All the fretboard diagrams below show c minor pentatonic, so the notes built on that root are c e. How to solo across the entire fretboard in any key with 2. The 5 pentatonic shapes are a staple of learning rock or blues guitar, though truth be told most guitarists generally use 3 of them at the most. The first one involves sliding from the first shape up to the second shape. The open strings themselves even make up the notes of the e minor pentatonic scale. Each shape has its own shapename c, a, g, e and d, derived from the caged system. Once your fingers become accustomed to the shape, try soloing in a free and random way while listening to the melodic contour of the lines and letting your ear. In this lead guitar lesson, well go over the five pentatonic scale. The way the guitar is tuned results in the offset on the 2nd string. The 5 major pentatonic scale shapes positions guitarhabits.
Sep 15, 2018 the pentatonic scale can broken up in to five small patterns, or scale shapes, that connect up and down the fretboard. Play it 10 times perfectly at a very slow speed and you will find you can speed it up. As an exercise, try to build the g major and its relative minor pentatonic scales solution at the bottom of the page. The pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly used scales used in music. Master the pentatonic scale for guitar with these 5 easy shapes. Pentatonic scale has notes that when played generate a pleasant melody, even if it is just the. Five major pentatonic shapes for you aris bass blog. The next shape, the g major pentatonic with a fifth string root starting with your fourth finger, begins with the lowest root note on the tenth fret of the a string. A short lesson on learning the 5 shapes of the minor pentatonic scale and how to use them. If you play through any one of the a minor pentatonic scale patterns weve just. Jun 22, 2016 a minor pentatonic scale 1st position 5th fret the pentatonic scale is about as straightforward a scale as you can get. You may or not be familiar with the 5 pentatonic positions by now. Locating the chord tones within these movable pentatonic boxes 12.
Chord tone soloing series part 6 all 5 caged shapes and. Here is a guitar fretboard diagram of the e minor pentatonic scale. Minor pentatonic shapes guitar scale overlapping life in. As i pointed out in that lesson, the order of the 5 positions will always remain the same, regardless of the key. Dec 21, 2017 figure 5 shows e major pentatonic as it falls in fourth position, and figures 6 and 7 illustrate descending groups of threes and fours, respectively, played in this pattern, or shape. Refer to an introduction to music theory, move a major shape up three frets and it becomes the relative minor. The rest of the shapes are kind of clunky and difficult to use as isolated patterns. The minor pentatonic scale is one of the most widely used scales in improvisation in every musical style so it makes sense to know it well all over the guitar neck. Hi, please take the time to listen to the instructions for learning the accelerated way to learn and memorise the 5 pentatonic positions. Every beginning guitarist, at one point or another, hears the term pentatonic or pentatonic scale. Pentatonic is just another way of saying five tones or five notes, thats all. A minor pentatonic all boxes caged shapes box 1 e box 2 d box 3 c box 4 a box 5 g heres a quick rundown on the pentatonic boxes, and how they relate to the caged system.
It only includes five notes rather than the usual seven, so the construction or pattern of a pentatonic scale on your fret board is a lot simpler. A simple way to solo across the 5 pentatonic shapes. These modes are called pentatonic positions and there are actually five of them. This article serves as a reference for navigating minor pentatonic scales all over the guitar fretboard. This exercise is a simple scalar pattern based on the a minor pentatonic scale, but spanning 3 of the common box shapes. A minor pentatonic scale 5th position once you have all mastered all five positions, you will able to visualize and more importantly, play the minor pentatonic scale over the entire fret board. I will show you each form step by step including how. Fifteen color coded charts for the 5 boxes, string pairs, and single strings. The following are examples of the five pentatonic box shapes. For guitarists, we think learning the 5 minor pentatonic shapes is a great starting point. Once again, because there are only 5 notes in the pentatonic scale, there are only five basic box shapes to learn. The i, iv, v just refers to the root notes of the g, c and d chords in a g blues progression. Mar 26, 2010 all the 5 shapes are one and the same pentatonic scale and they are all in the key of a. The pentatonic scale is one of the most popular scales used in guitar solos and leads.
Each position of the scale overlaps with the position above and below it on the fretboard. To help us visualize the scale, there are 5 minor pentatonic scale shapes. However all the shapes are moveable anywhere on the fretboard. Figure 5 shows e major pentatonic as it falls in fourth position, and figures 6 and 7 illustrate descending groups of threes and fours, respectively, played in this pattern, or shape. The big deal with the major pentatonic scale has the same visual shapes as the minor pentatonic so it is essential that you focus on where. Thats the whole purpose, eventually you want to have the freedom to be able to improvise around the entire fretboard.
Notice that the notes repeat along the entire width of the fretboard, based on the formula for the scale. A minor pentatonic scale 1st position 5th fret the pentatonic scale is about as straightforward a scale as you can get. Feb 06, 2020 a simple way to solo across the 5 pentatonic shapes. By definition, a minor scale pentatonic, is a minor scale without the 2nd and 6th degrees f and b a c d e g. Sep 20, 2019 unfortunately, not all of the five pentatonic shapes were created equally, which is why theres a heavy bias towards shape 1 it falls nicely under your fingers and lends itself well to coming up with albeit unoriginal lines and phrases. The 5 minor pentatonic scale patterns learning to play the. The minor pentatonic scale is constructed from five notes of the natural minor scale. The 5 major scale caged shapes positions guitarhabits. F g b all the fretboard diagrams below show c minor pentatonic, so the notes built on that root are c e. The one pentatonic per chord approach to soloing over a.
Some of the most iconic melodies and solos come from the legendary pentatonic scale. Unfortunately, not all of the five pentatonic shapes were created equally, which is why theres a heavy bias towards shape 1 it falls nicely under your fingers and lends itself well to coming up with albeit unoriginal lines and phrases. In this course i will walk you through the best method to get these important shapes under your fingers. The minor pentatonic scale is quite possibly the most used and, suffice it to say, overused scale on the guitar.
This time lets look closer at the pentatonic minor scale and the patterns it makes on the guitar fretboard. Minor pentatonic scales in the caged system duration. All examples are in the key of g minor pentatonic but can be moved around to any key. Apr 22, 2016 the pentatonic scale for guitar is so critical to players of all levels. There is the major pentatonic scale and the minor pentatonic scale. Again, i usually use pattern 5 passively, mainly to connect shape 4 and shape 1 which, if youll remember, comes after shape 5 again, or. These positions, or boxes, give us an easy way to visualize the scale across the fretboard. The fourth shape of the minor pentatonic is probably the second most used shape, since the notes on the higher 4 strings are easy to finger and provide a barrage of possibilities. In our latest book, woodshedders guide to guitar scales, we reduced the number of pentatonic shapes to just 3, the effects of which can be good for your playing for a number of reasons. The 5 pentatonic scale shapes you must know youtube. The pentatonic scale has a very distinct, pleasant sound that works great layered over many chords and other scales.
Tips for learning scales quickly, easily and perfectly. This lesson is like a bonus lesson for the lead guitar quickstart series, so feel free to take just one of these shapes, get to it well over time, and come back later to learn a new one. Each having 5 forms, so technically there is the minor pentatonic scale, and the major pentatonic scale. Because there are only 5 notes in the pentatonic scale, there are only five basic box shapes to learn. Beginner guitar 5 pentatonic scales the ultimate guide. The root notes a in these examples are circled so that you can learn their locations. Master the pentatonic scale for guitar with these 5 easy. Heres all five shapes of the pentatonic and blues scale in g minor also bb major as a reference.
The shapes are sometimes also referred to as positions. The 5 pentatonic scale shapes you must know guitarhabits. Once you know the five major pentatonic scale shapes, you automatically know the five minor pentatonic scale shapes. Pattern 4 connects backward to pattern 3, 3 connects back to 2, 2 connects back to 1, and 1 connects back to 5.
Explore the fretboard with these 5 essential pentatonic. Position your fretting hand so that the fingers are over the correct note on the fretboard and play the scale as indicated by the pattern. The 5 minor pentatonic positions deft digits guitar lessons. The first way involves playing six notes of the first scale shape and the sliding up to the next scale shape. Well start with the g major pentatonic scale with a fourth string root, using your second finger as the starting point. So place finger 1 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.
When it comes to moving beyond the first pattern learned see my lesson on 4 scales you should know the next step is usually to introduce five overlapping patterns, each staying strictly in position on the neck. Each pentatonic position starts on a different degree of the pentatonic scale. From there, you can play patterns 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1, ending in the open position where you first practiced pattern 1. Lets look at the shapes of the 5 pentatonic modes and the theory for how to use them fullfretboard. As you will learn, these patterns can be transferred to all keys. These 5 intervals can be found all over the fretboard and if youre familiar with the caged system, then you know the pentatonic scale can be broken into 5 different positions or patterns. Below is a page out of music theory for the bass player. After the 5th position, the patterns just repeat, starting with the 1st position. Lets get into the two pentatonic scale navigation tips. Our simple diagrams will show you 5 shapes all guitarists need to know. The tonic notes in the scale patterns are represented by green circles.
The pentatonic scales are the same the a minor pentatonic is the c major pentatonic starting from the 6th. So all five scale shapes see below are g major scale. As you read the tabs above, understand that each number corresponds with the fret and each line corresponds with the string your fingers should be placed upon the bottom string being the low e string, and the representing the high e string. They both share the same notes, but the root is a different note. Notice that the root note in red is on the 5th string in this case on fret 10, since thats the note g. When learning all 5 pentatonic shapes, try soloing only on 2 strings for a while. For example, say that you left off with pentatonic pattern 4 between frets 19 and 22. We have the same five notes of the major pentatonic scale, but this time with start from a instead of c. You can apply these scale shapes to all 12 keys by simply. The order of the 5 pentatonic positions always goes. The letters c, a, g, e and d all refer to a shape or position.
How to play the 5 minor pentatonic shapes on the guitar. How to use various majorpentatonic shapes for soloing. The five caged scale shapes c shape, a shape, g shape, e shape and d shape surround the entire fretboard. Dec 29, 2016 these are the 5 pentatonic scale shapes that connect all the notes across the entire fret board so you can solo everywhere instead of just one boxed shape. Fastest way to nail the pentatonic scale shapes 1 to 5. The minor pentatonic scale is one of the easiest to improvise with and it sounds great with almost any genre of music. From the root note, both the d and g strings have notes on the seventh fret with your first finger and ninth fret with your third finger. Still, this scales importance cannot be underestimated, as it is used in so many genres of music, from rock and blues to country and bluegrass. Its generally easy under the fingers and makes easy to remember visual shapes, so good for building a framework of the entire neck too. The 5 shapes shown below are all the same scale g major pentatonic scale just played in different positions, so you can learn the scale all over the neck.
Explore the fretboard with these 5 essential pentatonic scale. Or jump to 6 mins ish to watch and learn the 5 shapes. An alternative to the 5 pentatonic shapes unlock the guitar. Do not let your fingers fold, use the tips the whole time, and definitely.
These are fivenote scales that can be applied to loads of different situations due to their lack of dissonant tones. Below we go over each position of the minor pentatonic. A pentatonic scale consists of five intervals notes taken from the natural minor scale. So the 5 shapes and penta tonic thing here is a slight coincidence, although it does lead to a neat picture. On those chords, these notes will be the strongest ones to play or land on in a phrase. It only includes five notes rather than the usual seven, so the construction or pattern of a pentatonic scale on your fret board is a lot simpler but with the pentatonic scale its not so much about the notes youre playingwell, of course, you still have. All the 5 shapes are one and the same pentatonic scale and they are all in the key of a. In fact, around 95% of guitar players dont even know the other 3 boxes even exist. However, one issue that many guitarists run into is getting stuck in the same pentatonic box and never getting out of it. In this post we use the g major scale as an example. In this lesson, we are going to be in the key of g major.
Every kind of scale is created by a defined set of. The blues scale is a minor pentatonic scale with an added flat 5th note, which is also called the blue note. Jul 15, 2019 you could use the same pattern to play an f pentatonic scale by moving your hand two frets down so that the green notes on the pattern correspond to f notes on the fretboard. It comes from the major scale, which is a seven note scale. Each scale is both major and minor at the same time, i.
Coincidentally, when i first started learning to improvise between different positions it was focused on a minor pentatonic as well. The minor pentatonic scale is one that pretty much everyone should learn, regardless of the style you want to play because its a real foundation for many language styles. Now youve got all 5 pentatonic scales mapped out in d minor. The 5 pentatonic scale shapes guitar lesson youtube. Guitar lesson pentatonic scale shapes, history and use. Now we will add one note to the minor pentatonic scale and turn it into the sixnote blues scale. Major pentatonic guitar shapes lead guitar lessons. Guitarists with an interest in learning to play lead guitar must learn their pentatonic scales. The minor pentatonic scale by paul tauterouff the minor pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly scales used in rock, blues, country and jazz music. So, a pentatonic scale is just a scale made up of five different notes that are repeated in different octaves. E d g b e a pentaton c minor scale box 1 glitarsik. This time lets look closer at the pentatonic major scale and the patterns it makes on the guitar fretboard. The pentatonic scale chose 5 from these notes and created another scale, this is why it is called penta. Sep 26, 2018 the pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly used scales used in music.
The main reason is because pentatonic scales are easy. Like a pentagram has five sides and a pentagon has five sides, pentatonic scales are constructed from five notes. Place finger 1 on the 8th fret and you will play the c minor pentatonic scale because the note at the 8th fret of the 6th string is the note c. Play the same pattern at the 5 th fret for an a pentatonic scale, and so on, simply changing your fretboard position to the desired tonic note. The pentatonic scale is used both for soloing, and for basing song riffs around. The intervals in minor pentatonic are root or 1, b3rd, 4th, 5th, and b7th. How to connect the pentatonic patterns on the guitar dummies. The 5 pentatonic positions you need to learn talkingbass. If we take the notes in our major pentatonic scale, and start on the 6th scale degree of the major scale, youll be playing in the relative minor key. I will show you each form step by step including how they relate to their roots and keys. The key to understanding the minor pentatonic scale. May 09, 2014 the 5 shapes shown below are all the same scale g major pentatonic scale just played in different positions, so you can learn the scale all over the neck. You would simply play pattern one again at the a note on the 17th fret. In this case i played some very simple lines using only the b and high e strings.