Mr. P.C. Chord Shapes and Scales

Reference Shape Studies

Let’s dive into the minor blues to develop a deeper understanding of note choices when soloing. We’ll explore essential chord shapes and the pentatonic scales that connect with them—giving you practical tools for navigating these changes with confidence.

Chord shapes are in orange. The remaining scale tones are in blue.

Here’s the Cm7 (i) and the C minor pentatonic:

Then we have Fm7 (iv) and the F minor pentatonic:

The progression goes back to the Cm7 (i):

In bar 9, we have the predominant chord Ab7 (bVI). This is an Ab dominant pentatonic:

With the G7 (V) chord, let’s add a bit more variety. We’ll include the G dominant pentatonic as well as a couple of alterations; b9, #9:

G7#9:

G7b9:

Then we’re back to the Cm7 (i):

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