The pentatonic scale is the first scale most guitarists learn for soloing, and the one they use most. With only five notes it's easy to memorize, and almost any note you land on sounds fine, which makes it the natural starting point for improvising. This guide covers the basics for beginners: what's in the minor pentatonic, position 1, the five positions and how to change key.
A five-note scale
"Penta" means five. The pentatonic scale is a seven-note major or minor scale with the two notes that tend to clash a half step apart removed, so you can hold almost any note without it sounding rough.
- Minor pentatonic: root (R), ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7. A minor pentatonic is A · C · D · E · G.
- Major pentatonic: root, 2, 3, 5, 6. C major pentatonic is C · D · E · G · A, the same notes as A minor pentatonic with a different home note.
Rock and blues lean on the minor pentatonic most, so this guide uses A minor pentatonic throughout.
Position 1: the shape to learn first
Start on the root A at the 5th fret of the 6th string and climb to the 1st string with two notes per string. With your index finger on the 5th fret and your ring or pinky on the 7th and 8th, you can play every note without moving your hand. Only the 2nd string has a different shape, for the same tuning reason explained in the octave shapes guide.
Five positions link the whole neck
Split the notes above into five chunks from left to right and you have positions 1 to 5. In A minor, they start on the 6th string at frets 5, 8, 10, 12 and 15 (or 3). Neighboring positions share notes, so the right edge of one position is the left edge of the next.
Don't try to learn all five at once. Get position 1 solid, then add the positions next to it, 2 and 5, one at a time.
To change key, move the shape
The pentatonic shapes stay the same in every key. Position 1 starts on the root on the 6th string, so all you need is the fret where your key's root sits on that string.
- E: fret 0 (or 12)
- G: fret 3
- A: fret 5
- C: fret 8
- D: fret 10
That's why using the pentatonic freely means knowing the notes on the 6th and 5th strings instantly. You can practice that with how to learn the guitar fretboard.
Practicing with the trainer
The Pentatonic training in Fret Drill has two drills.
- Find the root: when a key appears, play its root on the 6th and 5th strings. The answer also shows the fret where position 1 starts.
- Fill a position: when you see something like "A · position 2", play all 12 notes in that position from the lowest string, then check the answer diagram for missed notes.
A few minutes a day of root finding speeds up your key changes, and filling positions gets the shapes under your fingers, so your hands feel much freer when you practice soloing.