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Pentatonic scale on guitar
The pentatonic scale on guitar: the box shape fret by fret, where the root sits on the low E and A strings for every key, played back, MIDI and WAV to take.
In the pentatonic scale on guitar, the top note here is A3, 220.0 Hz. Mika stops there.Tap Hear it, or tap any note on the board.
A C D E G
The notes of the A pentatonic scale
A C D E G
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 A minor without its 2nd and 6th (B and F). The same five notes are the C major pentatonic scale.
The A pentatonic scale on guitar
One position, frets 4–8, low E string first: low E: 5 8 (1 ♭3) · A: 5 7 (4 5) · D: 5 7 (♭7 1) · G: 5 7 (♭3 4) · B: 5 8 (5 ♭7) · high E: 5 8 (1 ♭3). 0 = open string.
1 is the root. Put it on the fret the table below gives for your key and the same shape plays that key.
The pentatonic scale in all twelve keys
| Root | minor pentatonic scale | major pentatonic scale | Fret, low string | Fret, next string |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | C E♭ F G B♭ | C D E G A | 8 | 3 |
| C♯ | C♯ E F♯ G♯ B | C♯ D♯ E♯ G♯ A♯ | 9 | 4 |
| D | D F G A C | D E F♯ A B | 10 | 5 |
| E♭ | E♭ G♭ A♭ B♭ D♭ | E♭ F G B♭ C | 11 | 6 |
| E | E G A B D | E F♯ G♯ B C♯ | 0 | 7 |
| F | F A♭ B♭ C E♭ | F G A C D | 1 | 8 |
| F♯ | F♯ A B C♯ E | F♯ G♯ A♯ C♯ D♯ | 2 | 9 |
| G | G B♭ C D F | G A B D E | 3 | 10 |
| G♯ | G♯ B C♯ D♯ F♯ | G♯ A♯ B♯ D♯ E♯ | 4 | 11 |
| A | A C D E G | A B C♯ E F♯ | 5 | 0 |
| B♭ | B♭ D♭ E♭ F A♭ | B♭ C D F G | 6 | 1 |
| B | B D E F♯ A | B C♯ D♯ F♯ G♯ | 7 | 2 |
One box, any key
The first pentatonic box has two notes on every string, and its lowest note is the root under your index finger. Slide the whole shape: at the 5th fret it is A minor pentatonic, at the 3rd G, at the 8th C. The same box doubles as major pentatonic three frets lower, so the 5th-fret shape is also C major pentatonic with the root on the A string at the 3rd fret. Learn this box before the other four; they connect up the neck from it.
More scales
Pentatonic scale Pentatonic scale on bass Pentatonic scale on piano Major scale on guitar Blues scale on guitar Minor scale on guitar
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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