Courses

The pentatonic scale

The five-note scale behind most riffs and solos, learned as five boxes that tile the neck — plus the trick of its two identities, major and minor.

The pentatonic scale

Strip two notes out of the seven-note major scale and you get the pentatonic: five notes with no half steps, which means almost nothing you play with it can clash. It’s the scale under most of the riffs and guitar solos your species has recorded, and it comes packaged in five box shapes that tile the entire neck.

Three exercises: the first box, the other four and how they connect, and the scale’s two identities — major and minor.

Exercises

  1. Exercise 00InterviewTell your tutor what you already know about this course's topic and what you want to get out of it.
  2. Exercise 01The first boxLearn A minor pentatonic box 1 at the fifth fret, run it with alternate picking, and play it over a drone to hear why it always sounds good.
  3. Exercise 02Five boxesSee how five pentatonic boxes tile the whole neck, learn box 2, and practice crossing the seam between boxes along one string.
  4. Exercise 03Major and minor pentatonicDiscover that the same five notes are both A minor pentatonic and C major pentatonic, and learn to choose a home root by what you emphasize.