The pentatonic scale and its five boxes
Guitar · The neck: notes, scales and positions · Level 3 · 15 min
The minor pentatonic (five notes: 1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7) is the king of rock and blues scales. In A minor: A C D E G. In E minor: E G A B D.
“Box 1”
Its most famous shape fits within four frets, two notes per string. In A minor it starts at fret 5 on string 6:
| String | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frets | 5 – 8 | 5 – 7 | 5 – 7 | 5 – 7 | 5 – 8 | 5 – 8 |
| Notes | A C | D E | G A | C D | E G | A C |
Fingers: index on fret 5, ring on 7, little finger on 8. Move the whole box to change key: the root on string 6 gives the scale its name.
In open position: E minor
The same shape, brought down to fret 0, gives the E minor pentatonic with open strings: ideal to start with.
M:4/4 L:1/8 Q:1/4=76 K:Em clef=treble-8 E, G, A, B, D E G A | B d e g e d B A | G E D B, A, G, E,2 |]
The five boxes
Five shapes interlock like a jigsaw along the neck: the highest note of each box on a given string is the lowest of the next one. Start with box 1, then learn box 2 (above it), and connect them by sliding.
The major pentatonic uses the same notes as its relative minor: C major pentatonic = A minor pentatonic. Same shape, different starting point.