How does one play the Minor Pentatonic Scale?

Norman86 · 2011-02-09T14:59:43+00:00

Hi guys... Please excuse me if this is a stupid question. What i would like, is a simple explanation of how to play the minor pentatonic scale? I tried th...

How does one play the Minor Pentatonic Scale?

Warren

Tonedef wrote: Okay, I finks I gets it now in order to ask more stupid questions. The sum total of the individual notes available in each diagram defines the scale? Or is the scale the collection of diagrams? Why is it called pentatonic? And I take it you can mix and match individual notes from one particular diagram to make your riff?

It's called a Pentatonic scale because there are 5 notes in it.

I'm going to try cover the scale basics here. Other folks can feel free to add. I think I'm being ambitious, but here goes. It's a textwall, but please give it a shot, it's easy going.

Think we need to go over a few basics:

How do the 12 notes of music work?
====================================

The sonic spectrum, the stuff that we can hear, is basically a big frequency range, right? Sound travels in a waveform, with higher frequency waves being perceived as a higher pitch and low frequency waves having a lower pitch. When we hear a sound, pitch (how high) is one of the primary properties of that sound. The other two general properties are volume (how loud) and timbre (everything else ?).

The western system of music chops that spectrum up into bits that can be managed, written down and communicated.

So, an "A" note just happens to be some point in that spectrum, a point that we all agree is called an "A". In fact, the "A" note that we use as a reference for tuning is specified in an international treaty as being the note at 440Hz.

What western music does is chop the spectrum up into 12 notes, and these notes are:

A
A#/Bb
B
C
C#/Db
D
D#/Eb
E
F
F#/Gb
G
G#/Ab

You'll see the obvious letter choices from A to G, but also the odd sharp note (#) or flat note (b) between some of the letters. For example, the note between an A or a B could be called EITHER an A# (A sharp) or Bb (B flat). These notes are sometimes called "enharmonic", because of this "dual name" thing they have going on. How do you decide which name to use? Well, that will depend on the context in which you use the note, which we'll get to later.

You also need to understand that each step up the scale is one semi-tone. Very NB. On the guitar, this would be a step of one fret (each fret on the guitar is another semitone).

Of course, we can "hear" a lot more than 12 notes, right? I mean, across the entire spectrum that we can hear? On average, humans are said to be able to hear somewhere between 20Hz to 20,000Hz, and surely 12 notes is not enough to cover that whole spectrum?

You're right, 12 notes is not enough. So what happens is that the notes repeat themselves. When you get to the end of the 12 notes (the G#/Ab in the above case) you start again at A, only at a higher pitch than the A which you started with.

This is how octaves work. The 12 notes listed above span 1 octave. If you want to go higher or lower, you can, but you start again using the same note names from A to G# (if that makes sense). In theory, you could keep going up or down the spectrum indefinitely, repeating the octaves beyond the range of human hearing.

In order to agree on exactly which pitch each note is found, we also use a numbering system, so that if we considered all possible A notes you would get:

A1
A2
A3
A4
.
.
etc.

It is in fact A4 that is at 440Hz.

This is not all just made-up bullshit either. You'll find that A5, which is one octave higher than A4, has a frequency of 880Hz (exactly double that of A4). So it's the same note, just at a higher pitch (and your ear will perceive it as such, once you're used to it).

For interests sake, an A4 is the note on the high-E string (1st string) at the 5th fret. This means that the string vibrates at 440Hz when you play that note (on a guitar it's a touch more complicated but that's the idea).

What is a scale?
===============

Once you understand that, in the western music system, there are 12 notes of music (as above), you need to understand what a scale is. The answer, conceptually is simple:

A scale is a subset of the 12 notes of music.

So, if you played all 12 notes of music (on any instrument) you would be playing a scale. If you played 6 random notes you selected from the 12 notes of music, you would, again, be playing a scale.

However, over many years of musical history and development, certain patterns of notes have grown to be widely accepted and used in making music. Some of these scale patterns give us:

The natural major scale
The natural minor scale
The pentatonic scales
The harmonic minor scale
etc.

When you decide to create a scale, you need to pick a root note to start on. Let's start on a C, and write out the 12 notes of music, going from C to C.

C
C#/Db
D
D#/Eb
E
F
F#/Gb
G
G#/Ab
A
A#/Bb
B
C

So let's now pick out a few of these notes to make a scale. Not just any scale, we're going to make a C Major scale.

To make a C major scale, we have to step through the scale in a certain step pattern. The pattern for the major scale (and this is something you will want to just memorize early) is:

Tone - Tone - Semitone - Tone - Tone - Tone - Semitone

Remember that each step in the scale is a semitone, right?

So how many "jumps" through the scale? We could re-write the pattern as:

2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1

Or

T - T - s - T - T - T - s (for Tones and Semitones)

So, starting at C, and choosing each note we land on when we count the steps, we would end up with (do this exercise yourself to make it clear):

C - D - E - F - G - A - B

How convenient right? You'll notice that you didn't land on any sharp/flat notes. ? That's why the scale of C is used when teaching music students about scales, because it has not sharps or flats in it to confuse people.

However, if you went through the exact same exercise as above but starting with an A, you would get the following notes:

A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G#

Because you would have "landed" on those sharp notes when you went up the scale. It is, however, the same concept used as when we wrote out the C Major scale.

Now, the MOST NB Part!

It is the STEP PATTERN of (T - T - s - T - T - T - s) that DEFINES the major scale! And so it is for ALL scales. It's not about which key you're in (which note you start on). A major scale will ALWAYS have the SAME STEP PATTERN, and therefore the SAME general FEEL or MOOD, regardless of which note you start on.

So that's how scales are made. You pick a root note, write out the twelve notes of music, and then select from them by using a step pattern of tones or semi-tones (or more).

We've looked at the major scale step pattern, but there are obviously lots of others.

OK, let me know if that made sense, and we can chat a bit more about how this relates to the guitar.

singemonkey

It's actually kind of a trip reading about you guys tackling the pentatonic scale for the first time. It brings back hazy memories. Learning it, not really knowing what it was or what it was for...

So you get that you practise it in sequence? The major scale goes: Doh Ray Me Fah Soh Lah Tee Doh. Both Dohs are the same and are called octaves, right?

Now the pentatonic scale leaves out some of the notes. Instead of 7 plus an octave, you have four plus an octave. A five note scale, hence, pentatonic. It's weirdly an amazingly common scale in folk music from across the world.

Those diagrams are designed to show you where to get to all the pentatonic notes in a four fret stretch so that you can go Doh Ray Soh Lah Doh - the pentatonic sequence. Moving a few frets up, you can find those same notes, but they're now in different places - hence the different patterns, right? Once you have all the patterns down, you can play anywhere on the neck so that you can play the same notes higher or lower, and take advantage of some other unique guitar characteristics. And if the song's no longer in say, A, but is now in say, C, you can just shift the patterns all along and you're good with the new key.

But obviously, the major scale's doh ray me isn't a song. It's just practise. When you actually put a melody together you might easily go Fah doh soh. Or any other combo. So that's what it's really all about. You learn these pentatonic scales and then you can choose whichever note is in them and it will have that characteristic pentatonic sound. Those notes will sound better or worse played over certain chords for reasons that are a bit headache inducing.

As for the blues, that's a bit of a different story. It took me a long, long time to figure out that the blues isn't all the pentatonic minor scale. Even justinguitar only shows you that pentatonic minor with the mysterious "blue" note added in.

But in real life, real, genuine blues players use two main scales - the pentatonic minor, and the pentatonic major. Don't panic, they're the same patterns. The difference is like the difference in the major and minor scales. If you've got a major scale in C, and the song is in C, it sounds like doh ray me. But if the song is in A, playing the same notes sounds dark and gloomy. What's happened is that lah is now the main note, instead of doh. And everything sounds different. You're now playing the minor scale.

Pentatonics do the same thing. And blues players switch between major and minor depending on what chord they're playing. And they'll also drop in some of the missing notes from the full major and minor scales from time to time too.

The sequence of blues is overwhelmingly as Warren described. Probably 90% of blues songs are structured like that. You can actually think of it as the same song over and over again. The trick with blues is in the variation and interpretation. It's incredible what people can do with that one song. Great blues players poured blood and soul into their songs which is the single reason why so many people become intoxicated by an essentially very simple style of music.

Exhibit A:

Tonedef

You guys are phenomenal. Lots of this stuff I have read before but I find that much of it is too formalised to really make sense in the larger context. I find that a lot of beginners' tuts focus on certain things in too high an isolation to create a holistic understanding, so I tend to compartmentalise new information without integrating it into my learning framework. Contrastingly, you guys have a conversational style that is wonderful. And inspiring. Thank you.

Warren

Tonedef wrote: You guys are phenomenal. Lots of this stuff I have read before but I find that much of it is too formalised to really make sense in the larger context. I find that a lot of beginners' tuts focus on certain things in too high an isolation to create a holistic understanding, so I tend to compartmentalise new information without integrating it into my learning framework. Contrastingly, you guys have a conversational style that is wonderful. And inspiring. Thank you.

Helps to demystify stuff. I was always bothered by things like "but WHY is it called C#"? That sort of thing. Nobody ever goes back to complete basics, which I find frustrating.

deefstes

Stirling job Warren,

A question, of the five different positions of the minor pentatonic that you linked the picture of, which ones do you guys use on a regular basis? I originally learned to play the first position and later the 5th position but to be honest, I've never made a real effort to get positions 2-4 down. Which are the important ones you think?

More recently I've been taught (by Ryan) a different pattern, that moves between positions. It looks like this:

E|-------------------------------------------6---8------------------
B|-----------------------------------6---8--------------------------
G|-------------------------3---5^7----------------------------------
D|-----------------3---5--------------------------------------------
A|-------1---3^5----------------------------------------------------
E|---3--------------------------------------------------------------

I find this one more useful than either position 1 or 5.

Keen to hear which patterns you guys use most.

Warren wrote:

ezietsman

You should learn not only the 5 boxes but also learn where they are with respect to one another. That way you'll be able to use the minor pentatonic scale in every key, everywhere on the fretboard. Ideally you should have a map in your brain that highlights the positions of the pentatonic notes so you know where you can always safely put your fingers down ?

deefstes

ezietsman wrote: You should learn not only the 5 boxes but also learn where they are with respect to one another. That way you'll be able to use the minor pentatonic scale in every key, everywhere on the fretboard. Ideally you should have a map in your brain that highlights the positions of the pentatonic notes so you know where you can always safely put your fingers down ?

OK, so do you use positions 2 and 4 equally as often as you use positions 1 and 5? To me those are the two harder positions.

Warren

deefstes wrote:
OK, so do you use positions 2 and 4 equally as often as you use positions 1 and 5? To me those are the two harder positions.

So interesting, because position 4 is probably my favourite ? I probably use 1, 3 and 4 the most, with 5 being in there now and again when I'm moving around. I tend to only use the top three or four strings when playing in position 2.

EZ is correct though: you should try to learn a variety of links in each position as well as some that link the positions (like the one you posted). This just gives you more freedom across the fretboard and allows you to explore different ideas in different bits of music.

As a point of reference though, if I'm improvising, I'll often start out in a familiar position like 1 or 4, because that helps me get my bearings for the rest of the song.

When you combine other scales in a single song with the pentatonics, it's helpful to be familiar with all the positions because it's easier to fit all the different patterns together.

deefstes

Cool thanks. I was afraid you might answer something like that. I was more hoping for a "nah, just stick to positions 1 and 5 and then add this little nifty trick and that will turn you into a guitar god". ?

Much for me still to learn.

Warren

deefstes wrote: Cool thanks. I was afraid you might answer something like that. I was more hoping for a "nah, just stick to positions 1 and 5 and then add this little nifty trick and that will turn you into a guitar god". ?

Much for me still to learn.

Haha, yes ?

Well, what I did originally was to learn some licks around specific positions, which made it much easier to use those positions more frequently until they became comfortable. Particularly for position 3, there was one lick I learned which is now just about my favourite blues lick at the moment. I'll try post a vid of it.

deefstes

Warren wrote: Well, what I did originally was to learn some licks around specific positions, which made it much easier to use those positions more frequently until they became comfortable. Particularly for position 3, there was one lick I learned which is now just about my favourite blues lick at the moment. I'll try post a vid of it.

Yeah, please do.