04 Oct Pentatonic Scale for Guitar ( A comprehensive guide).

To understand this article, watch this video demo first.

Introduction to the Pentatonic Scale for Guitar

The pentatonic scale is one of the most popular and widely used scales in guitar playing, especially in rock, blues, jazz, and folk music.

The name “pentatonic” comes from the Greek word “penta,” meaning five, and refers to the fact that the scale contains five notes per octave. Its simplicity and versatility make it a great starting point for guitarists learning to solo or improvise.

Why Learn the Pentatonic Scale?

1. Ease of Use: It has fewer notes than a typical seven-note scale, making it easy to remember and play.
2. Versatility: It fits over many chord progressions in various genres, making it a go-to scale for improvisation.
3. Building Blocks for Solos: Many famous guitar solos are built on pentatonic scales, particularly the minor pentatonic scale.
4. No Wrong Notes: Since the notes fit so well in most contexts, it’s harder to hit a “wrong” note when playing pentatonic scales over chord progressions.

Types of Pentatonic Scales

1. Minor Pentatonic Scale
2. Major Pentatonic Scale

Minor Pentatonic Scale ‘open position’.

When scales are displayed on a grid, we read them left to right, top to bottom (ascending) or right to left bottom to top (descending).

In this particular diagram that I’ve created, ignore the notes on frets four & five when practicing the pentatonic scale in the open position.

When reading ‘chord charts’ for scales, circled numbers 6-1 off the grid means that you’ll play that string. In this case, strings 6 – 1 are played before each fretted note when ascending, and vice versa when descending.

Once you’re used to the minor pentatonic scale in it’s open position, we can then use fret 5 & 4 to connect to position 7 represented by the purple dots.

These frets will allow you to create pentatonic scale connections encouraging different improvising ideas.

You can also encourage new patterns when using the open position by using frets four & five. As indicated, string’s 3 ‘connecting note’ is on fret four where as strings 6, 5, 4,2, 1 is on fret 5.

‘Connecting notes’, as I like to call them, are of course within the pentatonic scale. It’s a useful term to describe how to manoeuvre more efficiently across the fretboard whilst still using the pentatonic scale.

E minor pentatonic, position 7.

For this example, we’re starting on string 5 fret 7. Remember, finger 1 stays on fret severn when changing strings whether ascending or descending in pitch.

We can used frets 7 & 10 on string 6 to connect the open position to position 7 or skip position 7 and continue onto position 12.

E minor pentatonic, position 12.

The challenge here for those new to the concept of scales is the narrowing of the frets. If you’re on a classical guitar, this won’t be comfortable due to the guitar’s design, but an electric guitar and acoustic guitar will have enough room for you to get used to the fret distances.

All guitars’ fret design decrease in width making it more challenging to play the same scale. This is another reason to practice the scale in different positions, although it may sound the same in pitch order but an octave higher

E Minor Pentatonic Scale – Position 12

Here’s position 12 (again) but with finger 4 being dominant on fret 12 not finger 1.