Major Pentatonic

The major pentatonic scale is a five-tone major scale common in rock, country, pop, blues-rock and other contemporary styles. Here are the notes, tones, and intervallic structure shown based on G.

G major pentatonic, boxes 1 – 5

The box shapes of the major pentatonic scale are the same as those of the minor pentatonic scale, except that they lay against the root and “anchor” chords differently. Here, box 2 (not 1) is associated with the barre chord rooted on the sixth string. Look for these major barre chord shapes inside boxes 2 and 5.

Fingering note: Use the same fingerings as for the minor pentatonic boxes on page 10.

Here are the five interconnected boxes for G major pentatonic. Play up and down each box, and shift from one to the next up and down the neck.

Next is the full neck for G major pentatonic. Of course, below box 2 there is a box 1 shape in open position. Although the low E string is in the scale, favor the G root at the third fret (start and end the box there). That way, your ear will hear G as the root, and hence, hear the scale as being a G major pentatonic rather than hearing the low E as the root. The boxes also continue in the same series above the fifteenth fret.

G major pentatonic, diagonals

The most common diagonal shapes used for G major pentatonic are shown below. The primary diagonal starts on the sixth string root, G—at the same position as the G barre chord at the third fret. The secondary diagonal contains the fifth string root, G—at the same position as the G barre chord at the tenth fret.

Other tonalities

Below are the full neck patterns for E, A, and C major pentatonic. Play the “anchor” chords, then all the patterns in each key, shifting from box to box, up and down the neck. Don’t forget sequencing practice, too! Also, find and play the diagonal shapes (shown on the previous page in G) by shifting them to the proper positions for each key.

For the remaining keys, simply slide the nearest pattern up or down the neck. (See page 63 for note names on the neck.)

Relative major/minor tricks

Major and minor scales come in pairs. For every major scale, there is a corresponding minor scale that uses the exact same notes, but starts on a different root. We say these scales are related. Every major scale has a relative minor, and every minor scale has a relative major. For example, C major and A minor are related.

In addition, C major pentatonic and A minor pentatonic are also relatives.

Another pair of relatives is G major and E minor. So as you would expect (and you may have already noticed), the G major pentatonic boxes on the previous page are identical to those shown on page 10 for E minor pentatonic. Again, only the roots (and anchor chords) are different.

One common way guitarists use this relative major/minor principle is to transform minor scales or licks into their major counterparts without having to learn any new patterns. You see, if you know the minor pentatonic scale, you can use the relative minor patterns to play the major pentatonic scale. For example, to play C major pentatonic, find the relative minor—A minor pentatonic. Now play A minor pentatonic over progressions in C major and your licks will give the sound of C major pentatonic.

In reality, your licks really are in C major pentatonic. (They only appear to use A minor pentatonic because you are familiar with seeing the patterns from a minor perspective.) The best situation is to learn the major pentatonic shapes anchored to their correct roots—in other words, seeing them truly as major pentatonics. Nevertheless, this bit of relative major/minor maneuvering can be useful and is something you should be aware of. Here is the rule:

To use minor patterns in a major key, apply the three-fret rule: Drop three frets and use the relative minor pattern.

To play G major, for example, drop three frets to E and use E minor. Here are a few relative major/minor pairs:

A minor  C major
E minor  G major
F♯ minor  A major
B minor  D major

The relative major is always the higher of the two; the minor is the lower of the two. The three-fret rule works in reverse, too. Raise any minor three frets and you’ll have the relative major.