If you are playing in a major key, then use the relative minor pentatonic scale. The root notes in this case a, are shown by the black dots, the other notes in the scale are shown by the red dots. This article serves as a reference for navigating major pentatonic scales all over the guitar fretboard. The versatility and playability of the scale makes it a popular choice for use in guitar soloing and melodies. Learn the major pentatonic scale in all 5 fingerboard positions. If playing in c major use a minor pentatonic also know as c major pentatonic. Major pentatonic drills fundamental changes music book. The e minor pentatonic scale can be divided into patterns.
How to learn the pentatonic scales with 5 box patterns. To make things more interesting, well play the scale along with a jam track. A minor pentatonic scale practice in 5 positions guitar compass. The dominant pentatonic scale guitar lesson with shapes. Pentatonic scales to derive the major pentatonic scale from the major scale, use the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th notes of the major scale. These modes are called pentatonic positions and there are actually five of them. So with that said, here are your 5 positions of the pentatonic scale. The first position of the major scale, seen above, is the standard way of playing the major scale, which most guitarists know.
A major pentatonic guitar scales chart scott van zen guitar. The only difference is the root in red, the starting note. You would simply play pattern one again at the a note on the 17th fret. Hi, please take the time to listen to the instructions for learning the accelerated way to learn and memorise the 5 pentatonic positions. A tab example has been provided for each of the new patterns. Click here for a free printable pdf file of this scale. Mar 15, 2014 the five caged scale shapes c shape, a shape, g shape, e shape and d shape surround the entire fretboard. The 5 major pentatonic scale shapes positions guitarhabits. The major pentatonic scale the major pentatonic scale is a fivenote scale consisting of five notes from the major scale. The minor pentatonic scale uses the 1a, 3c, 4d, 5e, 7g notes of the scale. You can apply these scale shapes to all 12 keys by simply. With its clean, folky sound, the major pentatonic scale is a common scale in folk, blues, country and pop music. This is a great way to maintain or improve your knowledge of these scales.
The major pentatonic scale is one of the most used of the pentatonic scales family. This free video by peter vogl will show you how to practice the a minor pentatonic scale in five different positions. 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 major pentatonic is a really cool sounding scale, used a lot in country and country blues, and also great for playing over regular chord progressions that. Heres a lesson that walks guitarists through learning to play the major and minor pentatonic scale in five positions, all over the guitar fretboard. 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. G major e minor pentatonic scale guitar scales the pentatonic scale is a favorite of many guitarists and its easy to see why.
Then apply the 5 patterns to all the other keys listed above. Or jump to 6 mins ish to watch and learn the 5 shapes. 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. The shapes are sometimes also referred to as positions. Minor pentatonic pattern 1 major pentatonic pattern 5 playing this pattern from left to right and up across the strings means you will be playing the e minor pentatonic scale.
In order to form the pentatonic it is necessary to remove two notes from the major scale, these are the 4th and 7th of the scale. The last scale shape begins with your fourth finger on the 15th fret. The red dots indicate a root note and the black dots indicate a note in the scale. No doubt about it, this fivenote scale packs a punch. Major and minor pentatonic scales avoid significant harmonic dissonance by adverting this tritone. Play guitar solo in any key with 5 major pentatonic scale. 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 looking at it from the major scale, if you leave out the 4th and the 7th note of the major scale youll also end.
As its name implies the major pentatonic scale is made up of five notes, penta means five and tonic means. When the player wants to lighten things up, the major pentatonic is the scale of choice. Mar 17, 2018 the major pentatonic scale is one of the most widely used scales on the guitar. Major pentatonic scale the major pentatonic scale shares five notes with the major scale.
Lets take a look at what makes up this scale and how its applied to the guitar fretboard. Printable pdf ebook method containing 40 major jazz guitar licks with tab, standard notation and audio files. Apr 22, 2016 that 6thstring, 5thfret a minor pentatonic scale is also a c major pentatonic scale. This is an important quality of the pentatonic scale and goes a long way toward explaining why the pentatonic scale is so versatile and can sound good over virtually any chord progression. E minor pentatonic positions on the guitar online guitar books. To do so, simply connect pattern 5 to another pattern 1, as shown here. Pentatonic scales have only five notes penta means five. So if the 1st note was g, the scale would be built on that note and it would become g minor pentatonic. Immediate download and email link of professional pdf file for the neverlost system. The intervals of the major scale that create half steps 4th7th are removed from the scale. Master the pentatonic scale for guitar with these 5 easy shapes.
Each position of the scale overlaps with the position above and below it on the fretboard. Sep 26, 2018 the pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly used in all styles of music. That 6thstring, 5thfret a minor pentatonic scale is also a c major pentatonic scale. When you feel comfortable playing through all five pentatonic scale patterns on the guitar, the next step is to connect them to cover the rest of the fretboard. 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.
Major pentatonic scales in open position closed mobile major pentatonic scales forms horizontal scale forms although the scale forms above make it relatively easy to see how the scale relates to the underlying chord, they do. It is an extremely useful scale that has a very sweet major sound. For an in depth lesson on the theory behind the minor pentatonic scale, read the post on pentatonic scales. This guitar lesson provides some fretboard diagrams, charts and licks to expand your improvisation skills. All the fretboard diagrams below show the c major scale, so the notes built on that root are c d e f g a b. This is a bluesy sounding scale that is used in thousands of blues and rock classics. The musical styles that use the major pentatonic are country, blues, fusion, jazz and rock. The 5 major scale caged shapes positions guitarhabits. Dan cross is a professional guitarist and former private instructor who has experience teaching and playing various styles of music. 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.
Remember that the scale patterns may contain notes that extend the scale, either upwards or downwards. The pentatonic scale pentatonic scales have only five notes penta means five. If you look closely, youll notice the pentatonic scale doesnt contain any semitones 12 steps. A minor pentatonicblues scale weeping willow guitar. The pentatonic scales are the same the a minor pentatonic is the c major pentatonic starting from the 6th. The 5 major pentatonic positions deft digits guitar lessons. The five caged scale shapes c shape, a shape, g shape, e shape and d shape surround the entire fretboard. The 5 major scale positions deft digits guitar lessons. The major pentatonic scale formula is 1, 2, 3, 5, 6.
After the 5th position, the patterns just repeat, starting with the 1st position. Illustration courtesy of desi serna this new pattern 1 is identical to. This scale is most commonly broken up into five major pentatonic positions as shown in the diagrams below. In this post we use the g major scale as an example. The major pentatonic scale is mostly used in country, folk country rock, blues and jazz. The major pentatonic scale guitar shapes and theory. Major pentatonic guitar scale learn all five positions. To derive the minor pentatonic scale from the natural minor scale, use the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th notes of the minor scale. The pentatonic scale can broken up in to five small patterns, or scale shapes, that connect up and down the fretboard. Begin the scale with your second finger, and do not adjust your hand position while playing.
Each pentatonic position starts on a different degree of the pentatonic scale. The major pentatonic is easy to learn if you already know the minor pentatonic scale. Played over a 12 bar blues, there are not many ways you can mess this up. The guitar positions are the same only the root position is different. C major pentatonic uke scale w,w,wh,w,wh on the soprano. Youll find below the 5 different positionsshapes of the c major pentatonic uke scale in standard tuning gcea, along with their ascending tab patterns. The best way to practice any guitar scale is to memorize the individual positions along the fretboard. Once you know the five major pentatonic scale shapes, you automatically know the five minor pentatonic scale shapes. Major pentatonic scale patterns so, using exactly the same technique as above, lets build up a large major pentatonic scale pattern. A major pentatonic guitar scales chart scott van zen. The sample scale is given in g and all the red notes refers to root note.
If you are playing in a minor key, use that minor pentatonic. How to connect the pentatonic patterns on the guitar dummies. Lets look at the open position and the 5 moveable positions. Well, the correct name which can sometimes be a bit subjective will depend on which note the music is pulling towards i e which note appears more. The pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly used scales used in music. Dominant pentatonic scale guitar positions one octave shapes. You can get more diagrams in the tuning of your choice by using my interactive web app here.
For a start, the positions and fingering are easier to memorise, plus the minor scale will always be more forgiving. This scale is transpositional and can be played in, and should be practiced in, all keys. Master the pentatonic scale for guitar with these 5 easy. This pdf contains the diagrams for all the major and minor pentatonic scales in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. The major pentatonic is formed with 5 notes and its origin would come from the major scale which has seven notes. In the following lesson, youll learn to play the major and minor pentatonic scale in five positions, all over the guitar fretboard. Fastest way to nail the pentatonic scale shapes 1 to 5.
Pentatonic scale patterns 5 pentatonic scale positions. This entry was posted in resource and tagged 3 notes per string, arpeggio, chord, download, fingering, maj7, major 7th, minor pentatonic, pdf, pentatonic scale, positions, scale on october 12, 2014 by jens. Thats the whole purpose, eventually you want to have the freedom to be able to improvise around the entire fretboard. The 5 pentatonic positions you need to learn talkingbass. The easy way to learn the pentatonic scales is with the 5 box pattern method. Play the pentatonic major scale in a in multiple fretboard positions. This lead guitar lesson will show you the five positions of the pentatonic scale. So all five scale shapes see below are g major scale. 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.
Intro to the minor pentatonic scale, the caged system. 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. The pentatonic scale is one of the most commonly used in all styles of music. A minor pentatonic scale practice in 5 positions guitar. It is a must know for any jazz guitar student who wants to improvise over major chords. Youll find below the 5 different positions shapes of the c major pentatonic uke scale in standard tuning gcea, along with their ascending tab patterns. The 5 box method cuts the scale up into 5 distinct patterns that you learn individually. Lets compare the notes of the c major pentatonic and a minor pentatonic scales, respectively. The guitar neck diagram shows you the big picture for the e minor pentatonic scale. There are numerous ways of playing a g major pentatonic scale on guitar. All of the root notes are e because this is the e minor pentatonic scale. Guitar scales lesson the 5 positions of the minor pentatonic scale blues scale duration.
And then the patterns start to repeat again higher up on the fretboard. E major pentatonic scale lesson matched with caged chord positions everywhere on the guitar. Fastest way to nail the pentatonic scale shapes 1 to 5 youtube. With its clean, folky sound, the major pentatonic scale is a common scale in folk. If you start at the g on the 3rd fret of the low e string youll get a g major pentatonic scale. The notes are the same, therefore, the pattern is the same. Above is the a major pentatonic scale shown in 5 positions. Box 7 major scale, root on 5th string box 8 major pentatonic scale, root on 5th string box 9 mixolydian mode scale, root on 6th string box 10 blues scale box, root on 6th string run one minor pentatonic run two major pentatonic click here to download a pdf of all these boxes. The tab shows how the pattern can be used to play either a 1 octave or a 2 octave c major pentatonic scale. The images below covers all the major pentatonic scale patterns in all positions on guitar. Intro to the minor pentatonic scale, the caged system, scale degrees vs. Click here for instant access to the 17 page pentatonic scales chart. At times full major scales may be inappropriate to play over a given progression, as they may sound a bit stiff.