The minor pentatonic is one of the most common scales used in
rock and blues music. Penta means 5, so there are only 5 different
notes in this scale before you are back to a root. The root is
the letter name of the scale(A,B,C...), and in the following scale
forms the root is outlined in red.
The following are five basic fingerings for the G minor pentatonic
scale. All of the notes that are outlined in red are the note
G. There are 2 notes on every string, and the fingering is labeled.
This is the suggested fingering when practicing the scale, but
other fingers may be used in the context of improvising. These
scale charts are read like basic chord charts. (see scale
primer)
Think of these patterns as pieces of a puzzle that fit together.
The top notes of one pattern, are the bottom notes of the next.
Make sure that you learn where the roots are in the scale shapes.
Here is a picture of how these patterns fit together. This time
the the chart is turned on its side, with the 6th string on the
bottom. Get used to reading scale charts in both ways.
Once you reach the last pattern, you could then just start over
again with the first pattern (at the 15th fret for G minor pentatonic),
until you run out of room on the neck.
Extended Minor Pentatonic Fingerings
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