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The Minor Pentatonic Scale

One of the most useful scales for guitarists is the minor pentatonic scale. As the name implies, a minor pentatonic scale is a
five-note scale. It is used extensively in all styles of guitar, especially in rock styles. Below (left) is a major scale and a minor
pentatonic scale. Notice that when compared to the major scale, the minor pentatonic scale omits scale steps 2 and 6, and
flattens scale steps 3 and 7. Looked at this way, the pattern for a minor pentatonic scale is: 1, f3, 4, 5, f7.

However, when compared to a minor scale, the notes of the minor pentatonic scale are unaltered. (Below right) The only
difference between a minor pentatonic scale and a natural minor scale is that scale steps 2 and 6 are eliminated. Looked at it this
way, the minor pentatonic scale is like playing the minor scale (or five notes from it), even when you're in a major key. In other
words, whether a song is in the key of say, G major or G minor, you can use the G minor pentatonic scale. Of course, you can
also use other scales. It all depends on the style of the music and the sound that you want to acheive through that scale.

& œ #œ œ & bœ œ œ
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ
G Major Scale G Minor Scale

G A B C D E Fs G G A Bf C D Ef F G
(3rd & 7th flatted) (No notes are altered)

G Bf C D Fn G Bf C D F

& nœ & œ
bœ œ œ bœ œ œ
G Minor G Minor

œ œ
Pentatonic Scale Pentatonic Scale

1 f3 4 5 f7 1 3 4 5 7

5 Minor Penatonic Scale Patterns

Below are five patterns to the Minor Pentatonic scale. You can use these patterns anywhere on the fretboard. However, make sure
the scale you play corresponds with the key of the song. For instance, the five patterns below are all G Minor Pentatonic scales, as
indicated by the fret numbers below the pattern. If the song is in the key of G Major or G Minor, you would play these patterns at
those locations.

The numbers indicate the fingering (not frets) and the circled numbers indicate the tonic (the first note in the scale). In other words,
all the circled numbers below are G's. If we used pattern 1 (which is the most common pattern), we would begin the pattern on the
3rd fret, because that is where G is on the 6th string. In the key of A, we would begin pattern 1 on the 5th fret, since that's where A is.

Notice how the patterns overlap each other. For instance, compare the notes in the first two frets of Pattern 2 (frets 5 & 6) with the
last two frets in Pattern 1 (frets 3 & 4). They're the same notes. The brackets indicate the overlap between all patterns.

PATTERN 1 PATTERN 2 PATTERN 3 PATTERN 4 PATTERN 5

1 4 2 4 1 3 1 4 2 4
1 4 2 4 1 4 2 4 2 4
1
1 3 1 3 1 4 1 3 1 4
2

1 3 1 4 2 4 1 3 1 4
3

1 3 1 4 2 4 1 4 2 4
4

1 4 2 4 2 4 1 4 2 4
5
6

3rd Fret 5th Fret 7th Fret 10th Fret 12th Fret

bœ œ œ
Below is an exercise using Pattern 1 of the G minor pentatonic scale. Use an alternating, up ( ≤ ) and down ( ≥ ) picking pattern.
# 4 . ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ etc.
& 4 . œ bœ œ œ nœ œ œ œ bœ œ nœ ..
œ œ n œ œ œ bœ œ
œ bœ
. .
. .
3 6 3
3 6 6 3
3 5 5 3
3 5 5 3
3 5 5 3
3 6 6 3