Minor pentatonic scale patterns

[terryd913]

Any suggestions on best way to memorize the 5 patterns for these scales? I’m having a tough time memorizing them.

Thanks.

[reeve21]

Have you got box 1 down? That is where most people start, some never leave!

If you can play that at the 5th fret then try "backing up" 2 frets for box 5. The pattern there is very symmetrical, all notes are 2 frets apart except on the 3rd and 4th strings where they are 3 frets apart.

Another "trick" is to visualize box 4 as the A minor chord form suspended between 3 frets.

Use your ears, not just your eyes. If you hit a wrong note are probably only one fret away

[roylor4]

Don't try to learn them all at once.



I started by learning pattern 5 shown here due to it's absolute symmetry. Very easy to remember. Then I learned pattern 1. Notice that the bottom of pattern 5 is, in fact, the top of pattern 1. Now you have the two easiest to learn patterns down and can slide between them during solos.

Notice thet the bottom of #3 is the top of #4 - two more that you can join. Once you have these down you can start "connecting the dots" from one pattern to another with ease. Start in one key and stay on it until learned - then you can move it all over the fretboard.

I found this the easiest way for me to learn.

[Kerbie]

Good advice so far. I started by learning positions 1, 3 and 5. If you know the scales in those positions, the minor pentatonics are easy. After 1, 3 and 5, positions 2 and 4 kinda fill in between the others. They also make more sense when you picture each position starting on the 6th string at the next note up in the pentatonic scale. Sliding from one position up to the next makes for a smooth transition. So, there are a number of ways to go about it. Good luck with whatever you choose.

[Andyrondack]

Originally Posted by terryd913

Any suggestions on best way to memorize the 5 patterns for these scales? I’m having a tough time memorizing them.

Thanks.

I never learned any scale patterns so maybe this is not the sort of answer you mean, but if you take any minor chord that you know you already have the 1st b3rd and 5th of a min pentatonic scale , so you just need to ad the 4th and b7th degrees of the scale . Easy to remember the 4th is two frets above the 5th and the b7th is two frets above the 1st.
Likewise whatever 1sts you might have on your familiar minor chord shape the a b3rd will be three frets toward the saddle, a b7th will be 3frets away from the 5th in the same direction, so just use your knowledge of familiar minor chord shapes as the starting point.

[rllink]

One at a time. Master a box before you tackle the next one. At least That's what my guitar teacher says. I'm no expert, I'm only on the second one. But I'm not sure that I memorize them. It is more like I sit out on the porch and go through them up and down, from the middle out and back in, and throw some blues notes in on occasion until I can watch the world go by and play through them without thinking. That's kind of where he wants me to be before he introduces the next one.. I've got one and two down. I hope to add the third one next week. Then I'm over half way there.

[archerscreek]

I started with 1, then added on 2, then added 5. Those three all connect. After I had those three I connected 3 and 4.

The book I learned from based everything at the start of the minor pentatonic lesson off of the key of A and E. So those were the roots I learned the positions from. I would practice A an E every day and add in one of the other 10 keys for variety each day as well.

In my opinion, 1, 2, and 5 are the most frequently utilized positions.

[hubcapsc]

I thought it was cool when it dawned on me that all the patterns
have the exact same (almost) notes in them...

Take pattern1 and pattern2... pattern1 has one lower note
than pattern2 and pattern2 has one higher note than pattern1.

All the adjacent patterns work out that way...

And if you pick any particular pattern, pattern1 for example,
it has all the notes there are on the guitar for the key it is in,
except for the few notes going down to the nut on the low E
and the few notes going up towards the bridge on the high
E. Of course, since we're looking at it pentatonically the 4
and 7 notes are all missing ...

This all might be so obvious as to be too dumb to post, but
I think it is cool... heck, you can memorize pattern1 and
then just extrapolate the rest, who needs charts?

-Mike

[Mr. Jelly]

Learn the root notes of your chord shapes up the neck. D shape, A shape, E shape, C shape whatever. In this way you will know the scale shape off any chord in any key.

[madmoggy]

This has been my project for part of lockdown. I started on Am, and took them one at box at a time. Once I had them memorised I moved onto playing between 1&2, then 2&3 etc.
I cant work out how to include the image I used, but if you look at the bottom of the page on the guitar lesson website there is a coloured diagram that made sense to me, and you can get them for all the minor pentatonics

[yaharadelta]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

Learn the root notes of your chord shapes up the neck. D shape, A shape, E shape, C shape whatever. In this way you will know the scale shape off any chord in any key.

I don't have the benefit of the years of experience that many of you on the forum have, but I've found learning where the root notes are the key. The light went on when I stumbled across (on YouTube) a guy named Ian Stich who calls his approach the Never Lost Pentonic System. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJYtTJh5b3E
It's a nice way to look at the same thing Mr. J is saying. Find the root and you can find the 4, 5, and flatted 7.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

I never learned any scale patterns so maybe this is not the sort of answer you mean, but if you take any minor chord that you know you already have the 1st b3rd and 5th of a min pentatonic scale , so you just need to ad the 4th and b7th degrees of the scale

This!

OP: Start from chords, not scale patterns. Don't memorise ANY scale pattern without seeing the chord shape(s) within it. Otherwise you will never be able to apply the scale musically.

It's crazy how many guitar players seem to learn scale patterns without either (a) knowing the notes in them or (b) knowing the chords they fit. And then they wonder why they get confused about how to apply them...

It's also crazy how many guitar players want to "solo" without understanding what improvisation means.

[/rant]

[Pine]

Originally Posted by JonPR

This!

OP: Start from chords, not scale patterns. Don't memorise ANY scale pattern without seeing the chord shape(s) within it. Otherwise you will never be able to apply the scale musically.

It's crazy how many guitar players seem to learn scale patterns without either (a) knowing the notes in them or (b) knowing the chords they fit. And then they wonder why they get confused about how to apply them...

It's also crazy how many guitar players want to "solo" without understanding what improvisation means.

[/rant]

Jon, I've seen folks talk about seeing the chords in the scale, but I don't know which chords I should be looking for.

Example: Am Pentatonic scale, Pattern 5, the CAGED G shape. What chords would we look for in this scale? (I see 2 Am, and a C, but I am not good at this)

Also, could you expand on your "solo" observation? I'm just learning to use the minor pentatonic scale to solo over. Trying to build short musical phrases instead of just scale fragments. Next I'll try some call/response lead/rhythm stuff. But I'm sure I'm in the "without understanding what improvisation means" camp.

[stanron]

There is a difference between knowing where the notes are and knowing what to play. In the early days of rock improvising most people learned by copying stuff they heard and liked. Small, short, phrases or licks would be put together in different combinations like words are used to make sentences. First of all you had to learn the licks and then you learned how to put them together.

Seeing posts asking about how to memorise five pentatonic positions suggests to me that the person asking does not actually have these phrases already in their head. Because if they have then why would they want five positions to play them instead of just playing them. Learning the phrases will show you where the notes are. To me learning where the notes are first is the wrong way round.

The patterns themselves are not music. It's not surprising that they are hard to learn. Learning the music is much easier. Once you've learned the music you'll find you already know where the notes are. Later you'll be able to play the same stuff in other positions but you will be playing music, not scales.

[J Patrick]

Originally Posted by stanron

There is a difference between knowing where the notes are and knowing what to play. In the early days of rock improvising most people learned by copying stuff they heard and liked. Small, short, phrases or licks would be put together in different combinations like words are used to make sentences. First of all you had to learn the licks and then you learned how to put them together.

Seeing posts asking about how to memorise five pentatonic positions suggests to me that the person asking does not actually have these phrases already in their head. Because if they have then why would they want five positions to play them instead of just playing them. Learning the phrases will show you where the notes are. To me learning where the notes are first is the wrong way round.

The patterns themselves are not music. It's not surprising that they are hard to learn. Learning the music is much easier. Once you've learned the music you'll find you already know where the notes are. Later you'll be able to play the same stuff in other positions but you will be playing music, not scales.

...yep....I learned the licks and played lead guitar with them for more than a decade before I ever encountered the concept of scales....once I did I was able to apply the scales to my playing and that opened up the fretboard for me...but I already had the rhythmic sense and right hand technique to make the most of it....

....whenever I feel like I’m falling into a rut I dumb down my playing and concentrate on using fewer notes to create phrases...then I move those around the fretboard...it often sparks some new directions for me...