Guitarists: Master The Minor Pentatonic Scale!

1. Intro: How's it going? I'm David Lovejoy, and this class is all about mastering the minor pentatonic scale on guitar. Now it doesn't matter what genre you're playing, whether that's rock, blues, jazz, funk, so R&B, Hip-Hop, metal. All of it uses the minor pentatonic scale, gets probably the most popular scale on guitar. So it's really, really important to master it. In this class, I'm going to show you what the minor pentatonic scale is, how to actually play it and play it across the fret board. And I'm going to show you how to write licks with it using multiple different techniques. I'm also going to show you how to be able to seamlessly transition between the shapes of the scale so that you can play across the fretboard. This is all going to lead to the final project where I'm gonna get you to write your own thirty-seconds solo using the minor pentatonic scale. So let's get started. 2. What Is The Minor Pentatonic Scale?: So what is the minor pentatonic scale? The name minor pentatonic might sound quite confusing, but I'm going to break it down into its parts. So we're gonna be using the a minor pentatonic scale in this class. So a minor is the key that we're playing in. And then if we break down the term pentatonic, penta means five and tonic refers to tones. So five tone or five note scale. That's all it means. Pentatonic means it's a five scale. Now you may be familiar with the minor scale. And if we use the a minor scale as an example, it contains the notes a, B, C, D, E, F, and G. We get rid of the b. And if we get rid of the f, we're left with the nodes a, C, D, E, G. And that is the a minor pentatonic scale. So it's just a five-note version of the minor scale. So that is what the minor pentatonic scale is. Let's get to learning it now on the guitar. 3. Minor Pentatonic First Shape: All in all, there are five shapes of the minor pentatonic scale to learn. In this particular video, we're going to learn shape number one. What I want you to do is learn shake number one, master shape number one, and over the course of the next few days or maybe even weeks, learn the other four shapes, but make sure you learn shape number one as a priority. And then you can start writing licks and creating solos using shape number one at least. And then once you've got more scale shapes under your belt, then you can start implementing the soloing tips with those ones as well. So before we start playing, the scale is really, really important that you follow the exact fingerings that I give you for the particular scale. This is to stop you getting your fingers in a twist and getting mixed up when learning the shapes. And also these fingerings are genuinely just the best way and most efficient way to play the scale shapes. So let's get to work on shape number one. Shape number one is played like this. We play 58 on the low E string. And that's platelet, our first finger and little finger. Then on the a string we played 57. And that's first finger, ring finger. Then we play first finger, ring finger again, five-seven. And then the same thing again on the G string of length 58575757. Then for the last two strings are playing 58 on the B string. First thing, the little finger. And then on the top Eastern we're playing the same thing again, 58. First finger, little finger. So altogether. Okay, I will stress the importance again of using the correct fingerings. Really, really, really important. If you're not used to using your pinky finger, this is the perfect opportunity to get it strengthened up. One other thing we need to learn on top of the scale shape is the root note, the locations of the root node. The root note of the scale is just the first note of the scale. That is a. Okay? So every time a appears in these shapes, we need to memorize those locations. That's because when we play licks and when we play solos, we want off our licks or melodies to finish on that root note, and that is what makes the sound finished. We finished on any other note. Sometimes it can work, but if we finish on the root note is definitely going to sound finished and it's going to sound resolved. Okay? So the locations of the root note on this first shape, or the fifth fret of the low E string. Add the fifth fret of the high E string, and then also the seventh fret of the D string. So we've got root, root, root node. Okay? So memorize that and we'll get into some licks in the next video. 4. Example Licks With First Shape: So here are some example licks using the minor pentatonic scale. I'm going to stop some really easy ones, and then I'll give you a slightly more advanced one to try out. If they are too easy, the ones that I've given you at the start. So when you learn these licks, you may want to try them out with the backing track that's provided with this class. Okay, so you might want to go and have a jam with that. That'll be good fun and good practice as well. So the first lick, it looks like this. It's really, really simple. All we're doing is playing the fifth fret of the high E string, then the eighth fret of the high E string, and then the fifth fret of the high E string. Notice how we're finishing the root note. Okay? That's really, really important. Now, if this is too easy for you, then you can experiment with it a little bit. You can maybe try adding dynamics. You can maybe try playing the same note multiple times. Just have fun with it, and just see what you can come up with. But that's a nice little lick to get you started. The second lick, looks like this. So we're playing seven on the G string, five on the G string as well, and then seven on the D string. Okay? Something you can do is you can, This is too easy. Bend the seventh fret up to the pitch of this fifth fret of the B string, okay, So it would sound something like this. And then you can finish the lick. Or it's got a bit of a bluesy vibe. Now, we've got one more lick. Now this is really ramping up the difficulty a bit quickly before it gets that lik. Just remember, again, we finished on the root node. I'm just going to really emphasize that point. Okay? Now let's take a look at this third liquids is a bit more difficult than the other two. So we're bending that seventh fret on the G string. Then we're playing the fifth fret of the B, E, eighth fret of the B. They were bending that seventh fret of the G and releasing it. Then the G, the root node seven for the D. But we're not finishing their website, just going to add a couple of more notes in. We're going to play the fifth fret of the D, fifth fret of the G, and then the seventh fret of the D, the brute dome. An interesting little look there for you to use. So there's three licks, modify them how you want, have fun with them, most of all, and try them over the backing track that's provided. And I'm sure you have a lot of fun with. The following videos are going to be taking a look at the last four shapes of the pentatonic scale. 5. Minor Pentatonic Second Shape: Let's take a look at how to play shape number two of the minor pentatonic scale. The first note of shape two starts on the second note of shape one. And this is a theme throughout the pentatonic scale. The first note of each shape is the second note of the previous shape. So we're starting on the eighth fret of the low E string and we're playing eight and then ten on the low Eastern and that's middle finger, little finger. Then we're playing 710 on the a string and that's first finger, little finger. Then 710 on the D string. That's first finger, little finger again. So far we've got this. I'm applying 79 on the G string and that's first finger, ring finger. And then we're playing eight to ten on the B string. Let's middle finger and little finger. And then the final link, the top E string we're playing 810 and that's middle finger, little finger. Altogether, it sounds like this. The root notes appear at the seventh fret of the D string and the 10th fret of the B string. So memorize those. Quick note. Only memorize the second, third, fourth, and fifth shapes once you've really mastered the previous shape. So don't learn shape to, until you've really got shape one down and so on and so forth. If you want to, I'm gonna give you permission to kind of go forward in the course, learn how to create some licks and periodically, periodically come back to these scale shapes and learn them one at a time if it's taking a long time to memorize them. So that's shaped to the next video is going to cover shape number three. 6. Minor Pentatonic Third Shape: This is how you play shape number three of the minor pentatonic scale, 1012 on the low E string. And that's gonna be with our middle finger and little finger. This shape is quite cool because the first three strings, you just do the exact same thing. So you're going to do the same thing on the a string and the same thing on the D string. So it's 10 121-012-1012. With your middle finger than your little finger? Yeah. Then when we get to the G string, we're going to play 912 and that's with our first finger and little finger. Okay. Then what we're gonna do is we're going to shift everything up a fret. I'm going to play 1013. And we're going to use our first finger and little finger. Then finally on the high E string, we're going to play 1012. And that's now with our first finger and ring finger, middle finger, little finger. Okay. So altogether it looks and sounds like this. So memorize the shape. The root notes are at the 12th fret of the a string and at the 10th fret of the B string. So that's shaped number three. The next video is going to show you how to play shape number four. 7. Minor Pentatonic Fourth Shape: This is how you play shape number four of the a minor pentatonic scale. So we're gonna start on the 12th fret and we're gonna be playing 12, 15. We're going to use r, little r, first finger and little finger. Same thing on the next string, 12, 15, first finger, little finger. Then for the D string, we're going to play 12, 14, and that's first finger, ring finger. On the G string. We're going to do the same thing. 12, 14, first finger, ring finger. Then on the B string we're going to play 13, 15, middle finger, finger. And then on the E string, the high Eastern, we're gonna play 12, 15, and that's first finger and middle finger. So altogether, it looks and sounds like this. The root notes appear at the 12th fret of the a string, the 14th fret of the G string. Now, something interesting we can do here. This adds to our fretboard accessibility and maneuverability and navigation. So when every note in a scale shape is at the 12th fret or higher, what we can do is we can play it well frets lower. And it's the exact same thing, just an octave lower. If you don't know what an octave is, it's basically the exact same notes, but lower. Okay, so let's take a look at how we do it an octave lower, we'd play open three. So we'd play open with no thing there's three with our ring finger. Open. Three again, with our ring finger, open to open two on the DNG strings. That's with our middle finger playing the 2s. Then we play one-three on the B string, that's one index finger. 33 on the high E string. Three, with our ring finger. I've got two options on where we could play this particular shape. Up here or down here. The root notes are in exactly the same place when we play it down here, we're going to play open on the a string and we're going to play to the G string. Those are the root nodes. Okay? So learn both positions of shape number four. And we'll move on to shake number five in the next video. 8. Minor Pentatonic Fifth Shape: Now you're going to learn how to play shape number five. So shape number five starts all the way up at the 15th fret. And if you don't have access to this area on your guitar, then don't worry, I'm going to show you how you can play it down here as well in a minute. Okay, maybe you might be able to work it out yourself because remember, we got to do is play 12 frets and lower than what I'm saying here. But this is how we play shape five up here, first of all, so it's 15, 17 on the lobby. Okay. That's my middle finger and then little finger. Then it's the same thing on the a string, middle finger, little finger, 15, 17. Then we're going to play 14, 17 on the D string. Let's first finger, little finger. Same thing on the G string. First thing, a little finger, 14, 17. Then for the final two strings, we're going to play what we did for the first two strings. So we're gonna pay 15, 17 on the B string, middle finger, little finger. And the same thing on the eastern middle finger, little finger, 15, 17. This one's quite an easy one to remember. Okay, brilliant. So the root note is appear at the 17th fret of both E strings and the 14th fret of the G string. Now, as I said in the previous video, when every note in the scale shape is at the 12th fret or higher, we can drop it down by 12 frets to play the exact same thing, just lower down on the fretboard. So we're going to do just that. We're going to play the same shape starting at fret three of the low E string. So I'm going to play three-five. Middle finger, little finger, middle finger, little finger on three-five of the, a string. To five to five on the DNG strings. First finger, little finger. And then three-five, three-five on the B and E strings. That's what middle finger, little finger, middle finger, little finger. Root notes appear in the same place. The fifth fret, both E strings and the second fret of the G string. Shape five. So memorize that and then you've got all the shapes down. In the next video, I'm gonna be showing you how to create some licks using the pentatonic scale. 9. How To Write A Basic Lick: How do you create a lick with the minor pentatonic scale? Well, if you follow three simple rules, then you're gonna get some really nice sounding licks. So the first rule when it comes to writing licks with the minor pentatonic scale is to not do too many big jumps. In fact, keep the big jumps as minimal as possible. We want to be playing notes that are very close to each other in our legs. So we don't want any of this. It just sounds quite unpleasant. Whereas playing notes that are very close to each other in the scale sounds a lot more pleasant. The second rule is to keep your licks short and sweet and simple, okay? Very, very, very simple x we want. So we can take four or five notes, may be at maximum and create a link like that. There we go. I just created that look like that. Okay, Very, very, very simple. Nothing crazy. And it sounded quite cool. The other rule is to limit yourself to just one area of the scalp. So just pick maybe two or three strings that are adjacent to each other. And use only those strings to create your lip. If you're trying to create a list using the entire scale, it's gonna get really, really, really overwhelming and confusing. So just maybe even pick two strings and create a look using those. One final thing to remember is finished on your root node and then your liquid sound finished. Okay, now you heard me create one lick earlier, but let me try and create another lick. There we go. Okay. Notice I literally just create that on the spot. So I started on this note. Doesn't matter which note you start on. Yeah, I send it the scale. Came back, back, back again until I hit the root node. And that was the lick, pretty simple. Nothing crazy. Okay, we can start making the sound a bit more intricate and advanced later on. But as you're getting started with the scalp, I want you to just get some small wins, creating some really awesome simple links. Okay? So I've got a goal for you. Before you move on to the next video, I want you to create at least one lick using this method. 10. Patterns And Note Groupings: Okay, so in the next few videos, I'm gonna be showing you some slightly more advanced ways to create licks using the pentatonic scale. So the first way is to create patterns with note groupings. So let's discuss how to do that. First of all, let's take a look at what I like to call the group of threes. So what we're gonna do is we're going to play the pentatonic scale for three notes. Okay, Simple as that. Then what we're gonna do is we're going to start in the second note of the pentatonic scale and then play three notes from there. Then we're going to start in the third note of the pentatonic scale and play three notes from there. Then we're going to do it from the fourth note. Fifth note. Going altogether. What you can also do is you can descend, so you can do it backwards. So you can start at the very highest note. Send three notes, then do the second highest note. Three notes. Third highest note. Send three notes for five-note. Brilliant. And then what you can do is you can extract parts of that pattern to create your licks. So an example of a liquid could do, would be, okay, so let's take a look at that again. Starting on the seventh fret of the a string and just doing the pattern starting from there. That's one group of three. The Griffith three. The group of three for free. Then I'm just finishing on the root node. Simple as that. You can also do groups of four. There'll be a tab in your PDF document for the groups of four, but it would sound like this going up and down. And then you can create mixed with the groups of four. So maybe you could come up with something that sounds like this. Case I'm starting on the eighth fret of the B string. And then for four, a group of four. For four, root note. Simple as that. Now, when you're creating patterns, you're not just limited to creating groups of three, groups of four. You can do weird patterns. You can maybe skip two notes and then go back and skin to notes back up, nice, something like that. You're zigzagging across the fretboard. You just got to get really creative with the patterns that you can come up with and then extract a little parts of those patterns and create your own licks. So before you move on to the video, I want to try using a pattern to create your own luck. And I'll see you in the next video. 11. Ascending Patterns: There's another type of pattern you can use, and I like to call these ascending patterns. I can't think of a better name for it, but what we're doing is we're basically playing the same thing over multiple shapes. And I'll show you what I mean by that because it might not be what you think is. So e.g. if we were to descend the first or the highest six notes of the first shape of the pentatonic scale. It would sound a little bit like that. Then what we can do is we can move to the second shape and then do the same thing. So we're going to descend the top six notes. And then you could do it again for the third shape. And then the fourth shape. Oh, excuse me. Let me go and then maybe finish the root node. And you, you've got a cool little lick. That sounds a bit like this. Okay, there we go. So that's a cool little lick. Here's another lick that you could do. So what am I doing that I'm playing the notes on the D string. Them playing the first note on the G string, and the second note on the D string, string, string, string. The string that I'm doing the exact same thing but in shape to first note the D string, second fret of the D string. Firstname of the G string. Second, the D string, same thing and shape three. And then shake for and then finishing on the root node. Okay, so that's a quite, quite simple like that. But it takes a bit of practice to get it up to speed. So what I want you to do is maybe give these licks ago for yourself. But more importantly, I want you to create your own lick using an ascending pattern. So just to recap, do something with one shape, and then just copy that over onto the second shape and then the third shape and then the force that you don't even have to start on the first shape. You could start on shape three, the move to four, then five, then one, up to you, whatever you wanna do, just make sure as always, you finished on the root note. See your licks sound nice and finished. So that's ascending patterns. Create your own luck using an ascending pattern. Before moving on to the next video. 12. Double Stops: Another way we can create licks using the pentatonic scale is to use double stops. Now, double stops, or when we play two notes at the same time. So let's take a look at how I approached double stops with the pentatonic scale. Now with the pentatonic scale, every shape is two notes per string. So you have a left note than a right note. So left, right, left, right, left, right, left. What I do is I play the left notes on two adjacent strings. So the E and the a strings together like that. Then the right notes together and the left notes, right, left, right, left, right, left, right notes. So let's take a look at how we do that with shaped one. In your PDF, you have all five shapes worth of double stops tapped out so that you can give them a goal for yourself. But let's just run through shape one. So we're going to play 5.5 on the DNA strings. I like to borrow them there with one finger. You can use two fingers if you want to. That's absolutely fine. Whatever suits you. Then I'm playing 8.7 on the ELA strings, playing little finger, ring finger there than 5.5 on the a and D strings. Then 77 on the AND strings than 5.5 on the DNG strings than 7.7 on the D and G strings. Then 5.5 on the GMP strings, then 7.8 on the G and B strings, 5.5 high E string and the B string. And then on the same set of strings that B and E strings, 88. So we've got something that sounds like this. Now you can just go and approach licks like you would with any other lick, but just using double stops instead. So you can create something real simple. I remember when I said with the basic licks, you just play notes that are adjacent to each other. They're not doing too big of a jump while you do that with the double stops. So here's an example. Okay, All I'm doing is ascending and then finishing on the root note. Now, something you can do is actually finish your licks on a double stop. But what you wanna do is make sure the root note is in the double stop and the root note is the higher note in the double stops. So e.g. this one on the seventh fret of the D strings. The higher note is the root node. And that is because when there are multiple notes being played at the same time, our ears are drawn to the highest note. So you want the listener's ear to be drawn to that root note when you finish a look, even if you're playing a double stop. So here's one more lick that uses double stops, but I'm finishing with a double stop now. Okay, Some playing 8.8 and the fight E&P strings than 10.10 and 12.12, 15, 15. Back to 12.12 than one playing is the G string and beatString. Now I'm playing 14.15. Then I'm playing 12.13. Same string set. Then I'm finishing on 14.14 or the D and G strings. And 14th fret of the G string is the root node. So simple as that. That's how you can create some licks using double stops with the pentatonic scale. So as always, I want you to create one lick using the pentatonic scale with double stops. The whole leg doesn't need to consist of double stops. You can just add a couple of double stops here and there in your leg. Don't feel like you need to use double stops at the whole thing, but yeah, create a lick and then move on to the next video. 13. First Linking Shape: Now a common problem a lot of guitarists face when they're playing the pentatonic scale is that they struggle to seamlessly transition between the shapes, okay? What will usually happen is they'll play some solos in shape one. Then they'll have to actually transition over to another shape to play whatever is next. Okay? Whereas what you can actually do is seamlessly transition through the shapes like, sort of like this, Something like that. Okay, and what I like to use to be able to transition smoothly is what I call pentatonic linking shapes. These are really, really cool. So let's take a look at the first pentatonic linking shape. We're going to be playing three-five on the low E string. And then we're going to be playing 357 on the a string. That's a really, really simple shape. They're just five notes to remember. Then what we can do is transition from shake, shake one. With that, yeah, We're starting in shape five. And if we slide up on that last note, we're now in shape. One was starting to shake five, then we move to shape one. Then what you can do is play it an octave higher. So what you can do is take that exact same shape, but starting on the fifth fret of the D string. And transition from shape one, shape 257 on the D string, 579 on the G string. Okay, now weren't shaking two, okay, then we can play that an octave higher. Again, it's the same shape. You don't need to remember a new shape or anything. It's 810, the string and then 81012 on the high E string. And now we've got a shape going over three octaves that takes us from shape five all the way up to shape 3,512.3. And if we take all three octaves together, we get something that sounds like this. Okay, I'm transitioned from five all the way to shake three. Now what you can do is you can create licks using this particular shape, this linking shape. And then what you can do is transfer that lick over to the next octave and then to the next octave. Or you can do it from the highest octave to the middle octave to the lowest octave. And you can create some really interesting runs and lines by doing this, because now we're playing a lick all over the fretboard, rather than just playing licks, they're stuck in one shape. So here is a quick little lick using this particular linking shape. Some playing the 12th fret of the high E, eighth fret of the B, 108 on the E and B. Then all I do is transfer that same lick over to the lower octave and then transfer over to the low octave again. So I'm just repeating that same basic click three times and recreate a really awesome sounding run like this. Don't forget to finish on the root node. So that is pentatonic linking shape number one. Experiment with it, see if you can come up with a lick and transfer it over all three octaves. And then maybe link or three octaves together to create an interesting little line, a little run that goes across three octaves. So that's your task before moving onto the next video. 14. Second Linking Shape: There's one more pentatonic linking shape that I like to use. We're starting in shape to, we're moving up to shake three. So we're flying 81012 on the low E string. And then playing 1012 on the a string. Then we're just going to move that up an octave. So we're gonna play that exact same shape from the 10th fret of the D string tend to 0, 14 on the D, and 12, 14 on the G. And then the same thing, an octave higher, starting on the 13th fret of the B string. So 13, 15, 17 on the beam, 15, 17 on the high E. Altogether, if we play, all three octaves, sound something like this. So what this is doing is taking us from shape to shape three. In the first octave, the second octave takes us from shape three, shape four. And then the third octave takes us from shape for to shake five. So now with the two lincoln shapes that we have, we can link the entire fretboard together with the pentatonic scale, which is really, really exciting. Of course, with this particular linking shape, we can also create licks that run up several octaves. So here's a quick flick that I like to use all the time. We're playing 81012 on the low, E, 1012 on the a. So we're literally just running up the shape. Then we're playing 12 on the E and then 1012 on the a. And then you can do on the next octave, on the next octave. And then if you can really, really build up the speed with that, you can create really, really interesting sounding rum. So here's how it would sound a little bit faster. Again, as always, I want you to create a lick using this particular shape. Experiment with it, have fun with it. But make sure you create a lick before moving onto the next video and I'll see you in the next one. 15. Class Project: Write A 30 Second Solo: You've made it all the way to the class project. In this class project, I want you to create a 32nd solo using the a minor pentatonic scale. I've provided backing tracks. There's three backing tracks for you to choose from, depending on the kind of style you're into. And just create a 30-second solo. Remember all the techniques that we've done in this class. So we can create some very basic sounding licks. We can also use patterns to create licks, groupings, we can create those ascending patterns as well. When we play the same thing over multiple shapes, we can use double stops to create links. We can use the pentatonic Lincoln shapes as well to get us across the fretboard seamlessly. So think about all of those things. Remember to keep it simple as well. Don't over-complicate things. Yeah, I just wanted to create a basic thirty-seconds solo using as many of these techniques as you wish. Okay? This is all about creativity, so you don't have to use everything if you don't want to, whatever works for what you're doing, Choose a backing track, create a 30-second solo, then upload it for me to listen to and I'll give you some feedback as well. So that's the task. In the next video, I'm just going to show you an example solo that I've written that might give you some inspiration. I hope you enjoy. 17. Outro: Thanks for checking out this class on the minor pentatonic scale. I hope you've enjoyed it. I'd love to hear your feedback and I'd love to hear your thirty-seconds solo it, so please, please upload them and I'll check them out and give you some feedback. So if you enjoyed this class, I have plenty more classes here on Skillshare. So go and check them out. I cover music theory, I covered technique, and I cover songwriting as well on your guitar. So I'm sure there'll be something for you, no matter what kind of thing you're looking to learn on the guitar. And with that, this class is over. Thanks for your time and I'll see you in the next one.