The Modes Vs. The Pentatonic Scale: The Critical Difference

If you’re a beginning bass player, you’ve probably at least of heard of the ‘modes’ and of the pentatonic scale shapes. You may have even learned both of them.

But how are they different, and where should you use each of them?

The confusion usually crops up around the purpose and use of the modes vs. the pentatonics. If each one of the modes corresponds to a chord, then the pentatonics should be the same, right?

No!

This is a really easy mistake to make, but the modes and pentatonics are fundamentally different.

Where one is incredibly specific in it’s application, the other is incredibly vague. Being ‘vague’ or ‘specific’ are not inherently bad things – just different.

In today’s lesson, you’ll learn exactly how the modes and the shapes of the pentatonic are different. Of course, you’ll also learn where to use each one.

Check it out here:

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You’ll notice that the modes, being hyper-specific as they are, are a little trickier to use. That’s fine! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with starting off using the pentatonic shapes and then graduating to using the slightly more complex modes.

In fact, that would be a great roadmap to follow!

Of course, if you need to brush up on your pentatonic scale, you can do that in my lesson, The Pentatonic Scale For Bass: A ‘Hack’ For Memorizing And Combining Pentatonic Shapes.

And when you’re ready to dive deeper into the modes of the major scale, check out my Ultimate Guide To The Modes For Bass. It’ll give you a jargon-free way of mastering one of the most important concepts in your bass playing.

As always, the best way to reach me is directly through email or by filling out the contact form on the site.

Good luck with the lesson, and happy playing!

Cheers,