The D Minor Pentatonic Scale for Guitar
Learn the D minor pentatonic scale as D, F, G, A and C. The open D string is a built-in root, so you can hum the tonic while your fretting hand finds the other four notes.
In the box shapes the root appears on the 10th fret of the low E string and the 5th fret of the A string. F major pentatonic shares these exact notes, so the scale also works for a song that leans on F as well as D minor. Hear each position in the player first, then read about practising scales in context.
Play the D minor pentatonic scale
Use the step menu in the player to switch between the single-string run and the box shapes.
Notes of the D minor pentatonic scale
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones from root |
|---|---|---|---|
| D | 1 | Root | 0 |
| F | b3 | Minor 3rd | 3 |
| G | 4 | Perfect 4th | 5 |
| A | 5 | Perfect 5th | 7 |
| C | b7 | Minor 7th | 10 |
Structure
D 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.
D Minor Pentatonic Scale Guitar Patterns
Static diagrams of every position shown in the player above.
On one string (D)
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
