The humble guitar pentatonic scale is one of the most prolific scales in all of music. It can be found in every kind of music, from Hungarian folk music to ordinary old Southern rock, not to mentioned peppered all over the high powered riffs of the blues/rock heroes like Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton. Stick with us for your instant guide to being a pentatonic expert!
What does the guitar pentatonic scale look like?
¦--R--¦------¦------¦--X--¦
¦--X--¦------¦------¦--X--¦
¦--X--¦------¦--X--¦------¦
¦--X--¦------¦--R--¦------¦
¦--X--¦------¦--X--¦------¦
¦--R--¦------¦------¦--X--¦
This is the most common form of the guitar pentatonic scale shape. There are a few others but this is the most common one, and possibly the easiest one to get to grips with. The note you want to play are represented with X and R's, with the O's being the root or home note of whatever key you are playing in. You can slide this shape anywhere on the fretboard and t will still be a perfect pentatonic shape.
How To Practice The Guitar Pentatonic Scale:
This scale is pretty simple to get to grips with, and the best way to practice it initially is to just play through it up and down, and cycle it that way over and over again. It won't be too long before you can recognise the sound of it and understand where the root note will be coming. Another good way is to break it up into 3 or 4 note segments and cycle through these. You will notice that a lot of blues/classic rock licks are made in much the same way.
Making Music With The Guitar Pentatonic Scale:
Running up and down the scale may be a great way to get our fingers programmed for it and build a little speed, but it's not exactly musical is it? In order to get the very best sounds from the scale, you will want to learn a few simple techniques. The first is called sliding, and simple involves sliding your finger from one note in the scale to another. This creates a very smooth fluid sound, and can add some subtle class to your playing. The next technique is string bending-it takes some practice to build up the strength and control required, but what you are basically doing is pushing the string up, essentially playing one note and bending it up to the next note in the scale. A great technique, and instantly recognisable to any guitar player. The last basic technique for the guitar pentatonic scale is called vibrato-this is where you sit on one note and gently move your finger back and forth-making the note vibrate. A difficult technique to perfect, but very good for mimicking soulful vocal sounds.
And that's the guitar pentatonic scale in a nutshell-it's a pretty easy scale to learn, and once mastered will give you lots and lots of ammunition for riffs, licks and solos aplenty!
