Minor Pentatonic Scales

There are only 5 forms. Remember, these are not there placments on the neck just the fingering/blue print.

E-|--|0-|--|0-|   
B-|--|0-|--|0-|      
G-|0-|--|--|0-|
D-|0-|--|--|0-|
A-|--|0-|--|0-|
E-|--|0-|--|0-|                             

E-|0-|--|--|0-|
B-|0-|--|--|0-|
G-|0-|--|0-|--|
D-|0-|--|0-|--|
A-|0-|--|0-|--|
E-|0-|--|--|0-|                                

E-|--|0-|--|0-|
B-|--|0-|--|0-|
G-|0-|--|0-|--|
D-|0-|--|--|0-|
A-|0-|--|--|0-|
E-|--|0-|--|0-|                               

E-|--|0-|--|0-|--|
B-|--|0-|--|--|0-|
G-|0-|--|--|0-|--|
D-|--|0-|--|0-|--|
A-|--|0-|--|0-|--|
E-|--|0-|--|0-|--|

E-|0-|--|--|0-|
B-|--|0-|--|0-|
G-|0-|--|0-|--|
D-|0-|--|0-|--|
A-|0-|--|--|0-|
E-|0-|--|--|0-|

I'm gona explain what's below so it doesn't look like chicken scrath. It is the forms above placed in difrent position on the neck.

Pentatonic A:
e-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|--|8-|--|10|--|12|--|--|15|--|17|--|--|20|--|22|--|--|
B-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|--|8-|--|10|--|--|13|--|15|--|17|--|--|20|--|22|--|--|
G-|--|2-|--|--|5-|--|7-|--|9-|--|--|12|--|14|--|--|17|--|19|--|21|--|--|--|
D-|--|2-|--|--|5-|--|7-|--|--|10|--|12|--|14|--|--|17|--|19|--|--|22|--|--|
A-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|7-|--|--|10|--|12|--|--|15|--|17|--|19|--|--|22|--|--|
E-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|--|8-|--|10|--|12|--|--|15|--|17|--|--|20|--|22|--|--|

Pentatonic B:
e-|--|2-|--|--|5-|--|7-|--|--|10|--|12|--|14|--|--|17|--|19|--|--|22|--|24|
B-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|7-|--|--|10|--|12|--|--|15|--|17|--|19|--|--|22|--|24|
G-|--|2-|--|4-|--|--|7-|--|9-|--|11|--|--|14|--|16|--|--|19|--|21|--|23|--|
D-|--|2-|--|4-|--|--|7-|--|9-|--|--|12|--|14|--|16|--|--|19|--|21|--|--|24|
A-|--|2-|--|--|5-|--|7-|--|9-|--|--|12|--|14|--|--|17|--|19|--|21|--|--|24|
E-|--|2-|--|--|5-|--|7-|--|--|10|--|12|--|14|--|--|17|--|19|--|--|22|--|24|

Pentatonic C:
e-|--|--|3-|--|--|6-|--|8-|--|--|11|--|13|--|15|--|--|18|--|20|--|--|23|--|
B-|--|--|--|4-|--|6-|--|8-|--|--|11|--|13|--|--|16|--|18|--|20|--|--|23|--|
G-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|--|8-|--|10|--|12|--|--|15|--|17|--|--|20|--|22|23|--|
D-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|--|8-|--|10|--|--|13|--|15|--|17|--|--|20|--|22|--|--|
A-|--|--|3-|--|--|6-|--|8-|--|10|--|--|13|--|15|--|--|18|--|20|--|22|--|--|
E-|--|--|3-|--|--|6-|--|8-|--|--|11|--|13|--|15|--|--|18|--|20|--|--|23|--|

Pentatonic D:
e-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|--|8-|--|10|--|--|13|--|15|--|17|--|--|20|--|22|--|--|
B-|--|--|3-|--|--|6-|--|8-|--|10|--|--|13|--|15|--|--|18|--|20|--|22|--|--|
G-|--|2-|--|--|5-|--|7-|--|--|10|--|12|--|14|--|--|17|--|19|--|--|22|--|--|
D-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|7-|--|--|10|--|12|--|--|15|--|17|--|19|--|--|22|--|--|
A-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|--|8-|--|10|--|12|--|--|15|--|17|--|--|20|--|22|--|--|
E-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|--|8-|--|10|--|--|13|--|15|--|17|--|--|20|--|22|--|--|

Pentatonic E:
e0|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|7-|--|--|10|--|12|--|--|15|--|17|18|19|--|--|20|--|24|
B0|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|--|8-|--|10|--|12|--|--|15|--|17|--|--|20|--|22|--|24|
G0|--|2-|--|4-|--|--|7-|--|9-|--|--|12|--|14|--|16|--|--|19|--|21|--|--|24|
D0|--|2-|--|--|5-|--|7-|--|9-|--|--|12|--|14|--|--|17|--|19|--|21|--|--|24|
A0|1-|--|--|--|5-|--|7-|--|--|10|--|12|--|14|--|--|17|--|19|--|--|22|--|24|
E0|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|7-|--|--|10|--|12|--|--|15|--|17|--|19|--|--|22|--|24|

Pentatonic F:
e-|1-|--|--|4-|--|6-|--|8-|--|--|11|--|13|--|--|16|--|18|--|20|--|--|23|--|
B-|1-|--|--|4-|--|6-|--|--|9-|--|11|--|13|--|--|16|--|18|--|--|21|--|23|--|
G-|1-|--|3-|--|5-|--|--|8-|--|10|--|--|13|--|15|--|17|--|--|20|--|22|--|--|
D-|1-|--|3-|--|--|6-|--|8-|--|10|--|--|13|--|15|--|--|18|--|20|--|22|--|--|
A-|1-|--|3-|--|--|6-|--|8-|--|--|11|--|13|--|15|--|--|18|--|20|--|--|23|--|
E-|1-|--|--|4-|--|6-|--|8-|--|--|11|--|13|--|--|16|--|18|--|20|--|--|23|--|

Pentatonic G:
e-|--|--|3-|--|--|6-|--|8-|--|10|--|--|13|--|15|--|--|18|--|20|--|22|--|--|
B-|--|--|3-|--|--|6-|--|8-|--|--|11|--|13|--|15|--|--|18|--|20|--|--|23|--|
G-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|7-|--|--|10|--|12|--|--|15|--|17|--|19|--|--|22|--|--|
D-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|--|8-|--|10|--|12|--|--|15|--|17|--|--|20|--|22|--|--|
A-|--|--|3-|--|5-|--|--|8-|--|10|--|--|13|--|15|--|17|--|--|20|--|22|--|--|
E-|--|--|3-|--|--|6-|--|8-|--|10|--|--|13|--|15|--|--|18|--|20|--|22|--|--|

Comments

[jetblackcat]

Thanx this is just what i was lookin for, perfecto.
xxx

[gdm09]

awesome! needed this.

[dimebag7]

this is just differnt verisons of the pentatonic eh?

[blackmetal619]

nice going

[forsaknazrael]

Nice. But you shoulda pointed out which are the root notes.

[kennethdave]

You made a good effort. Have to addmit, its good, explained and combined nicely.

[xdan666x]

cheers pretty useful been looking for this

[Demons&Wizards]

great just what i've been looking for, but shouldn't the First note on the D string in the E pentatonic be on the first fret and not the second? if not please explain. thanks

[jazzmaestro7]

Demons&Wizards wrote:

great just what i've been looking for, but shouldn't the First note on the D string in the E pentatonic be on the first fret and not the second? if not please explain. thanks

First Note on D string should be the second fret, E. The first fret on the D string is Eb: E flat. The notes in the Em Pentatonic scale are E,G,A,B and D. Hope the clears things up.

[auranos]

Great little lesson. It deserves a much higher rating. I agree that the root notes should have been at least bolded or something, for the theory newbies like me. Anyway, this is exactly what I needed. Improv away! 10/10

[parvez]

i'm confused, there are only two A# in the key of E

[sonixbp]

pentatonics are one of my favorites to shred up the neck. These shapes are what i use 85% of the time for blues, rock, jazz, funk..... once you get good at going up and down and improvising pentatonics, it's fun to try and fill in the notes of the regular major/minor/blues scales on some shapes while walking up/down and bending the regular pentatonic shapes as well.

[hieubert909]

yess just what i needed. love using this to make riffs.

[Duarte]

I'm just a noob in guittar, i have knowlegge form classical music, u know... because i've playing mozart and so on... REcently i've felt a desire to play guitar.. and i Think that this post was the fist one that make me understand the comum things of lcassical music that this guitar method.. is very good... I hope to improve to some dya play like slash?? LOL tnks man.. u rule

[Froggy McHop]

don't get it

[dumps]

thanks alot, i know all this before and this just set something off in my mind and i seem to understand it all now! cheers a bunch

[Ned]

thanks man!

[chickenfire315]

this is cool. the scales all the way down the neck are really helpful!

[Nachtmusik]

It combined everything together visually for me, which is exactly what I needed to understand the minor pentatonic scales.

[stag313]

yea i love doing these scales cus i can do them fast and clear

[hard_rock101]

i really dont understand it

[StevieRamone]

The first note on the 2nd string of E minor is Ab. Shouldn't it be A, on the second fret?

[metallica100]

can you use this for solos

[Vman666]

yeh...root notes...I know which ones they are...but probably shoulda put em in anyway...

[matt \,,/]

???im confused.....i understand what you mean by playing the notes in a certain order so they sound good, its jst that every lesson about scales i go onto its always got a different bunch of notes in the same part of the neck..jst dont know what one to practice an i end up mixing them up....

[JacktheHobson]

this is gona sound confusing but here goes..... with the fingerings... do they all mean the same thing...say if i did each fingering on the 5th fret on the E string...would they all mean Aminor pentatonic? tell me if im wrong please

[mAgGoT_159]

thanx man that really helped

[Gosman]

All good except for the misplelling
chicken SCRATCH! hahahajk

[xacks_03]

I have a question.. if im gonna memorize all of this pentatonic scales.. so how can i use this to improvise or use for soloing or making a lead???

[hendrixman91]

yah just what i was looking for
tried to figure it out myself but this saved a lot of time.
THX dude

[deega06]

thanx a mill finaly sumtin i understand but how do i know what key the song is in, thats probably a retarded question but please dnt judge me

[Broken-pick]

E-|--|0-|--|0-|
B-|--|0-|--|0-|
G-|0-|--|--|0-|
D-|0-|--|--|0-|
A-|--|0-|--|0-|
E-|--|0-|--|0-|

This is supposed to be picked or strum?

[loge]

i did not get that "box" either, could someone please explain without any sarcasm or attitude?

[loge]

forget what i posted above, wrong post..
isn`t there some kind of form you can remember? instead of remembering all of that??

[loge]

StevieRamone wrote:

The first note on the 2nd string of E minor is Ab. Shouldn't it be A, on the second fret?

has to be....

finally got this, had to jump back a bit in theory..

a great post..

[Ninety-four]

this is exactly what i was looking for thanx man its awsome

[sully111]

try to learn the second box down, whereever the note you wont on top e is that will start you off just rember what is infont off and behind it

[simmons100]

i can only read tab can someone explain what hes writing up there

[MegaKarl]

some mistakes up there

[WWWOOOWWW]

is it good to memorize all of it...???

[pirret67]

bloody brilliant mate

[discoman]

awesome. thanks

[dryh2o_podz11]

i think that there is a pattern on this scale its just like MAJOR SCALE!!! i guess?

[dryh2o_podz11]

ive seen it !!!!!

[dryh2o_podz11]

weh!! this pattern is connected to each other!

[Jab aka. Kirby]

Great. This is what I was looking for!!!
You should have put in which notes were root notes tho, because for absolute beginners, or those with no concept of scales or any kind of music theory will probably wonder about them or how you know which scale is where.

Also, you should say that all the scales use the same shaping just at diffrent roots, so all you have to do is pretty much learn the shape and slide it down the neck to the root of your choice...

Great tutorial tho, 8!

[RHCP-baSs fan]

these are not correct pentatonics' , or mabee their different ones i've never seen.

[The Avery]

there are 12 key signatures. you should do this lesson in all twelve keyes, ie:
"A,A#/Bb,B,B#/C,C#/Db,D,D#/Eb,E,E#/F,F#/Gb,G,G#/Ab."

by the way, if any of you are wondering why i say A#/Bb and so on, it is because those notes are enharmonic(meaning that they are the same note, but would be called one or the other depending on the key signature).

[ZedgeZ]

fricken awesome!

[loserboyjay]

So the minor pentatonic is derived from the minor scale right? What notes are left out?

[anaz]

wow amigo...at my first view kinda hard to understand...but thanx a lot for the tips....

[9_11_4]

great just what i was looking for..cheers

[Perforator]

What's the difference between major and minor pentatonic? Do you just use one for major chords and the other one for minor chords or something?
And then what to use for 5th chords like powerchords? I don't understand...

[Polishboy656]

what does this mean?
e0
b0
g0
d0
a0
e0 does it mean to make the strings flat?

[ashfieldsjse]

well according to your fingerings and the tab there are about 8 positions for A minor??

help

[HughF]

*sings* you left the open notes, out of pentantic AAAAA-eeeAAAAA

[tennisace]

this left me really confused is all... lol

[acdcrock2000]

thanks for this, it's a really good help. I only reall know one posistion of the pentatonic so it's good to know there's more.

thanks

[minichibi]

Awesome, but theres an error. Take a look at the diagram for pentatonic in E... The second note (the one played after the open) on the A string is a Bb... It should be a B. Scoot it one fret up, from the first fret to the second fret.

[pootie41]

Im so confused about this man!

[Hendo3514]

whats chicken scrath

[saucepanz]

...
What?

[slash&angus]

I think the beginning of G is WRONG. Look on my site it's different www.freewebs.com/areyouaguitarpro

[B345T]

Are there any lessons on the WHY of this lesson??

I mean for example, taking a pentatonic in the key of E why which box shapes are placed where they are?

I mean, to me it seems you take the 2nd pattern, play it starting on the correct note on the low E string, then put in the 4th and 1st boxes after it and repeat for whatever key. The 3rd and 5th shapes seem to nicely overlap and disappear into the background.

What are the individual box shapes called or how are they referred to? I realise one is the major and one is the minor pentatonic shape, what are the others?

Im ever so slightly lost amongst this information. Maybe im thinking too much.

[Wiegraf]

Great lesson, exactly what I was looking for!

10 stars.

[CowboyFromHell5]

can someone maybe make one post of one of these scales boxed and maybe have each root note in bold or something? im a little confused and this would help a LOT of people.

[rosecityboy1990]

|18|19|--|--|20|--|24|
|--|19|--|21|--|--|24|
|--|19|--|21 |--|--|24|
|--|19|--|--|22|--|24|
|--|19|--|--|22|--|24|

in this part shouldnt the "20" on the 1st string be "22"?

[kogsy]

tangina mo lufet

[-XII-]

Helpful but not so beginner friendly. I'm pretty new to the whole concept of scales but I have learnt this scale and I'm pretty familiar with it. Not to say I can actually use it well lol...

loge wrote:

i did not get that "box" either, could someone please explain without any sarcasm or attitude?

Each note is picked individually in sequence. For example starting on the low E and playing all the notes indicated on that string one after another then moving down to the A string and playing all the notes indicated, then down to the D string etc.

In Minor Pentatonic scale there will be only two notes played per string for a total of 12 notes in each of the 7 shapes. You can start anywhere within the shape, in fact its recommended when using scales to improvise, and go up or down through it for different sounds. For practice however start at the low E for each shape go right down to high E then play the shape backwards up towards the low E. I learned all of them in a couple of hours this way.

E-|0-|--|--|0-| This is the basic pentatonic scale
B-|0-|--|--|0-| shape. * This is the first note you
G-|0-|--|0-|--| play, ^ this is the second and this
D-|0-|--|0-|--| continues up through each string.
A-|0-|--|0-|--|
E-|0-|--|--|0-|
* ^

JacktheHobson wrote:

this is gona sound confusing but here goes..... with the fingerings... do they all mean the same thing...say if i did each fingering on the 5th fret on the E string...would they all mean Aminor pentatonic? tell me if im wrong please

No. Using the basic scale shape mentioned above or in reference to the lesson the second shape in the first set of diagrams, this will give you the starting point for the scale in each key, at least I have found that's the easiest way to learn it.

The last notes you play in each shape will be the first you play in the one that follows, they're all in order in the first set of diagrams returning to the first when you reach the last shape. Therefore shapes will also share roots, though will not neccessarily start on them at the low E string. They can be played at any position, this just alters the key of the scale.

The root notes in each scale dictate what key it is in. For example a C Minor Pentatonic scale's root notes are all C's. The roots fall in different places from shape to shape and are all 5 notes apart within each shape, hence "Pentatonic" meaning 5 tones. Therefore knowing one of the roots in a shape you can find the others. For example using the second shape in the key of C - G(the root)A# C D F G. Each note in the G Minor Pentatonic scale will be on of these. So you started out at the root(included as one tone) and another 4 tones later you're back to the root note G.

The root in the second shape is the first note you will play, that being on the low E string. Therefore I use the second shape to easily determine or find which key I want to play in, finding that note on the low E string (remember the first note in the second shape is a root note) and working through all the shapes down the neck.

E(open string), F(1st fret), F#/Gb(2nd fret etc.), G, G#/Ab, A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E(12th fret)

Therefore if you were to start with the second shape at the 5th fret for example, that's the A minor pentatonic scale, and working down the fret board through each shape in the order shown in the first set of diagrams will also be part of the A Minor Pentatonic scale. You can also play up the fretboard backwards through the shapes to learn the entire scale. Don't forget that all shapes link and the last notes played on each string will be the first played in the next shape.

Playing each shape at the same position will result in different keys as the position of the roots change from shape to shape. To use A as your example at the 5th fret, the second shape will be in the key of A and be the A Minor Pentatonic Scale. The shape that follows that will be in the key of F#/Gb as the roots have changed.

loserboyjay wrote:

So the minor pentatonic is derived from the minor scale right? What notes are left out?

Yep and the Minor scale is derived from the Major scale which is easy to figure out. For example C Major is just C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. Major scales have octaves between roots rather than five tones. Minor scales have the 3rd, 6th and 7th tones lowered half a step which is called "flatting". So to get C Minor we simply lower the 3rd, 6th and 7th half a step(1 fret).
C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C
Minor Pentatonic scales are derived from Minor scales simply by removing the 2nd and 6th tones from the scale.
C, D#, F, G, A#, C
This is the C Minor Pentatonic scale. From root to root its 5 notes, the first C is included. The flatted notes are enharmonic with sharpened notes, that is they are the same. This is weird I know and I believe depends on the key which is used. Either way they're exactly the same as the flattened tones so don't worry.

Again Major to Minor - lower the 3rd, 6th and 7th tones half

[-XII-]

a step
Minor to Minor Pentatonic - Remove the 2nd and 6th tones


Now the most important thing... Why the hell did I type all this out? Because I'm bored and found it quite hard to find one source that explained everything clearly to me so I decided to share what I knew. If you really wanna succeed learn every note on the fret board it'll make it so much easier. For root positions just google "Minor Pentatonic Scale" there are plenty out there. I'm pretty sure this is all right if not at least it should give you a basic idea of this scale.

[-XII-]

Damnit.. correction sorry.

For example using the second shape in the key of C - G(the root)A# C D F G. Each note in the G Minor Pentatonic scale will be on of these.So you started out at the root(included as one tone) and another 4 tones later you're back to the root note G.

Should be:
C(the root), D#, F, G, A#, C. Each note in the C Minor Pentatonic scale... you're back to the root note C.

And the diagram for that basic shape should have the two little icons beneath each 0 on the bottom line.

[NirvanaNo.1]

This lesson helped a lot!

[Metal_Ibanez_89]

So all you do is shift the scale up the neck. There the same fingerings?

[rodyrdz]

this looks exactly like the major pentatonic on the other lesson

[kaj202]

thx this really helped me get all the scales or is there more i need to know

[DEATHbyBLOOD]

good to see you understand! great information

[F8iscruel]

ok i neeed some help. firstly how do i combine these to make a solo do i just stat with the root note and end an octive up or is there more to it than that i really wanna no because i wnat ot expand my abilites as a guitarist and i need to climb this hurdle before i can move on also how do i do a solo over chords and thats it plz post a response it would greatly hel p a fellow guitarist become better :

[IronNecrosis]

AWESOME perfect exactly what I needed just I'm a super n00b so .... .> .... I'll make sweet love to you if you put the roots in bold

[Master tapper]

That was just what I needed. Thnx alot.

[vankittenshalen]

im new to pentatonic scales. how do i read them?

[F8iscruel]

ok so do i just so is the minor scale different from the minor penatonic, if so then thats all i need to no if not, then why od some version of the scle have 3 frets per string rather that 2 like these ones if u played out the box

[goldenchopstick]

Man how do you make solos sound GOOD. I mean, i use pentatonic but all my improv solos sound either the same or just terrible =/

[the_guitar_hero]

nice. im glad someone has all the correct fingerings and no mistakes in the tablature =)

[GunsN'tallica]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! This is by far one of the best lessons on UG!

[guitarandballer]

This is a great lesson. Thnx a lot man.

[adikt87]

great stuff
just what i needed, althought some explanation of the various positions would be good, they can be placed anywhere on the fretboard?
or just at the roots?

[Shin17]

i have noob question why is the A Pentatonic Minor don't start in A note

[slashepiphone20]

i havnt really gone very deep into the whole scales thing but id like 2. this lesson did help me becuase i know that slash ( my fave guiarist) used the minor pentatonic. once ive memorised the whole lot, how do i use them in solos because ive hit a wall wit the guitar and want 2 get better by used these scales. help!

[diegoguitar]

i dont really get how to use this scales...
how to combine them or what to doo..??
help plz..

[learninclutch]

Very good noob Question, I need the answer to that one too. Then it might open the whole thing up for me!

Shin17 wrote:

i have noob question why is the A Pentatonic Minor don't start in A note

[learninclutch]

Except, I would paraphrase it to say, Why doesn't the A pentatonic minor scale start with an A note? Well, A,B, and C pentatonics do not either, explain this please in lamens terms. I'm college educated, not musically inclined. I'm getting there...haha

[adr11iano]

some mistakes on E