In today's lesson, we are going to learn why there are only five pentatonic patterns. The reason for this is that there are only five notes on the scale itself. Each note has a pattern of notes based on it. Since there are five notes, there are five patterns. If there were six or seven notes to the scale, there would be six or seven patterns.
What are the five notes?
These five notes are taken out of the major scale in any key. For example, let's look at the notes within the G major scale. The notes are:
G major scale: G A B C D E F# G
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
As we can see from the example above, the major scale has eight notes in it. The pentatonic scale is made up of only five. We have the minor pentatonic and we have the major pentatonic. Since the minor pentatonic is the most popular, we will start with that one.
The scale formula for the minor pentatonic scale is the 1 flat 3 4 5 and flat 7th notes of the major scale it comes out of. In the example of G major above, the notes would be:
G minor pentatonic scale: G Bb C D F
1 b3 4 5 7
So it is these notes that we would use to play the G minor pentatonic scale. On the guitar, these five notes are all structured into simple box patterns. One pattern starts at each note. So, one would start on the G note, the next would start on the B flat note, the next would start on the C note, and so forth and so forth.
Make sense?
The same thing goes for the major pentatonic scale. Except the note formula is different. Instead of it being the 1 b3 4 5 b7, it is going to be the 1 2 3 5 6 of the major scale it comes out of. So, in the example of the G major scale, we will use these notes.
G major: G A B C D E F# G
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
G major pentatonic: G A B D E
1 2 3 4 5
As you can see, the major pentatonic scale is similar to the minor as far as five notes were taken out of the scale, but we just use different ones. Here we use every note except the 4 and 7th notes. We also don't flatten any notes either. It is for this reason that it is the major and not the minor.
Why major and minor pentatonic patterns?
By doing this we can now use these scale patterns to play over both major and minor chord progressions. which is what all Western music is broken down into. Majors and minors. Either a piece of music is written in a major key, ex: G major, or it is written in a minor key, ex: E minor.
Additional help
If you feel you could use more help with learning how to use the pentatonic scales, I recommend you check out the book I authored and self-published on Amazon.
How To Play Guitar Solos.
In this book, you will find everything you need to know about how to use pentatonic scales to play guitar solos. You will learn such things as:
What scale to play
Where to play them along the fretboard
How to stay in key no matter where you play
How to improvise with confidence
How to understand music theory
How to read notation and diagrams
And much, much more
Designed in a simple step-by-step format that anyone can learn. Even if you have no previous music training.
So, if you've ever wanted to play guitar solos like your favorite guitar heroes and make people go "Wow", this book will teach you how. How To Play Guitar Solos
Lesson conclusion
In this lesson, we have learned why there are only five pentatonic scale patterns, as well as what the scale formulas are. For both major pentatonic and minor pentatonic. I highly recommend you learn these two scale patterns and add them to your guitar arsenal as they will serve you well in multiple applications. Not just what we have discussed here, but for all sorts of things related to not only lead guitar but also rhythm guitar.
And as usual, if you need additional help, feel free to reach out. I am always happy to help. Good luck with your learning. Thank you for your time and support of my lessons.
Sincerely, Dwayne Jenkins
