THE MINOR PENTATONIC SCALE

On this page, I’ll show you how to play possibly the most popular Guitar Scale on the planet – the sound of Rock itself – The Minor Pentatonic Scale. I’ll teach you this through the 5 CAGED (minor) scale positions that span the whole of the guitar fretboard.

For each scale position you’ll see two diagrams:

Root Notes – R

Diagram 1 will demonstrate the scale itself, with the root notes – highlighted red. You need to memorise these as soon as you’ve learn’t the scale (mega important).

The Chord – R b3 5

Diagram 2 will demonstrate the minor chord that lives inside the scale. A minor chord consists of the R b3 and 5 scale degrees.

Minor Pentatonic Scale Degrees – R b3 4 5 b7

And in both diagrams, you will notice the scale degrees that make up the Minor Pentatonic Scale. They are R b3 4 5 and b7.

Notice here, that there are only five different notes – hence the “penta” part of the scale name.

Also, notice that the Minor Pentatonic is the same scale as the Natural Minor scale minus the 2 and the b6 notes.

Side Note: I prefer using Scale Degrees in my teaching versus note names, as scale degrees stay the same in every key, where as note names change in every key. That said, in the grand scheme of things, it’s still a good idea to have a handle on the given note names in a specific key.

How To Practice These Scales

Practice these scales with a backing track – it’s more fun and it teaches you how the scale sounds in context with real music.

When you play each scale, start by playing the chord, then run the scale starting on the lowest root note, play up the the very highest note, back down to the very lowest note, and back up to finish on the lowest root note again. Aso you play through each root note, make a habit of recognising and acknowledging it. Practicing this was will help you absorb where the all the root notes lie and the chord lies within the scale.

Below are all 5 CAGED positions of the Minor Pentatonic Scale: