Pentatonic Scale

Major pentatonic and minor pentatonic

Remove degrees 4 and 7 from a major scale to get major pentatonic. Remove degrees 2 and 6 from a natural minor scale to get minor pentatonic. In both formulas below, degree numbers are measured against the same-root major scale: ♭3 and ♭7 mean lowered degrees, not finger numbers.

Formula basis: Fender: pentatonic formulas; parent scales: Open Music Theory: major scales and natural minor.

Same notes, different root: A minor and C major

C major pentatonic is C–D–E–G–A; A minor pentatonic is A–C–D–E–G. The sets are identical, but C is degree 1 in the first and A is degree 1 in the second. Changing the reference root changes each note's degree. Basis: Open Music Theory: rotations of the pentatonic collection.

Use A minor pentatonic at frets 5–8. The table is an ascending path: start on the thickest string, play its lower fret first, then its higher fret, and move to the next string. The tool's 5–9 view leaves one extra fret visible; it is a viewing window, not a separate fingering system. Follow the table below: extra marked notes, such as string 3/fret 9, are outside this twelve-note route.

Shape basis: Fender: A minor pentatonic, fifth position. This original table independently calculates each coordinate from standard tuning, one semitone per fret and the A–C–D–E–G note set. The sequence below is our suggested exercise, not a copied Fender lesson.

1. Find the roots. Locate string 6/fret 5, string 4/fret 7 and string 1/fret 5. Play each A separately.
2. Play one octave first. Follow the six addresses below, then reverse them to return to your starting A. A pair such as 6/5 means string 6, fret 5.

6/5 → 6/8 → 5/5 → 5/7 → 4/5 → 4/7
A → C → D → E → G → A

3. Extend to all six strings. Play all twelve entries in the table, then reverse the route. The last note is C, above the high A—not a root-to-root ending.
4. Make the route even. Choose a comfortable slow pulse and play one note per beat. Pause to fix an unclear note before continuing. On the return trip, avoid repeating the top note if you want an uninterrupted pulse.

The parent tool's Play scale button plays the scale in pitch order for reference. It does not demonstrate this exact twelve-note fretboard route. Click individual dots to check their pitches while following the table on your guitar.

Pentatonic shapes: connect neighboring areas

Connecting positions means keeping the same scale while finding a route into a neighboring area. On string 1, use fret 8 (C) as the shared point between these overlapping windows.

String 1: 5 → 8 → 10 → 8 → 5
A → C → D → C → A

Move your hand after the shared C to reach fret 10, then return. The root remains A. These are overlapping practice areas.

Basis: Fender: why scales have different shapes. This short connection route is our own example, calculated from the tuning and scale formula cited above.

Change A to B; move every fretted note two frets

Keep minor pentatonic selected and change the root from A to B. With standard tuning unchanged, moving the fretted shape up two frets moves every note up two semitones. The root on string 6 moves from fret 5 to fret 7.

The six string pairs become 7–10 / 7–9 / 7–9 / 7–9 / 7–10 / 7–10, in string 6-to-1 order. The degree relationships stay unchanged; the notes become B D E F♯ A.

Derivation: Fender: one semitone per fret plus the minor pentatonic formula. An equal shift preserves the intervals.

This movable example uses fretted notes only. An open string does not move when your hand moves. A fixed viewport can also hide notes beyond its edges; use Whole neck to explore the larger map.

Where these notes fall on piano

For C major pentatonic, use the white keys C, D, E, G and A, then the next C. For A minor pentatonic, use A, C, D, E and G, then the next A. Both examples skip the white keys B and F; no black keys are needed for these two roots.

Find C immediately to the left of a group of two black keys. Read the white keys upward as C–D–E–F–G–A–B, repeating in the next octave. Keyboard basis: Open Music Theory: the keyboard; note sets follow the formulas above.

Keep exploring

Return to Guitar Scales for the interactive fretboard and other scale types, or the Guitar Chord Finder for chord shapes. Explore chord notes with Piano Chords, arrange chords with the Chord Progression Generator, follow Guitar Chords for Beginners, or review how to read guitar chord charts.