A Minor Pentatonic Scale on Guitar
The A minor pentatonic scale has five notes: A, C, D, E and G. It is the shape behind countless blues and rock solos, and A is one of the friendliest keys to learn it in.
Find the root on the 5th fret of the low E string, or start from the open A string, then work through the box shapes one at a time. These notes are also C major pentatonic, so the same fingering fits a jam in C. When the first box feels easy, breaking out of the pentatonic box shows how to cover more of the neck.
Play the A minor pentatonic scale
Use the step menu in the player to switch between the single-string run and the box shapes.
Notes of the A minor pentatonic scale
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones from root |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | Root | 0 |
| C | b3 | Minor 3rd | 3 |
| D | 4 | Perfect 4th | 5 |
| E | 5 | Perfect 5th | 7 |
| G | b7 | Minor 7th | 10 |
Structure
A minor pentatonic scale notes:
How the minor pentatonic scale is built:
The minor pentatonic scale is built from the degrees 1 b3 4 5 b7, which gives the step pattern W+H-W-W-W+H-W (W = whole step, H = half step).
Counting in semitones from the root: 0, 3, 5, 7, 10. That makes it a 5-note scale.
A Minor Pentatonic Scale Guitar Patterns
Static diagrams of every position shown in the player above.
On one string (A)
Box pattern — position 1
Box pattern — position 2
Box pattern — position 3
Box pattern — position 4
Box pattern — position 5
3 notes per string — position 1
The minor pentatonic scale in other keys
Created by
Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher
