Each pentatonic position starts on a different degree of. Minor pentatonic scale patterns the 5 positions as we learned in the minor pentatonic scale lesson, this scale has just 5 tones 1 root, b3 minor 3rd, 4 perfect 4th, 5 perfect 5th and b7 minor 7th. Fastest way to nail the pentatonic scale shapes 1 to 5. This is a great starting point for learning how the fretboard works. Each scale shape shares notes with the position before and after it. The first shape we will learn is the standard minor pentatonic shape. After showing you the 5 minor pentatonic scale patterns and 5 major scale patterns it would be remiss of us not to post the 5 major pentatonic positions as wellso here you go straight away, seeing these, its obvious why the minor scales are preferred by most guitarists. Learn the minor pentatonic scale, and its 5 positions. 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. Its available on a pc or mac and there is a ipad, iphone and android app ready to go. Here you will find scale diagrams for the five patterns of the minor pentatonic scale and tips on the fingerings for each however, i repeat, you will be best learning these patterns in context over the first two blues lead guitar modules essential blues lead guitar and all over blues lead guitar which is all about using all five patterns all over the neck.
The root note is the note the scale is named after. Free pentatonic scales tutorial pentatonic guitar scales. How to play the blues scale across the entire fretboard. On the fretboard, the finger pattern of the pentatonic scale resembles the shape of a box, so pentatonic minor scales. Dec 19, 2017 the e minor pentatonic scale is simply just 5 of the 7 notes from the e minor scale aka. For instance, many guitarists find they have difficulty moving beyond first position, because its comfortable to them and because they arent familiar with the other positions. Pentatonic scales are a great way of learning the fretboard, this video will introduce you to the caged system, the minor scale and pentatonics. The red dots indicate a root note and the black dots indicate a note in the scale. This is a bluesy sounding scale that is used in thousands of blues and rock classics. Alternatives sometimes the notes on the first and second.
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 easiest way to remember this scale is to think of it as the minor pentatonic and simply learn where the added notes are within the normal five minor pentatonic positions. Intro to the minor pentatonic scale, the caged system, scale degrees vs. Shape 1 is your lower octave scale and shape 2 is your higher octave scale. Strum a g minor chord, then play the notes of the g minor pentatonic scale. The minor pentatonic scale is a highly popular and versatile scale. For example, if we were to play the scale so the bottom blue note is on string 6, fret 5, that note would be a therefore the scale would be called the a minor pentatonic scale. How to play the pentatonic scale beginner guitar hq. May 09, 2014 the major pentatonic scale is mostly used in country, folk country rock, blues and jazz. Pentatonic scale patterns 5 pentatonic scale positions. The 5 major pentatonic scale shapes positions guitarhabits.
Aug 25, 2019 aminor pentatonic is a reasonable starting place with the minor pentatonic scale and has the 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, and 14th fret respectively as the first fret on the different positions. There are 2 primary pentatonic scales in american music. In this lead guitar lesson, well go over the five pentatonic scale shapes. This is a great starting point for learning how the. Feb 20, 2017 practice tab minor pentatonic scale 5 positions. Positions of the pentatonic scale for guitar liveabout. Sep 26, 2018 the pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly used in all styles of music.
Lesson minor pentatonic scale all 5 positions youtube. The goal is to play all the pentatonic scale positions in minor in this case by changing position at each chord with a fourth interval but staying on an area of 5 frets. The musical styles that use the major pentatonic are country, blues, fusion, jazz and rock. Each position of the scale overlaps with the position above and below it on the fretboard.
The 5 pentatonic positions you need to learn talkingbass. In the diagram below, you can see the shared notes between each of the minor pentatonic scale positions. It takes five notes to be a pentatonic scale, and it takes five chord shapes and a capo to understand the song here comes the sun by george harrison. E major pentatonic positions on the guitar online guitar. This free video by peter vogl will show you how to practice the a minor pentatonic scale in five different positions. Em pentatonic scale practice in 5 positions in this practice session, peter vogl will teach you five different positions of the em pentatonic scale.
See the scale patterns, suggested fingerings and alternate fingerings here. This lead guitar lesson will show you the five positions of the pentatonic scale. The blues scale is esentially a minor pentatonic scale with an added flat fifth. The 5 notes pentatonic scale a minor pentatonic scale 1st position 5th fret the pentatonic scale is about as straightforward a scale as you can get. The major and minor scales may be musiceducation stalwarts, but they sound a bit academic when used over chord progressions. The major pentatonic is easy to learn if you already know the minor pentatonic scale. Aminor pentatonic is a reasonable starting place with the minor pentatonic scale and has the 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, and 14th fret respectively as the first fret on the different positions. Useful exercise for connecting the 5 pentatonic positions to. 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. Each pentatonic position starts on a different degree of the pentatonic scale. The minor pentatonic scale and its 5 positions music is win. In this lesson the exercise or the torture, especially at the beginning that simon ghnassia proposes to do has the goal to help you assimilate thoroughly the 5 positions of the pentatonic scales. All of the root notes are e because this is the e minor pentatonic scale.
Then we are not playing a chromatic or heptatonic scale, but rather a pentatonic scale. The pentatonic scale is the foundation of blues guitar and the perfect place to begin your blues guitar journey. To make things more interesting, well play the scale along with a jam track. This is a g minor pentatonic scale because the first note we play sixth string, third fret is a g note. Useful exercise for connecting the 5 pentatonic positions. To keep this consistent with the pentatonic scale lesson, we will use the key of a minor again. For rock guitar, youll want to learn to play the pentatonic scale, which supplies you with better melodic fodder. E g a b d the relative major of e minor is g major. For an in depth lesson on the theory behind the major pentatonic scale, read the post on pentatonic scales. Join the guitarhabits facebook page to keep up with the latest posts, guitar lesson videos. The pentatonic scales are the same the a minor pentatonic is the c major pentatonic starting from the 6th. For a start, the positions and fingering are easier to memorise, plus the minor scale will always be more forgiving.
Mar 19, 2015 hi, please take the time to listen to the instructions for learning the accelerated way to learn and memorise the 5 pentatonic positions. Apr 29, 2016 once you know those 5 positions, and you are comfortable soloing within a key all up and down the fretboard, learning the blues scale is pretty simple. The guitar neck diagram shows you the big picture for the e minor pentatonic scale. On the fretboard, the finger pattern of the pentatonic scale. After position 5, the patterns repeat with position 5 connecting back to position 1.
These are the major pentatonic and the minor pentatonic. Play guitar solo in any key with 5 major pentatonic scale. These two are very important and serve slightly different roles. Em pentatonic scale practice in 5 positions guitar compass. Im not a guitarist though i have a guitar that i play around on from time to time but the following chart really helped me understand how a guitar is laid out, in terms of which notes are where. Intro to the minor pentatonic scale, the caged system.
The 5 major scale caged shapes positions guitarhabits. This is because they sound great over many styles of music, and are relatively easy to start improvising with. Major pentatonic guitar scale learn all five positions. E major pentatonic positions on the guitar online guitar books. Pentatonic scale patterns 5 pentatonic scale positions fretjam. This scale is transpositional and can be played in, and should be practiced in, all keys. Learn the pentatonic scale patterns across the entire fretboard based on 5 pentatonic scale positions, with clear stepbystep diagrams.
As its name implies, it consists of five notes unlike common major and minor scales, which consist of seven notes. How to play the pentatonic scale on guitar dummies. Practice blues guitar in any key with 5 pentatonic scale patterns. Now lets play the g minor pentatonic scale in the second position. The only thing that changes is the root note from which the scale is built. Master the 5 positions of the pentatonic scale in a 5 fret. The pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly used in all styles of music. Its an old tricked used by solo guitar playersand bass players for that matter. This allows you to cover a larger range of notes when playing solos. The 5 positions of the minor pentatonic scale demo 5 positions of the pentatonic scale. The e minor pentatonic scale is simply just 5 of the 7 notes from the e minor scale aka. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Or jump to 6 mins ish to watch and learn the 5 shapes. When the player wants to lighten things up, the major pentatonic is the scale of choice.
A minor pentatonic scale notes, positions, application. This article serves as a reference for navigating minor pentatonic scales all over the guitar fretboard. Sep 01, 2019 the pentatonic scale is the foundation of blues guitar and the perfect place to begin your blues guitar journey. The 5 major scale positions deft digits guitar lessons.
Played over a 12 bar blues, there are not many ways you can mess this up. E minor pentatonic positions on the guitar online guitar. A minor pentatonic scale practice in 5 positions guitar. Mar 15, 2014 lazy guitar students will always stop learning barre cords, when they master the e and a shapes of the decending pentatonic scale. Although the pentatonic scale is not the only scale available for playing rock lead, it is.
Using the same approach, here is an even better trick. These modes are called pentatonic positions and there are actually five of them. Note that the intervals that make up the am pentatonic scale are universal to all minor pentatonic scales. Hi, please take the time to listen to the instructions for learning the accelerated way to learn and memorise the 5 pentatonic positions. More than 44 exercises to develop speed and accuracy with pdf attachments. Jun 28, 2016 this is a g minor pentatonic scale because the first note we play sixth string, third fret is a g note. The mother of all major scale exercises part 1 of 4.
How to find major and minor chords all over the guitar. You will learn pentatonic scale, pentatonic blues scale and technical exercises to develop guitar licks and speed. Jun 22, 2016 in a previous blog post, play guitar solo in any key without learning notes the 5 major scale patterns, we showed you how its possible to learn the patterns or shapes of any major scale without necessarily memorising the name of the notes being played. Apr 20, 2017 5 positions of the a minor pentatonic scale with scale degrees by. Youll not only learn the uses of the scale in its basic form, but youll come to understand how its very simple ergonomic shapes through five different positions across the guitar neck will allow you to achieve licks and runs on. Lets say that we dont want to divide the octave into 12 or 7 notes, but prefer 5. The pentatonic minor scale is the principal scale used in rock and blues guitar soloing. Oct 29, 2018 after playing the scale in each position, try shifting between positions as you play. Dec 15, 2017 the pentatonic scales are the same the a minor pentatonic is the c major pentatonic starting from the 6th. Ok a question why do people refer to the five positions of the pentatonic scales which would suggest to someone who is just delving into them that they are played in five different places on the fret board when in fact they should really be called the pentatonic shapes be that major or minor as it is the shape format that can be transposed down the neck. The pentatonic scale in 5 positions guitar lesson a minor. Here is a video that shows how to play the pentatonic scale in its 1st position across the guitar neck and how to use it.
Dec 08, 2019 note that the intervals that make up the am pentatonic scale are universal to all minor pentatonic scales. The 5 minor pentatonic positions deft digits guitar lessons. The shapes of the major pentatonic scale are exactly the same as those of the minor pentatonic scale, except the root note is located else where. Learn the pentatonic scale on the guitar with this online guitar lesson from six string country. 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.
The notes for the a minor pentatonic scale are found all over the fretboard, as shown in the diagram below. The major pentatonic scale is great for playing in any major key, or over a major chord in a song. After playing the scale in each position, try shifting between positions as you play. How to tell when you can use the e minor pentatonic scale in a way that musically works and actually sounds good.
Looking at it from the major scale, if you leave out the 4th and the 7th note of the major scale youll also end up with the major pentatonic. The pentatonic scale can broken up in to five small patterns, or scale shapes, that connect up and down the fretboard. This is a great way to maintain or improve your knowledge of these scales. After learning this scale, the minor pentatonic and major scales will be a breeze. Something that cannot be said of the two notes of the major scale that are not included in the major pentatonic scale the 4th and 7th. These five licks will help you memorize all the pentatonic. The best way to practice any guitar scale is to memorize. Master the 5 positions of the pentatonic scale in a 5 fret zone. Blues lead guitar which is all about using all five patterns all over the neck. Heres a lesson that walks guitarists through learning to play the major and minor pentatonic scale in five positions, all over the guitar fretboard.
A minor pentatonic scale practice in 5 positions guitar compass. Above is the a major pentatonic scale shown in 5 positions. To remedy that, david wallimann has come up with five pentatonic licks that can help you memorize all the pentatonic positions along the fretboard. Minor pentatonic scale 5 positions tab by lessons scales. After the 5th position, the patterns just repeat, starting with the 1st position. Learn how to play all five positions of this rock and blues staple. The basics of the minor pentatonic scale for guitar soundfly. The minor pentatonic scale is a much used scale by musicians in many genres, from blues to rock, and if you are just starting to learn soloing and how to improvise, learning the 5 positions of the minor pentatonic scale will be invaluable to your efforts. For an in depth lesson on the theory behind the minor pentatonic scale, read the post on pentatonic scales. Jun 19, 2018 for instance, many guitarists find they have difficulty moving beyond first position, because its comfortable to them and because they arent familiar with the other positions. There are three ways youll want to learn your major pentatonic scale forms. In a previous blog post, play guitar solo in any key without learning notes the 5 major scale patterns, we showed you how its possible to learn the patterns or shapes of any major scale without necessarily memorising the name of the notes being played. In your case, an a minor pentatonic scale is made of the notes a c d e g, so we need to find those notes in the chart.