Pentatonic Scales Question?

Question

I'm learning the notes on the fret board and I just wanted to ask something about the pentatonic scales you see, A minor pentatonic is A C D E G on the 5th fret, but when I play it on the 2nd fret its G A C D E, can someone tell me what's the theory behind this? Thank you guys

Answer 1

I'm not too sure of what you are asking but I am assuming you are a total begginer and will try my best!

If you are wondering why the notes have different names then you should remember that the notes on the fretboard don't change. 5th fret on the E string will always be an A, two frets below A will always be a G etc...

When you play the "a minor" pentatonic scale in 5th position begins on A. In second position it begins on G.

A scale is a specific sequence of notes. You may begin the sequence at any point of the scale

A pentatonic scale is a scale with only five notes after every five notes it repeats.

G A C D E

A C D E G

C D E G A

D E G A C

E G A C D

Above are all examples of the "a minor" pentatonic scale

Since you are learning the fretboard it would be a good idea to experiment playing them in different order (after learning to play them in order) , but without repeating notes like... C A D E G, or D G A C E

listen for the sequence that sounds good to you and learn it all over the fret board.

Have fun practicing and keep asking questions!

-Marvin

Answer 2

Hello!

The great thing about the guitar is that all of our shapes - from scales to chords, are modular. This means that we can take the same shape, change its' location on the guitar, and get the same kind of sound in a different key.

What you may be doing is taking the minor pentatonic shape at the fifth fret and moving it down to the third fret. While this is still a pentatonic scale, it is no longer in the key of A - it is in the key of G. The pentatonic scale has only five separate intervals - the root note, a minor third, perfect fourth, perfect fifth, and minor seventh.

Theoretically speaking, if you start on an A, this will give you the notes A (root), C (minor third), D (perfect fourth), E (perfect fifth), and G (minor seventh). If you start on a G, all of the other notes move with it. So, you would end up with G (root), Bb (minor third), C (perfect fourth), D (perfect fifth), and F (minor seventh).

If you wanted to start on G but still play an A minor pentatonic scale, you would have to change the shape you are playing. Instead of using the 5 8 / 5 7 / 5 7 / 5 7 / 5 8 / 5 8 pattern (starting from low 6th string to high first string) on the third fret, you would have to use a different pattern - 3 5 / 3 5 / 2 5 / 2 5 / 3 5 / 3 5. If you are interested, I recommend you check out the five positions of the minor pentatonic scale - essentially, for every note of the scale we have, there are five different ways you can play it. Depending on where you start the scale, the shape can change.

I hope this helps!

Answer 3

Hi, Pentatonic scales can be played in 5 positions on Guitar. If you start on low E string 5th fret, this is A minor pentatonic, if you start on low E 8th fret this is called C major pentatonic. If you start on 3rd fret it is still one of these scales as far as the name goes, but you are just starting on another degree (note) of that scale, say A minor pentaonic starting from G. The theory behind it depends what chord progression we choose to use this scale on, and actually that's when it gets really interesting.

Answer 4

The pentatonic on the guitar, the famous "box" pattern is a favorite of guitarists. Like you say, if one were to start on the 5th fret of the low E string and play through the "box" we would hear A C D E G on frets 5 8 / 5 7 / 5 if we were to move this down to start on the 2nd fret of the low E string, playing frets 2 5 / 2 4 / 2, the exact same patter, we would actually be playing the notes F# A B C# E

If one were to begin on the 3rd fret the notes would be G A# C D F, but it would still be the same scale, in the same finger-shape, fret pattern. That's the beauty of the guitar: once you learn the shapes, you can simply apply them to the key that you're in by moving your hand the the correct fretting position and you're off to the races!