About Pentatonic Scales

Pentatonic scales contain only 5 notes. There are many different pentatonic scales, and their sounds range from familiar to exotic.

1. Constructing Pentatonic Scales

   As you explore the scales, it can be helpful to think of them as subsets of larger scales you already know. For example, the Major pentatonic scale is just a major scale with the the 4th and 7th removed.

   1. Major Pentatonic (1 • 2 • 3 • 5 • 6)

      The Major Pentatonic scale contains the most consonant notes of a major scale.

   2. Minor Pentatonic (1 • b3 • 4 • 5 • b7)

      The Minor Pentatonic scale is also the last mode of the Major Pentatonic scale. A Minor = C Major.

   3. Minor 6 Pentatonic (1 • b3 • 4 • 5 • 6)

      If the Major Pentatonic scale was a subset of the Ionian mode, we can think of this scale as a subset of the Dorian mode.

   4. Minor 6/9 Pentatonic (1 • 2 • b3 • 5 • 6)

      While the Minor 6 Pentatonic scale still fits within the Dorian mode, we can think of this colorful scale as more closely tied to the Melodic Minor scale.

2. Dig Deeper!

   1. This is not an exhaustive list of all possible pentatonic combinations. There are many more to be explored! Challenge yourself to construct and catalog some other interesting Pentatonic scales. Can you map a Dom7(b9) Pentatonic scale across the full range of the fretboard on your own? Give it a shot!

   2. A Note About Fingerings

      Most of the common pentatonic shapes that guitarists are familiar with can be played comfortably with two notes per string. We have chosen to maintain this in all of the scale patterns you see here. This creates some big stretches for the fretting hand, but it makes things much simpler for the picking hand, allowing us to use muscle memory for picking patterns that are already familiar. Feel free to re-organize the fingering patterns in a way that makes more sense to you!