The Minor Pentatonic scale is often the first scale that people learn. This is because it is easy to play, very very useful and is the basis of much blues and rock improvisation.

The good ol' Wikipedia has lots of the technical information well presented on the Pentatonic Scale. I love that thing, I just learnt some new stuff about it :)

The Major pentatonic scales have the same fingerings, only the root note is different, usually I just teach the Minor Pentatonic and then just use them in a different way to get the Major variety, but certainly get these ones down first.

Fingering

With each scale I have discussed my preferences for fingering the scale. There are many approaches and so long as you have a logical one, it will be fine. I have thought about these things a lot and think I have a compelling argument in favour of each finger decision, but please contact me (via the forum) if you disagree - I am certainly up for discussing it (how sad... get a life...).

I will also add the alternative shapes and fingerings that I know are in common usage and my reasons for choosing the ones I do. There is no right and wrong.

Scale Formula

The scale forumula for the major scale must be memorised, as you will use it often to work out chord tones. The formula describes the interval distances between each note of the scale.

TS ^ T ^ T ^ TS ^ T
(T=Tone, TS= Tone+Semitone, or 1.5 Tones, or min 3rd interval)

Comparison With Major Scale

C Major = C D E F G A B C (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1)
C Minor Pentatonic = C Eb F G Bb C (1 b3 4 5 b7 1)

Tips for learning scales quickly, easily and perfectly

• DO IT SLOWLY AND GET IT RIGHT
Don't make any mistakes. Play it 4 times perfectly at a very slow speed and you will find you can speed it up without making mistakes and developing bad habits you will have to correct later.

• USE YOUR FINGER TIPS
Do not let your fingers "fold", use the tips the whole time, and definitely NO barrés at any point. Ever.

• ALWAYS START AND END ON THE LOWEST ROOT NOTE
T his will help train your ears into hearing the sound of the major scale, very important. So start on the lowest (pitched) root note, play up as far as you can, then go back down as low as you can, and then back up to the root note.

• LEARN THE POSITIONS (SHAPES) ONE AT A TIME
It is very important that you get all five of these positions down... eventually, but please start with one at a time - much much better to be able to use one scale shape and play a solo than play five up and down and not be able to do anything with them :)

So what is all this CAGED stuff?

There was lots of confusion about the CAGED system so I have made a series of lesson to help you out...

Get all the information you need about CAGED at TB-031 • The Caged System

Although The Minor Pentatonics still fit into the CAGED system it is more common to refer to these by Position. Position one being the equivalent of the E shape in CAGED - making it EDCAG :) Of course they are then related to the minor chord shapes of the CAGED system.

Start by Learning Position 1 (E shape) join on Pos 2 (D shape), then Pos 5 (G shape) then the rest...

Root Notes???

A root note gives the scale it's name. Look at any of the scales and arpeggios (and most chords) on this site and you will see an R on some notes. This is note that gives the scale it's note name.

For example
Look at Poistion 1 below and notice that the R is on the 6th string (played with the first finger). Whatever note you put that one becomes the name of the scale. So place your first finger at the 3rd fret and you will play the G Minor Pentatonic Scale (because the note on the 3rd fret of the 6th string is the note G). Place the first finger on the 9th fret and you will play the C# Minor Pentatonic (because the note at the 9th fret of the 6th string is the note C#)

Video Lesson Series

There are 3 videos about playing the major scale on YouTube. The first explains why you should learn them. The next shows you how to play all the five positions shown above. And the last has some cool ways to play them so they sound less like scales :) But you ought to check out the information on this page first!

SC-023 • The Minor Pentatonic Scale - How And Why
SC-024 • The Minor Pentatonic Scale - The Five Positions
SC-025 • The Minor Pentatonic Scale - Melodic Pattern Basics

The Scale Shapes

	Position 1 - E shape This is the most commonly learnt scale position. It is pretty easy to play. Alternatives Sometimes the notes on the first and second strings are played with the 3rd finger. I often play it that way, particularly further up the neck where it can get a bit cramped. This is also good for doing string bending as you will AWAYS bend with your 3rd finger. But the version shown is better to learn first, especially as this may be the first scale you ever learn. :)
	Position 2 - D shape This shape has many cool blues licks in it, should be the second shape you learn. Alternatives I often see people playing the thinnest two strings with the 2nd and 4th fingers. Makes sense if the idea was just to lay it fast but this scale is mostly used for blues, where you will bend a lot and want good control over the notes, hard to achieve with little finger. I'm confident that this is the best fingering.
	Position 3 - C shape This is sometimes thought to be quite a hard position to solo in... it is until you learn some funky licks from this position, then it will be your friend.. Alternatives Sometimes this one is played with just 1st and 3rd fingers all the way. That can be cool, but harder lower down the neck when the notes are further apart.
	Position 4 - A shape Lots and lots of cool licks in this position... Alternatives The most common alternative is play the two notes on the 2nd string with 1st and 3rd fingers. Not a bad plan but can be hard to play fast. Sometimes first string is also played with 1st and 3rd fingers.
	Position 5 - G shape This is a funky position, can seem hard at first but again it has some cool licks in it if you look around enough. Alternatives I often see this played with the fingering 2,4 / 2,4 / 1,4 / 1,4 / 2,4 / 2,4 which I think is useless. Using the two weakest fingers for two thirds of the scale is ludicrous. Best alternative is to use 1st and 3rd fingers all the way. Or... Use 1st and 3rd for strings 1, 2, 5 and 6 and 1st and 4th for the middle string.

 

HELP!!!!

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