"Pentatonic Scales" -Drew Peterson Ok, i'm sure you all know a few pentatonic scale positions and think you've played them to death, but it's still important to know all 5 fingering positions for the pentatonic scale on the neck of the guitar. Besides, pentatonics can be quite effective in the right context- Steve Vai's "For the Love of God" melody is almost entirely pentatonic (he briefly adds the 9th degree a few times), and Paul Gilbert, Eric Johnson and Zakk Wylde use pentatonics heavily in their soloing, and yet nobody (with the exception of a few die-hard jazz nuts who thing nothing meaningul has happened to the electric guitar since Wes Montgomery) calls their playing "boring" as a result. So, lock yourself up in your bedroom with these and don't come out until you can play them fluidly and cleanly at a decent tempo. (All are in the key of G major or E minor, depending on which note you're treating as the root) Major Pentatonics 1st shape |-------------------------------0--3--0--------------------------------| |-------------------------0--3-----------3--0--------------------------| |-------------------0--2-----------------------2--0--------------------| |-------------0--2-----------------------------------2--0--------------| |-------0--2-----------------------------------------------2--0--------| |-0--3-----------------------------------------------------------3--0--| 2nd shape |-------------------------------3--5--3--------------------------------| |-------------------------3--5-----------5--3--------------------------| |-------------------2--4-----------------------4--2--------------------| |-------------2--5-----------------------------------5--2--------------| |-------2--5-----------------------------------------------5--2--------| |-3--5-----------------------------------------------------------5--3--| 3rd shape |-------------------------------5--7--5--------------------------------| |-------------------------5--8-----------8--5--------------------------| |-------------------4--7-----------------------7--4--------------------| |-------------5--7-----------------------------------7--5--------------| |-------5--7-----------------------------------------------7--5--------| |-5--7-----------------------------------------------------------7--5--| 4th shape |----------------------------------7--10--7-----------------------------------| |---------------------------8--10------------10--8----------------------------| |---------------------7--9--------------------------9--7----------------------| |---------------7--9--------------------------------------9--7----------------| |--------7--10--------------------------------------------------10--7---------| |-7--10----------------------------------------------------------------10--7--| 5th shape |---------------------------------------10--12--10----------------------------------------| |-------------------------------10--12--------------12--10--------------------------------| |------------------------9--12------------------------------12--9-------------------------| |-----------------9--12--------------------------------------------12--9------------------| |---------10--12----------------------------------------------------------12--10----------| |-10--12--------------------------------------------------------------------------12--10--| And remember, just because you begin playing in one of these scale shapes doesn't mean you have to stay there. practice switching smoothly from scale shape to scale shape while improvising. Ideally, you want to get to the point where you're not even thinking in terms of these shapes, but rather treating them as not many "parts" but one "whole;" a collection of notes across the neck you can choose from when trying to create a certian tonality. Enjoy! :o)