Pentatonic Guitar Pdf
Janeen Bahrke
If you use the root notes (black circles) as a reference for where the scale starts, then you can see that the five notes are repeated a little over two times over the span of almost two and a half octaves.
As you can see, the minor pentatonic scale starts on the same note as the major pentatonic shape but uses a different pattern. One is made up of notes included in the key of G major, while the other is made up of notes included in the key of G minor.
Shape #1: The first shape is one you should be familiar with already. Position one of the major pentatonic scale is based on an E major shape G major chord. If you compare the scale to the chord, you can see how the shapes fit on top of one another. The scale contains all the notes from the chord and includes a few others from within the key.
Shape #3: As we continue up the fretboard, we get a pentatonic shape that outlines a C major shape G major chord. Every shape is still just that same five-note scale repeating through different octaves. The G notes are still displayed as the black circles since this is still a G major pentatonic scale.
Pentatonic Navigation Tips
You know all the pentatonic shapes, but how do you tie them all together to sound like your favorite guitar players? Learn all about the connected pathways between the pentatonic scale shapes with this lesson from Nate Savage.
Minor Pentatonic Magic
Embark on a minor pentatonic journey with Ayla Tesler-Mabe. Learn tips and tricks for breaking out of the pentatonic box so you can improvise solos with more feeling and emotion.
Andrew Clarkeis a guitarist, educator, and content creator from Vancouver, Canada. He's best known for his YouTube channel, where he creates easy-to-follow guitar lessons and informative guitar gear videos. Andrew also manages The Riff.
Guitar scales are organized sequences of notes played in an ascending or descending order that help you build finger strength and dexterity. Practicing guitar scales also makes you more familiar with the notes on your fretboard, develops your musical ear, and provides a framework for creating melodies for your own original songs.
For those that want to expand their scale horizons, the available Player Pack on the Fender Tune app features a dynamic scale library with a variety of diagrams and patterns for any variation, flavor, and key. And for those looking to brush up on the basics or just dive into scales for the first time, Fender Play has a wealth of videos that offer step-by-step guides of basic scales that will serve you well.
The E minor pentatonic scale in the open position is ground zero for soloing. Led Zeppelin's "How Many More Times," "Back in Black" by AC/DC and "Rumble" by Link Wray are a few popular songs that feature this scale.
The E minor pentatonic scale only contains five notes instead of the standard eight (octave) notes found in all major or minor scales. Rather, pentatonic scales are abbreviated scales that follow a certain pattern, taking five notes from the corresponding octave-based scale, removing three of those eight notes. (More on that later in this article!)
In this Technique of the Week, Leah Wellbaum (Slothrust) teaches the E Minor Pentatonic using the open strings, hammer ons and pull offs. Wellbaum also plays portions of the scale under chords which is a common technique used in her songs.
Some common songs that utilize the A minor pentatonic scale are "Stairway to Heaven" from Led Zeppelin and "Hoodoo Bluesman" by Junior Wells, to name a few. Learn to play the A minor pentatonic scale.
Learning the C major scale will help you understand the key of C, and because it doesn't have any sharps or flats, it's a great entryway into musical composition. To simply play it all on the B string, you'll need to follow a whole step / whole step / half step / whole step / whole step / whole step / half step formula. You can actually play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" using this method!
The E harmonic minor scale is used often in classical, jazz, and metal music, as it can spice up your solos. One way to get to know the E harmonic minor scale is to play it all on the High E string, going from the open position to the second fret (whole step), second to third fret (half step), third to fifth fret (whole step), fifth to seventh fret (whole step), seventh to eighth fret (half step), eighth to 11th fret (minor third), and 11th to the 12th fret (half step).
You can apply this formula starting with any root note to play a major scale in any key. You can hear major scales across every genre and a nearly endless amount of songs. Its bright, upbeat tone makes it ideal for danceable pop songs, rock stadium anthems, and more.
Pentatonic scales contain five notes, which is how it gets its name (Penta=5, tonic = tones). There is a major pentatonic scale and a minor pentatonic scale. The awesome part is that they contain the same note intervals (with differing roots), so the patterns are the same. You just need to learn a new root note.
Some people claim that you can play the C minor pentatonic scale for a bluesy sound. Yes, you can, but you should be mindful of the notes you are playing. The minor pentatonic scale has a minor 3rd (or b3) while the major chord as a major third. This note can clash, but you can bend the minor third up a half step to a major third, which is a common tactic by blues guitarists.
If you are a fan of Jimi Hendrix, you know that he likes to play a Dominant7#9 chord. The 9 is also called the 2nd. The #9 is enharmonically the same as a minor third (b3). In other words, if you see this chord, it implies that you should play the minor pentatonic scale since it has a minor third.
I am cautiously going to make a recommendation here. Since the chords change, you can follow my rules below and be safe. All the notes should sound fine. Just remember that some notes will sound better than others depending on current chord.
Another way to form the scale is in parallel, using the same root note rather than the relative minor. In my opinion, this is useful for learning the notes of the scale rather than just the pattern. To form the scales in parallel, you can take the major scale and use the formulas in the table below.
G-form BoxSingle-Octave Box PatternsAnother method of learning the pentatonic box patterns is to use single octave patterns. If you know how to move single-octave box patterns around the fretboard, you can use these two patterns to simplify the learning process.
The single-octave patterns can be linked to produce two diagonal patterns, each repeated three times. The figure below shows two diagonal major pentatonic patterns. The two combine to provide a pattern with a root on each string.
Similarly, the single-octave minor pentatonic pattern can be repeated to form two diagonal scales with roots on every string! Can you identify where these diagonal patterns fit the box patterns? As an exercise, I recommend finding where the box patterns fit into these diagonal scales.
Once you know the pentatonic scales, you are ready to play the blues. I highly recommend that you check out my 12 bar blues lesson to start improvising. You can also incorporate some blues licks. You can find some licks in my Licks, Riffs, and Tricks section.
Blair, Thank you for your comment and question. Filled-in notes are root notes. Not-filled-in notes are the other notes of the scale. In a C major pentatonic scale, the C notes would be filled in. You can move the pattern around too. For example, if you went down in pitch by 1 fret, you would have the B major pentatonic scale. I hope this helps! If you need more information, you can find it in my lesson on chord diagrams, fretboard patterns, and rhythm charts.
The first note of the e form box pattern (in the diagram) is being played on the first fret on the e string, but this is an f(e#). Also seventh note on the g form box is also being played on the first fret of the g string and is therefore a g#.
Thank you for your question. The box patterns are moveable patterns and not showing a specific fretboard location, though I can see why you were confused. You must place the root note on the proper note rather than assuming the fret number of the box pattern. The root note can be on an open string. In the case of the E minor pentatonic box, the first fret of the pattern should be the open strings (or the 12th fret if you want to play an octave up). Similarly, the G major box pattern, should be rooted on the open 3rd string or 12th fret of the 3rd string. I hope this helps!
If played sequentially, a scale technically does not include a root note at the end. In practice, many people include it. In my opinion, it is important that you know the sequence and how to find notes relative to the root note, such as which note is the 5th note of the scale. When practicing, I like to repeat the root note at the end because you can start a new scale from that note. It also provides a nice feeling of resolution.
Thank you for showing the diagonal patterns. This is the only site that does this. I taught myself the diagonal patterns but always wondered what I was doing wrong (or right). I think the diagonal patterns should be the standard way these scales are illustrated. But maybe I AM doing something wrong.
Thank you for the question! There are benefits to both. I like the diagonal patterns because they help you move up and down the fretboard. CAGED lets you play in a single position and attach it to the various chords in the progression. This can be very useful. This chord mapping can be done with diagonals too. With all these techniques, these mental models are intended to make learning easier so we can play without thinking too much. If diagonals work for you, enjoy it!
If you are playing a Major Pentatonic Scale over a dominant 7 chord, adding the b7 makes a lot of sense because it is a chord tone of the dominant 7 chord. Example: You could add Bb over a C7 chord when playing C Major Pentatonic.
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