Pentatonic Scales

The Pentatonic scales are the basic building blocks to soloing. There are 5 scales that are considered the basic pentatonic scales; although there are more then just one set of pentatonic scales. This is a tab of the 5 basic scales:

F minor Pentatonic: I (1st scale)

e|---------------------1-4-------------|
B|-----------------1-4-----------------|
G|-------------1-3---------------------|
D|---------1-3-------------------------|
A|-----1-3-----------------------------|
E|-1-4---------------------------------|

G# Major Pentatonic: II (2nd scale)

Notice how the 2nd pentatonic scale starts on the second note of the 1st pentatonic scale before it.

e|---------------------4-6-------------|
B|-----------------4-6-----------------|
G|-------------3-5---------------------|
D|---------3-6-------------------------|
A|-----3-6-----------------------------|
E|-4-6---------------------------------|

A# Dorian Pentatonic: III (3rd scale)
Notice how the 3rd pentatonic scale starts on the second note of the 2nd pentatonic scale.

e|---------------------6-8-------------|
B|-----------------6-9-----------------|
G|-------------5-8---------------------|
D|---------6-8-------------------------|
A|-----6-8-----------------------------|
E|-6-8---------------------------------|

C Phrygian Pentatonic: IV (4th scale)

Notice how the 4th pentatonic scale starts on the second note of the 3rd pentatonic scale.

e|--------------------------8-11-------|
B|---------------------9-11------------|
G|----------------8-10-----------------|
D|-----------8-10----------------------|
A|------8-11---------------------------|
E|-8-11--------------------------------|

D# Mixolydian Pentatonic: V (5th scale)

Notice how the 5th pentatonic scale starts on the second note of the 4th pentatonic scale.

e|-------------------------------11-13-|
B|-------------------------11-13-------|
G|-------------------10-13-------------|
D|-------------10-13-------------------|
A|-------11-13-------------------------|
E|-11-13-------------------------------|

F minor Pentatonic starts over at the 13th fret again

See how the 13th fret and 1st fret are the same notes, the 12th fret is the octave of the open notes as well as the 13th fret is the octave of the 1st fret.

e|-------------------------------13-16-|
B|-------------------------13-16-------|
G|-------------------13-15-------------|
D|-------------13-15-------------------|
A|-------13-15-------------------------|
E|-13-16-------------------------------|

If you notice that each pentatonic scale is connected to two other scales. Each pentatonic scale is an inversion of the others. Basically each scale starts and ends on a different note than the other pentatonic scales, but still uses the same notes as the rest of the pentatonic scales. For example:

F minor pentatonic consists of these notes in this order: F, G#, A#, C, D#, and F again (octave)

While G# major pentatonic consists of the same notes, they start and end on a different note making it a major and not minor scale: G#, A#, C, D#, F, and G# again (octave)

Each of the pentatonic scales consist of the same notes depending on the place you play them on the guitar neck. The only difference between each scale is which note they start and end on.

The scales above are two octaves starting with F and ending with G#

F minor pentatonic scale in two octaves starting with F and ending with G# go in this order: (first octave) F, G#, A#, C, D#, F, G#, A#, C, D#, F, G# (two octaves higher)

I hope this helps you begin your adventure into soloing and defining your self as a musician. If you have any questions or complaints please email me at:

[e-mail]
Enjoy!

Comments

[Thnder1nYourEar]

Fuck yea for pentatonics!

[Ozfan]

Thanks, This is what I needed!

[AngelVenom]

Thanks, helped alot

[itsthedevil]

Been playing for 11 years and learning again from scratch!

[itsthedevil]

errr... i meant to write cheers by the way!

[luckydog004]

are all those scales in the same key or am i confused again?

[SG Commander]

wtf how do i add this to favorites

[iamjon117]

this is cool ive been wanting to learn pentatonics 4 a while dude thx alot

[redflag_ppl]

sooo I'm still abit confused how theis can help me solo? and same as 'luckydog004' are theis all the same key?

[lakie]

in reply to luckydog004 and redflag_ppl...
yes these 5 shapes are all in the same key and they interlink, so scale 1 interlinks with scale 2, scale 2 interlinks with scale 3, 3 with 4, 4 with 5, and 5 with 1... learn these 5 scale shapes and how they interlink with each other and you'll be able to solo all over the fretboard

[redflag_ppl]

Is this all of the pentatonic scales? and im still not understanding hoow they help make solo's?

[lakie]

No but i can see where you're getting confused. The different shapes are labelled as different scales when in fact they are all parts of the same scale. I'll try and explain it without theory to make it easier. Right, take that first scale as shape 1 of the Fminor Pentatonic scale, take the second scale as shape 2 of the Fminor pentatonic, third scale as shape 3, fourth scale as shape 4, and fifth scale as shape 5. all these shapes overlap each other on the fretboard so the same notes that you'd play with your third and fourth finger on shape 1 would be played with your first and second finger if you moved up the fretboard to shape 2.

shape 1
e 1-4
B 1-4
G 1-3
D 1-3
A 1-3
E 1-4

Shape 2
e 4-6
B 4-6
G 3-5
D 3-6
A 3-6
E 4-6

Shape 1+2
e 1-4-6
B 1-4-6
G 1-3-5
D 1-3-6
A 1-3-6
E 1-4-6

all these shapes interlink like this and shape 5 links back to shape 1(12 frets higher). these shapes make up all of the notes in F minor pentatonic on the fretboard so if a song is in F minor, then play this scale over the top and it will sound good with it.

Remember the scale is F minor pentatonic because the first note you play in shape 1 is F. To play the scale of A minor you move the whole scale up the fret board by 4 frets and start with A as the first note of shape 1...

If a song is in a major key, start with shape 2 so the sequence of the shapes go 2-3-4-5-1. so for a song in A major, start shape 2 with the A at the 5th fret and you'll be playing A major pentatonic.

sorry, i know it's a bit long-winded. hope it helps though

[hoodaneez]

oh man,i just bought my electric guitar and i dont know anything about guitars i dont know why im reading this lol what are pentatonic's?

[redflag_ppl]

if shape 1 and 2 are together...what does that then make? a blues scale? or an i lost again? :S

[reaper2751]

redflag_ppl wrote:

if shape 1 and 2 are together...what does that then make? a blues scale? or an i lost again? :S

There are 5 notes in a pentatonic. The blues scale is one extra note added to the pentatonic. So the blues scales are another completely different scale.
_____

Each shape is composed of those 5 notes in the pentatonic. The only difference between shapes is the order in which these notes are played in.

I know it's very confusing at first. Just learn all of the patterns and practice moving from one to the other. After you have that, then go back and try to understand the "whys."

Hope that helped some.

[reaper2751]

redflag_ppl wrote:

Is this all of the pentatonic scales? and im still not understanding hoow they help make solo's?

There are only 5 standard pentatonic scales. Each one is composed of 5 notes. The only difference between these scales are the order in which the notes are played.
_____

Learning these does help you solo. If you just learn all 5 scales and practice moving between these scales, you will eventually understand what I mean by it will help you solo.

I know it's very confusing, but to make it easier on yourself, just learn the scales first, then practice moving between all of the scales, then apply techniques like bends and slides to make it smooth, and you will eventually be playing a solo.

Take a song you like and try to solo to it. If you know the key to the song, then you can place the scales to that key and try to solo using the scales.

Sorry. This is all very confusing for people at first and you'll eventually end up hitting yourself in the head wondering how you were ever confused by this stuff, but for now, take it slow. And if you can, get a teacher or someone who can show you in person. It helps, a lot!

Hope this helped some. Have fun!

[reaper2751]

hoodaneez wrote:

oh man,i just bought my electric guitar and i dont know anything about guitars i dont know why im reading this lol what are pentatonic's?

Pentatonics are scales. These scales are composed of 5 notes. Learning these scales and practicing them will do many things for you. For example, practicing them will give you more speed and dexterity, it will eventually lead to learning how to solo, and you will eventually be able to apply these scales and more advance scales to creating songs.

-Learn the scales.
-Practice moving between all of the scales.
-Apply techniques like bends and slides to moving between the scales and make it sound smooth.
-Learn what a key is.
-Find a song and apply the scales to that song in the correct key and try to solo over it.

Do those, and you'll become great in no time!

Oh, by the way, there are no short cuts in becoming a great guitar god. Just practice, practice, and more practice. And remember, perfect practice makes perfect. So take it slow and build up. Don't start off biting off too much for you to chew. Okays?

Have fun!

[redflag_ppl]

YES this helped heaps,,thanks mate.

[!RHCP!RACH!]

thankyou this is really helpful, but could you maybe edit this and write which finger i should be using when playing each note, P I M A, that sort of thing, if you don't mind

[nicq2005]

Are you able to start shape 1 on the 12th fret, cause they are the same notes? If so what would you call that?

[nicq2005]

Sorry for the double post but would this qualify as a Pentatonic Scale?

e 1
B 1 5
G 0 5
D 2 3
A 2 3
E 1 3

e 3
B 5 6
G 4 5
D 3 5
A 3 7
E 3 7

It's probably wrong but I thought that it wouldnt hurt to ask.

[nicq2005]

Are you able to start shape 1 on the 12th fret, cause they are the same notes? If so what would you call that?

[Leigh|esp]

I dont know if this will help or not but with all those patterns you are basically playing the same notes.

The pentatonic scale written here is F Minor so the notes are F, G#, A#, C and D# then back to F.

So a pentatonic scale is made up of 5 notes and in the above F minor pentatonic scale those are the notes being shown.

The second third fourth and fifth scale versions are exactly the same notes sometimes played on different strings and frets some being an octave higher but still are comprised or the same notes.
The only difference is with the second scale it starts on G# instead of F, then the 3rd scale starts on A#, the fourth starts on C and fifth D# then starts back on F again an octave higher.

The lesson shows the jigsaw puzzle of the F minor pentatonic scale.

The First scale what some people call The Root pentatonic scale as it starts on the root note which in this case is F.

If you wanted to play this in E you would transcribe the first scale down 1 fret eg.
e|-----0-3-----|
B|-----0-3-----|
G|-----0-2-----|
D |-----0-2-----|
A|-----0-2-----|
E|-0-3-----|

and the pattern would look like this...

e| 0 - - 3 - 5 - 7 - - 10 - 12 -|
B| 0 - - 3 - 5 - - 8 - 10 - 12 -|
G| 0 - 2 - 4 - - 7 - 9 - - 12 -|
D| 0 - 2 - - 5 - 7 - 9 - - 12 -|
A| 0 - 2 - - 5 - 7 - - 10 - 12 -|
E| 0 - - 3 - 5 - 7 - - 10 - 12 -|
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Then the pattern would start again from the 12th fret

Anyways i hope that helped a little and hope it made sense.

[Leigh|esp]

i think i just said exactly what lakie just said, sorry, should have read more of the posts

[reaper2751]

Leigh|esp wrote:

i think i just said exactly what lakie just said, sorry, should have read more of the posts

Hahaha. Leigh|esp, thank you for posting that in the comments.

Trust me here, no matter if it's been said once, sometimes a person just can't get it. So it needs to be explained a different way.

So you posting something similar to what's already been posted isn't a bad thing! It might mean the difference between someone understanding the lesson or not.

Thanks, again.

Have fun,
Andrew

[reaper2751]

nicq2005 wrote:

Are you able to start shape 1 on the 12th fret, cause they are the same notes? If so what would you call that?

You can start shape 1 on the 1st fret like I did, and it repeats on the 13th fret. So you can play it there, too, and still stay in the same key.

The "zero" fret and the 12th fret are the same notes. Just like the 1st fret and the 13th fret are. And the 2nd and the 14th are.

If you have any questions, email me ([e-mail]). I'll get that faster.

Have fun,
Andrew

[Guitarguy134]

That really help me! Thanks

[Fedx_metallica]

Which ones are the most common scales that metallica uses to makes riffs?

[jmarq]

ok so are all the basic minor pentatonic scales the same shape as the f minor? and all the basic major pentatonic scales the same pattern as G#? thats what im confused about.

[metallicate]

This is interesting, and I can see the author put in alot of effort in explaining it more thoroughly. After looking over it for about 5 times, I think i got it. Haven really practiced though. But good contribution!

[B-Ron]

Been practicing these all day. How long does it usually take for someone to memorize all of these 5 pentatonic scales?

[N<>!<>K]

i got bout the pentatonic scale that it's made up of 5 notes and there are 5 of those to practice but what the heck is key??

[Senor Kristian]

Most useful lesson I've ever read on this site! Been bugging me for ages how I couldn't get from one scale to the next, but with the pentatonic scales, I can!
Thanks

[Gods Guitarist]

Great Lesson!

[reaper2751]

N!K wrote:

i got bout the pentatonic scale that it's made up of 5 notes and there are 5 of those to practice but what the heck is key??

Hahaha. Thanks. I needed a laugh. Had a jerk comment rudely on another post and was quite disheveled by it. But now I'm better, thanks to you. :P

A key is simply a set of notes that someone along the line decided they sounded good together.

If you take one scale, figure out the notes in it, and BAM! You have the key it's in. :P

Hope that helps some

[reaper2751]

B-Ron wrote:

Been practicing these all day. How long does it usually take for someone to memorize all of these 5 pentatonic scales?

It can take someone practicing it one time or a million times before they memorize it. I think it took me 3 months to completely understand and memorize pentatonics and modes, both.

I did it the opposite way that I suggest, too. I learned modes first, then pentatonics, and only truly understood the modes after learning the pents.

Have fun bro

[THe h man]

i attempted to learn modes n scales when i started to play an i tryed again recently an memorized them straight away.before this lesson i only knew maj and min pentatonic.

very good lesson

[rukario]

you can move pents anywhere along the neck right, it'll just change the name depending on the root note???? Am I understanding this right???

[icpgettozone]

very helpful. thankss

[Sav25]

Thanks man - practiced these for 20 minutes and already my accuracy is better - going to do this loads and learn how to link them

cheers