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Minor Pentatonic Scale - Quick reference chart


DCM

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Hi, I have attached a powerpoint file to this post. It is a simple chart I have created to help me learn the Minor Pentatonic Scale in all Five positions and also to learn it horizontialy down the guitar neck. Please feel free to use it if anyone thinks it may be of use.

 

I have also attached a file I created showing the layout of all the minor pentatonic scales for each key.

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I have also attached a file I created showing the layout of all the minor pentatonic scales for each key.

 

Hi DCM. Very nice of you to share info like this, and your 5 positions chart is great. I wonder though about the value of the other chart showing the minor pent in each of the 12 keys. Maybe this is just a personal nit, but I think it's better to concentrate on internalizing the 5 positions, and getting used to finding them relative to the root octaves. You're not in a whole new world when you go to a different key... you shouldn't have to look up a different chart.

 

I'm curious how you use the "5 positions shown horizontally down the fret board in pairs of strings" chart. Why did you choose those pairs of strings in particular? Usually when I practice running scales on pairs of strings I'll run the scale across the pair of strings in one position and then move down to the next position. Alternatively, people recommend working a scale down one string at a time. What's your approach?

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Hi DCM. Very nice of you to share info like this, and your 5 positions chart is great. I wonder though about the value of the other chart showing the minor pent in each of the 12 keys. Maybe this is just a personal nit, but I think it's better to concentrate on internalizing the 5 positions, and getting used to finding them relative to the root octaves. You're not in a whole new world when you go to a different key... you shouldn't have to look up a different chart.


I'm curious how you use the "5 positions shown horizontally down the fret board in pairs of strings" chart. Why did you choose those pairs of strings in particular? Usually when I practice running scales on pairs of strings I'll run the scale across the pair of strings in one position and then move down to the next position. Alternatively, people recommend working a scale down one string at a time. What's your approach?

 

 

Yeah I agree thinking about it I probably won't get much use out of the chart showing the scales in each key and tend to use the five position chart.

 

The reason i charted out the scale horizontially across each of the string pairs is ive seen this method refered to on the web as a means of learning the pentatonics horizontally down the fretboard (some people refer to this as the hopskotch method I think). I dont really have a set approach in regard to this yet as i'm still experimenting with it but you suggestions above also sound good.

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I was looking for something just like this last night! Thank you so much, it's just what I need: a newbs simple, quick reference!!

:thu:

 

Not a problem, glad its of some use to others who are in the same boat as me trying to get these scales down!

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May thanks for the chart, just printed it out!

 

I'm just delving into learning scales and theory, up to now I've just been playing songs off tab but want to do better than that. What I don't quite get yet is the purpose of the 5 positions (and for now I'm limiting myself to the Minor Pentatonic scale). The first position can be played at different points on the neck...for example, if I wanted to play a minor pentatonic solo in G I'd play something based on the 1st position at the 3rd fret. A at the 5th fret, etc. So the 5 positions confuse me, admittedly because I've only just started studying theory.

 

I guess if you were to play a minor pentatonic scale based solo across the neck, say for example starting at the 3rd fret and ending at the 12th, you would be applying these different positions?

 

Please forgive my ignorance, I know I've got a lot of studying to do. Many thanks for the scale chart!

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May thanks for the chart, just printed it out!


I'm just delving into learning scales and theory, up to now I've just been playing songs off tab but want to do better than that. What I don't quite get yet is the purpose of the 5 positions (and for now I'm limiting myself to the Minor Pentatonic scale). The first position can be played at different points on the neck...for example, if I wanted to play a minor pentatonic solo in G I'd play something based on the 1st position at the 3rd fret. A at the 5th fret, etc. So the 5 positions confuse me, admittedly because I've only just started studying theory.


I guess if you were to play a minor pentatonic scale based solo across the neck, say for example starting at the 3rd fret and ending at the 12th, you would be applying these different positions?


Please forgive my ignorance, I know I've got a lot of studying to do. Many thanks for the scale chart!

 

 

 

The idea of the five positions as i understand it is that they are just the same notes but played at different locations on the fretboard. There are many well know licks associated with each of the positions as well. The good news when it comes to the minor and major pentatonic scales is that the shapes are exactly the same its just that you start the scale from a different root note, for example:

 

The F# Minor Pentatonic scale played in the 1st position starts at fret 2 (note F#) on the low E string.

 

The A Major pentatonic played in the same 1st position starts at the fifth fret (note A) on the low E string.

 

Exactly the same shape played for both scales at the same fret locations but just starting with different root notes.

 

This is why the F# Minor pentatonic is often refered to as the relative minor pentatonic for the key of A. This also applies to all the other keys.

 

Hope this helps a bit

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Now that we're talking a bit about the scales themselves, I do have a question or two. These charts are a great illustration of the positions for that particular scale, it's exactly what I needed and I'll be working on learning the 4 I don't know for the next few weeks, but what about the other scales? Are there positions to learn in the Dorian, Ionian, etc scales, too? I knew enough to search for a chart for the positions of the pentatonic scale, but I can't recall ever really coming across a reference to other positions for all the scales.

 

As to how to use all this after you learn the scales, can someone explain in really newbie terms, the general idea about using scales in certain keys to create a solo or riff that blends well with the rest of a song? Thanks!

 

To the OP, if you have more of these chart ideas, keep 'em coming! :wave:

 

p.s. You guys mentioned moving across the fretboard and "hopscotching." When I was looking for info on this stuff I found a great YouTube video that discusses exactly this, maybe referenced from a thread on this site, I forget I've plowed through so much info in the last 3 days. It comes up as the most viewed video when you look up pentatonic scales on YouTube:

 

It really opened up my view of what I was supposed to be doing with scales, as I thought you had to learn one scale type then move on to the next type, and so on. I can already play the pentatonic first position pretty fast and clean, but I didn't realize that I was only 1/5 of the way along!

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Now that we're talking a bit about the scales themselves, I do have a question or two. These charts are a great illustration of the positions for that particular scale, it's exactly what I needed and I'll be working on learning the 4 I don't know for the next few weeks, but what about the other scales? Are there positions to learn in the Dorian, Ionian, etc scales, too? I knew enough to search for a chart for the positions of the pentatonic scale, but I can't recall ever really coming across a reference to other positions for all the scales.


As to how to use all this after you learn the scales, can someone explain in
really
newbie terms, the general idea about using scales in certain keys to create a solo or riff that blends well with the rest of a song? Thanks!


To the OP, if you have more of these chart ideas, keep 'em coming!
:wave:

p.s. You guys mentioned moving across the fretboard and "hopscotching." When I was looking for info on this stuff I found a great YouTube video that discusses exactly this, maybe referenced from a thread on this site, I forget I've plowed through so much info in the last 3 days. It comes up as the most viewed video when you look up pentatonic scales on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_qw03-3gFg


It really opened up my view of what I was supposed to be doing with scales, as I thought you had to learn one scale
type
then move on to the next
type
, and so on. I can already play the pentatonic first position pretty fast and clean, but I didn't realize that I was only 1/5 of the way along!

 

 

Check out this link, it is a scale generator and you should be able to work out the various positions from the root notes that are highlighted in each scale.

 

http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_scales.php

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OooooOOOOoooo, very nice, thank you. I love that it also generates a scale in tab on the same page, I'm trying to get tabs and charts correlated in my mind faster. I picked up a scale book in Sam Ash today. It's just a slim booklet, really, perfect to keep in a gigbag pocket. It has all the scales and positions listed according to their key--very logical and neat. It's not a slick or sexy thing at all, no pictures or colors, but the most handy and functional book on this topic in the whole store. I think it may be a Hal Leonard book, but it also said Sam Ash on the cover. Seriously well-worth the $4.95 cover price!

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You guys mentioned moving across the fretboard and "hopscotching." When I was looking for info on this stuff I found a great YouTube video that discusses exactly this, maybe referenced from a thread on this site, I forget I've plowed through so much info in the last 3 days. It comes up as the most viewed video when you look up pentatonic scales on YouTube:


It really opened up my view of what I was supposed to be doing with scales, as I thought you had to learn one scale
type
then move on to the next
type
, and so on. I can already play the pentatonic first position pretty fast and clean, but I didn't realize that I was only 1/5 of the way along!

 

 

This is a great video. It sound like a way to break down the "scale boxes", and I will try this "hopscotching" approach to practice.

 

Thanks

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Viewing the scale in the "pairs of strings" approach is very interesting.

 

Looking at it one way, each pair of strings has the exact same pattern. It's just a matter of which position the pattern "begins" on. In other words, the middle pair of string positions is the same as the top pair of string positions, just moved forward by one position. The bottom string positions are the same as the middle, but moved forward by one position.

 

The other way I'm seeing it is that since each pair of string positions is pretty much spaced the same: 4-2-2-4-2, the only exception and the only thing you really have to memorize where the "offset" note is - on the low E, D and B strings.

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