- Watch the video
- Play along with the video
- Play along with the backing track, which plays many times
- Play the solo as written
- Embellish the written solo using major pentatonics and arpeggios
- Improvise your own ideas
Pattern 2
Solo 3
A | A | A | A | D | D | A | A | E | D | A | E ||
- Watch the video
- Play along with the video
- Play along with the backing track, which plays many times
- Play the solo as written
- Embellish the written solo using major pentatonics and arpeggios
- Improvise your own ideas
Pattern 3
Solo 4
A | A | A | A | D | D | A | A | E | D | A | E ||
- Watch the video
- Play along with the video
- Play along with the backing track, which plays many times
- Play the solo as written
- Embellish the written solo using major pentatonics and arpeggios
- Improvise your own ideas
Pattern 4
Solo 5
A | A | A | A | D | D | A | A | E | D | A | E ||
- Watch the video
- Play along with the video
- Play along with the backing track, which plays many times
- Play the solo as written
- Embellish the written solo using major pentatonics and arpeggios
- Improvise your own ideas
Pattern 5
Wrap Up
This final solo shows what you can do by combining pentatonic patterns across the neck. This doesn’t restrict you to just one position.
A | A | A | A | D | D | A | A | E | D | A | E ||
- Watch the video
- Play along with the video
- Play along with the backing track, which plays many times
- Play the solo as written
- Embellish the written solo using major pentatonics and arpeggios
- Improvise your own ideas