Pentatonic Guitar Scales

Pentatonic guitar scales are possibly the most popular & most used melodic maps on our planet. One way we learn them is using frames (grids, maps, charts). The following map of these scales is often the first complete scale system a student learns. It is a 'hollowed out' Major/minor scale system [it is 'missing' the 4 & 7 to the Major, & those same tones are the 2 & 6 to the minor].

The pentatonic scale is any scale with 5 tones, yet in Western music, it specifically refers to the Major & minor types. Each of these have a specific formula, or set of tonal relationships that create the sound of Major & minor pentatonic.

The Major pentatonic scale formula is R 2 3 5 6. This scale is the main riff in 'My Girl' performed by the Temptations.

The minor pentatonic scale formula is R b3 4 5 b7. The same 5 tones, just calling a different tone the root.

The basic rule for scales is that the number of tones in it (not any doubled tones - just the different ones), is the minimum number of names that the scale can have (each tone of a scale can be a starting point).

Since there are 5 tones in pentatonic guitar scales, & each tone can be a root of a scale (modal perspective on pentatonics), the scale has 5 names (the Major & minor pentatonic, plus the 3 below).

For C Major/A minor pentatonic, the other names are:

From the D, the scale is called the Vietnamese Scale (R 2 4 5 b7).
From the E, the scale is called the Malkos Raga (R b3 4 b6 b7).
From the G, the scale is called the Bac Scale (R 2 4 5 6).

Frame System for Pentatonic Guitar Scales

 

Take special note of the octave shapes. They say quite a bit - You can see the chord forms outlined with octaves. In a way, both chords & scales wrap around or fill in octaves. Memorize your octave shapes.

R

R stands for Root. A Root is the base tone for something (chord, scale, arpeggio) to be built. It is the tone that names the chord, scale, or arpeggio. In this case, it is the root of a system of pentatonic guitar scales (Major/minor).

Music dictionaries say that a root is the base tone for a chord (not for a scale). We say: music dictionaries didn't exist before roots were being used as a basis to build musical stuff. Usage dictates revisions. If they didn't get it right, there's still time to dislodge it. We say: define things in ways that generate insight, movement, & flow. Freezing words in time, long ago melted.

I Love Guitar uses the following for frame studies (grids).

Flat 3 & 7

When we use a flat like this, it means we are comparing or parelleling to what is normal to the root. What is normal means what is derived from the major scale for the root.

For A minor, the C is a flatted 3, because in the key of A Major (the A Major scale), the 3 is C#. Likewise, since the 7 in A Major is G#, G is the flatted 7 (b7) to A.

For a further discussion of this, take a look at Derivative vs. Parallel.

Tail becomes Head of Next

When learning a guitar scales system like this, it is important to view it from multiple perspectives.

One way is for the student to stitch the patterns together. Choose 2 frames. Use 2 strings (adjacent string couplet) for the 2 frames (.ie. the 1 & 2 string). This totals 6 tones. Improvise on these 6 tones. Explore double-stops in every combination. Then go to next string couplet (i.e. 2 & 3). Move through all 5 couplets for 2 frames. Then do same with 2 other frames. By doing this, you are memorizing the shapes & learning how to move between them (sliding is a great way to transition to next). The middle two tones are both a head & a tail [head - head/tail - tail].

Another way to think about this is that each adjacent frame shares a border. Since there are 2 tones per string, we can think of all of the lower of the 2 (across all strings), as a block - the head. &, the higher tones (across all strings), as the tail. The tail of one pattern, when moving up, becomes the head of the next.

It is also interesting to view this border concept this way: If you learned the pentatonic guitar scales - frames 1, 3, & 5, you'd automatically know 2 & 4.

Learn the patterns, but keep in mind, when you solo or improvise, or really use these, you need to know tonal names & relationships. Using the pattern is the first step towards learning to be melodic.

In real time, patterns can fail you. There are higher levels of knowing & understanding. Learn the maps to forget the maps. Reference playing should ultimately lead to non-reference playing.

Let's end with an important & pertinent cliche: "The map is not the territory." Alford Korzybski. Alford would want you to get to know these pentatonic guitar scales in terms of how they sound, how they function, & what they actually are...melodic & harmonic tonal material, the territory.

Pentatonic Guitar Scales - this same grid with tone names