Pentatonic Minor Scale Guitar Patterns- Chart, Key of A

Guitar Lesson Summary & Chart Explanation

A Pentatonic Minor Guitar CAGED Positions:

Note: As this website is focused on, and to be honest, biased towards Rock, Blues, Metal, and Folk guitar styles, all references to The Pentatonic Minor Scale will refer to the scale constructed with scale degrees 1 3 4 5 7 . Jazz players often use the construction 1 2 3 5 6 . I will follow Jamey Aebersold's naming scheme (from his excellent Learn to Play Jazz Series) and refer to the latter type as Pentatonic Minor, Coltrane Variation, or simply the Coltrane Minor Pentatonic.

This is the skeleton or lowest common denominator of a minor scale with a flatted 7th scale degree.

Pentatonic?

As the "penta-" in the name would suggest, this scale has five notes. Any scale with five (and only five) notes is, by definition, a Pentatonic Scale A four note per octave pattern would clearly sound like a scale based arpeggio, six would definitely sound like a scale. This is in a grey area between scale and arpeggios, and can be used as either!

Notes:

• A C D E G

Scale Degrees:

1 3 4 5 7 .

Alternative Names:

• This is not "The Blues Scale"
• Nor is it really the "Rock Scale" as some books claim

Related:

• Expanded Chart of Minor Scales
• C Pentatonic Major
• Here's the real Blues Scale!