Guitar scales · Minor pentatonic
A minor pentatonic scale on guitar
The A minor A five-note scale. The minor pentatonic is the most used scale in rock and blues guitar solos. has five notes: A, C, D, E and G. As degrees: 1, ♭3, 4, 5 and ♭7.
Notes and pattern
The A minor pentatonic scale
The first scale most guitarists learn: the backbone of blues and rock soloing. Play it to hear it up and down.
From note to note it climbs 3, 2, 2, 3 and 2 The metal strips across the neck, and the spaces between them. Each fret raises a string by one half step.: there are no The smallest distance in Western music: one fret on the guitar, such as E to F or F to F♯., which is why it is so hard to hit a wrong note.
A minor A five-note scale. The minor pentatonic is the most used scale in rock and blues guitar solos. has the same notes as C major pentatonic, starting from A. See that scale.
- A1
- C♭3
- D4
- E5
- G♭7
- A, the root
- Other scale notes
Positions
A minor pentatonic in five positions
The A way of mapping the fretboard with the five open chord shapes C, A, G, E and D, moved up the neck to play any chord. splits the neck into five overlapping positions, one per A chord played near the nut that uses some unfretted strings, such as the open G, C or Em. shape. Learn one, then join it to the next.
Box 1 starts at The metal strips across the neck, and the spaces between them. Each fret raises a string by one half step. 5, with the The note a chord is named after and built up from. C is the root of C, Cm and C7., A, under your first finger on the low E string.
A minor · G-shape position · box 1
Frets 5–8. The Am chord (Em form) is in ink.
- Root (A)
- Chord shape
- Pentatonic tone
Chords
What to play A minor pentatonic over
Play it over songs in A minor or C major, and over a 12-bar blues in A (A7, D7 and E7).
Same root
Other scales on A
Change a note or two and the same The note a chord is named after and built up from. C is the root of C, Cm and C7. takes on a new mood.
Questions
A minor pentatonic, in short
- What notes are in the A minor pentatonic scale?
- The A minor A five-note scale. The minor pentatonic is the most used scale in rock and blues guitar solos. has five notes: A, C, D, E and G. As degrees: 1, ♭3, 4, 5 and ♭7.
- What chords go with the A minor pentatonic scale?
- Play it over songs in A minor or C major, and over a 12-bar blues in A (A7, D7 and E7).
- What is the relative major of A minor pentatonic?
- A minor pentatonic has the same notes as C major pentatonic, starting from A.