The Pentatonic Scale is a scale consisting of 5 notes (Penta =5 in greek language, tonic = tones). There is a Minor Pentatonic Scale (which I’ll show you first), and there is a Major Pentatonic Scale. You may ask why you should use a scale with such a small amount of notes. The reason is that Pentatonic Scales provide a small margin for error when you are playing over a chord progression of the chords that go with the scale. Another reason to use the scale is if you are looking to find that rock sound. Jimi Hendrix used this scale more than any other. Now, it is hard to find a rock song without pentatonics in it. B.B. King, Clapton and many others also use the Pentatonic Scale. They use the Minor Pentatonic scale for its bluesy quality.
This scale is a fairly simple introduction to scales and how scales work. It is a very commonly used scale and can be found in many popular songs, especially in classic rock, blues, hard rock, and more. Because this scale is so commonly used it is the perfect scale for you to start with.
All of these positions fit together perfectly and will always be in the same order that they are here. That means that they must always be positioned together as they are and their relation to each other will never change. To play this pentatonic minor scale in any key other than A, you would have to slide the whole note diagram up or down the neck, moving all the positions together.
The Pentatonic differs from many “traditional” scales, which often have seven (or more) notes. The fewer number of notes in the pentatonic scale can be helpful to the beginner guitarist – the scale omits some of the “trouble” notes found in traditional major and minor scales that can end up sounding wrong if not used properly.
As always start slowly and give yourself time to learn these shapes, try to find a daily practice routine because this helps more than any other advice you can get when learning such an awesome instrument as the guitar is.
See you in the next lesson. 🙂
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