Dominant Pentatonic

The Dominant Pentatonic scale is a great scale for playing over dominant 7th chords. It, like the difference between the minor 7th chord and the dominant 7th chord, has a natural third, as opposed to the minor third of the minor pentatonic. So, the C minor pentatonic would consist of the intervals R,m3,P4,P5,m7 (C,Eb,F,G,Bb). The Dominant Pentatonic would be R,M3,P4,P5 and m7 (C,E,F,G,Bb). By simply raising the third, you define a different chord quality. Used by countless blues and jazz players, this simple scale can make your playing sound more sophisticated, and it gives interest to your solos by moving away from the normal minor pentatonic scale.  

The dominant pentatonic gives interest in the way that it follows chords instead of simply superimposing a minor pentatonic over all changes. For instance, if you are playing blues over the changes A7-D7-E7, you could simply play the Am pentatonic over all the chords. You’d sound very normal, and many great guitarists have played amazing music just using that one scale. However, if you used the dominant pentatonic scale, you would want to change the scale for each chord change. For the A7, you’d use the A Dominant Pentatonic; for D7, you’d use D Dominant Pentatonic; and for E7, you’d use E Dominant Pentatonic. Of course, it is more complicated to play this way, but it would also sound more sophisticated. And, rather than sounding like you are wandering in your improvisation, you will sound like you are following the changes of the song more closely.