E minor pentatonic scale

The notes of the E minor pentatonic scale

E G A B D

Formula: 1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7. Steps from note to note: 3 2 2 3 2 semitones (one and a half, whole, whole, one and a half, whole).

Natural E minor without its 2nd and 6th (F♯ and C). The same five notes are the G major pentatonic scale.

In Hz, from E4: E4 329.6 · G4 392.0 · A4 440.0 · B4 493.9 · D5 587.3.

The E minor pentatonic scale on the piano

White keys: E G A B D; no black keys.

For the fingering, slide the thumb under after the black keys, never onto one.

The E minor pentatonic scale on guitar

One position, frets 0–4, low E string first: low E: 0 3 (E G) · A: 0 2 (A B) · D: 0 2 (D E) · G: 0 2 4 (G A B) · B: 0 3 (B D) · high E: 0 3 (E G). 0 = open string.

The root E sits at fret 0 and fret 12 on the low E string and at fret 7 on the A string. Slide the same shape there for any other root.

Open strings all the way

E minor pentatonic is the one scale a guitarist can play with no left-hand shape at all for the first notes: low E 0 3, A 0 2, D 0 2, G 0 2, B 0 3, high E 0 3. Countless rock riffs in E sit in it, with the open low E droning underneath. It is G major pentatonic with E as home.

More scales

Minor pentatonic scale A minor pentatonic scale C minor pentatonic scale D minor pentatonic scale G minor pentatonic scale E minor scale on guitar E minor: scale and chords

How this page works

Hear it plays the scale up and down at 100 BPM on one of four Brumm sounds. Take it gives the same notes as a MIDI file and a WAV. − and + move the root. Every note here is computed from the formula.

Sources

Scales and modes: Open Music Theory, musictheory.net. Piano fingerings: the standard scale-book fingerings (ABRSM scale books; Hanon, The Virtuoso Pianist, part 3). Trumpet valves: the standard B♭ trumpet fingering chart (Yamaha, Bach). Hz: A4 = 440 Hz, ISO 16.

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