Guitar Lessons that work!
[ A minor pentatonic scale root note 5th ] [ Am pentatonic scale C note ] [ Am pentatonic scale at D ]
[ Am pentatonic scale at E ] [ Am pentatonic scale at G ] [ Am pentatonic root 17 ] [ Am pentatonic open position ] [ Am at the G ]
A minor Pentatonic scale, starting on the C note.
Learn to play the A minor pentatonic scale starting on 8th fret
By now, you should be familiar with the A minor pentatonic scale in the root note fret position, Guitar tablature,
Guitar exercises and triplets. I would now like to expand a little more on the A minor pentatonic scale, and show you the next position. The root note fret, for the A minor pentatonic scale, starts on the 5th fret. But the same scale and same notes can be played starting at other guitar frets and different positions on the fretboard. Repeat: The same scale and same notes can be played starting at other frets and different positions. You can play the A minor pentatonic scale all over the fretboard. The root note fret position is the easiest and most desired position to play the minor pentatonic scale. That’s just my opinion though. You can really burn up the notes when you use the root note fret position.
The root note fret for position A minor pentatonic starts at the 5th fret. The notes for the A minor pentatonic has the notes of (A, C, D, E, G). Don’t forget the word penta means 5. So the pentatonic major and minor scale will have 5 notes.
Look at the pentatonic scale below and notice that the scale outlined in blue now starts at the 8th fret or C note. This is the same A minor pentatonic scale, but starting at a different fret and has a different fingering pattern. All of the different pentatonic scale positions should be learned to play lead guitar. Once you learn each fingering pattern of the pentatonic scale, I will show you how to easily convert them to modes.
Remember the root note fret position is the easiest to play and most popular position to play in. This is true because the 1 finger never has to leave the 5th fret among other important reasons you will learn later. In the next pentatonic position, you have a different fingering pattern to learn. All of the patterns of the A minor pentatonic scale have the same notes. A, C, D, E and G. All of the different patterns should be used when playing lead guitar or practicing scales.
Look at the image above. The next position of the A minor pentatonic scale starts with the C note, this position has been outlined in blue.
The tablature below shows you how to play from C to C in the A minor pentatonic scale. This pentatonic scale can also be referenced to as the C major pentatonic scale, but let’s not get too far ahead of things. To play this position, you would start at the 8th fret, C note and use your 2 finger. The guitar tablature is shown below.
The illustration below below shows the notes that make up the A minor pentatonic scale starting at the 8th fret C note position. Once again, the notes of the A minor pentatonic scale are A, C, D, E and G. This position starts with the C note at the 8th fret position. The C major pentatonic and A minor pentatonic scale share the same
The illustration below shows the fingering pattern to use. Start this position off with the 2 finger, C note of the Low E string, 8th fret. When you play this scale, alternate the pick down and up on each note all the way from the Low E string to the high E string.
Listen to this position C to C
1 = index
2 = Middle
3 = Ring
4 = Pinkie
T = Thumb
An alternate fingering pattern for this position can be 2-4, 1-4, 1-4, 1-3, 1-3, 1-3. This will be starting at the C note, 8th fret Low E string, look above. Remember to alternate the pick down, then up when moving from note to note. Work your way down the scale and then back up. The two images above show the A minor pentatonic scale. One image shows the notes and the other shows the fingering pattern. Notice that the C notes are highlighted in blue and the A notes in yellow. This is a popular position to play lead over the C chord as well.
Assignment:
- Use these blank fret-board illustrations to fill in the notes of the C position of the a minor pentatonic scale at the 8th fret position.
- Fill in one illustration of the fingers used for the C position.
- Fill in one illustration of the notes used for the C position.
So far we have learned the fingering pattern for the A minor pentatonic scale starting at the 5th fret, root note position and the 8th fret position starting on the C note. Each position has a different fingering pattern, but the same notes. Remember that all of the A minor pentatonic positions you learn will have the same notes. A-C-D-E-G.
You should now be familiar with the guitar fretboard, guitar tablature, guitar exercises, triplets and up to now, two positions of the A minor pentatonic scale.
In the next lesson, I would like to expand on the A minor pentatonic scale at the 10th fret position, starting on the D note.
Good Luck,
Guitar Secrets