Pentatonic Passing-Tones, and the 5 Map 15-Position, 45 Blues Scale

One of the key concepts in Blues Soloing (say a million soloists) is hitting the "passing tones" when transitioning between the I, IV, or V. Thus the riff from the prior bar leads into a passing tone landing on the downbeat of the change, in sync with the accompanying progression.

Therefore, while working with any one of the standard CAGED pentatonic boxes, it is ideal to chart out the passing chords for the I, IV, or V in relation to that box.

Passing tones most immediately useful and accessible appear to be the 3 and b7, followed by the 5 and the 1. The I and V further includes the b3/#9, and the IV extends to 4/11. These tones should be identified in all 5 CAGED boxes.

The 12-position pentatonic Map is then formed by centering the root in either the low E, low A, or low D string, and connecting these with the adjacent pentatonic scales to the left or the right. These form the DCA, CAG, AGE, GED, and EDC maps. From any centered root, the I, IV, and V, also have horizontal adjacent maps, thus 9 Positions per centered root.

For instance From a Blues in A, with root Fret 5, the I takes the "E" box, the IV the "A" box, the V the "C" box. Sliding up a whole step, the I becomes "D," the IV "G," the V "A." Reversing the "E" pentatonic at root A at the fifth fret, the I becomes "G," the IV "C," the V "D."

The 12 position pentatonic blues map thus removes the restrictions of hammer-ons and pull-offs in the standard pentatonic boxes, and forms a basis of connecting these boxes in a I, IV, and V progression. Thus the 6 root E box is also treated as a 6 root G box and 4 root D box. The 5 root A is treated as 5 root C and 4 root D. And the 4 root D is treated as 6 root E and 5 root C. Thus you get a slide up, or a pull-off down, from each root pentatonic.

While using a I-IV-V progression, 36 interlocking positions are thus formed.