Pentatonic Patterns

Read this first

• The root names the scale. Pattern 1 has its root on the low E string: put that note on fret 3 and you're playing G, on fret 8 and it's C. Slide the whole shape and the key changes with it.
• Major and minor use the same five shapes. Nothing on the neck looks different, so the root (the tinted tile) is what tells you which scale you're in. Always know where it is.
• In pattern 1 the minor root sits under finger 1 and the major root under finger 2 - that's the quickest way to tell which one your hand is holding.

The two scales

Reading the board

• Bright tiles are the box; a tinted tile is a root note, and the number on a tile is the finger that plays it (1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little).
• The faint dashed outline beside the box is the next box along - they share their edge notes, so the end of one is the start of the next.
• Box 1 to 5 are JustinGuitar's patterns 1 to 5. Pick a box, switch Names and Fingers, or choose All five to see them join up the neck.
• Start and end every run on the lowest root note so your ear learns where home is.

Which finger? Alternatives for the minor patterns

• Pattern 1: the top two strings can be played with finger 3 instead. Handy for bends and higher up the neck, but the stretch is harder, so learn the shown fingering first.
• Pattern 2: don't default to fingers 2 and 4 on the thin strings. Bends need control that the little finger doesn't have.
• Pattern 3: fingers 1 and 3 all the way works, but it's a bigger reach low on the neck where the frets are wide.
• Pattern 4: fingers 1 and 3 on the second string is the common swap. It's tougher to play fast.
• Pattern 5: skip 2-4 on every string, which leans on your two weakest fingers. Use fingers 1 and 3 throughout, or 1 and 3 on strings 1, 2, 5 and 6 with 1 and 4 on the middle two.
• Minor pentatonic fingering is loose by nature. When you bend a note, use finger 3 and almost never finger 4, and let the lick you're playing decide the rest.

How to learn them

• Go slowly and get it right. Ten clean passes at a slow tempo beat a fast sloppy one, and you'll be able to speed up without building habits to undo.
• Use your fingertips. Don't let the fingers fold flat and never barre across the strings.
• Start and end every run on the lowest root note: play up as far as the pattern goes, back down as low as it goes, then up to the root.
• Learn one pattern at a time and play something with it before moving on. One shape you can solo in is worth more than five you can only run up and down.

Minor and the major that shares its notes