Robin May

A great place to begin if you're new to single note playing (soloing/playing lead guitar), the minor pentatonic scale is simple - only 5 notes - but provides everything you need to solo over a huge number of songs. It's the first scale that many of us learn.

This series of tutorials will help you learn the minor pentatonic scale across your entire guitar neck in simple, 'bite sized' chunks - in addition to teaching you practical licks; many from popular songs that you may already be familiar with. Below the video are tabs for the licks featured in the video.

You can also use these positions to play your major pentatonic! If that is news to you then check out my tutorial, 'The major pentatonic: What, Where and Why'

Tune up your guitar and let's get stuck in with this first video tutorial:




Below is the box for the minor pentatonic scale, root on the 6th string:

For the key of E, which we are using throughout this series of tutorials, this box can be played from the open position or the 12th fret.

In the open position all the notes represented by the column of circles on the far left of the diagram are open strings.

Taking just the first octave of this scale, here's tab for the first few licks I provide in the video.

---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
-----------0---2p0--------0--------------
---0h2----------------2-------------------
---------------------------------------------

h = hammer-on
p = pull-off

---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
---(1)/2---0--------0-----------0---------
---------------2--------2p0----------------
---------------------------------------------

Number in brackets = begin in that position, but don't really sound that note i.e. a quick slide from that position. We can always slide up or down to a note in this fashion.


---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
---------------------0----------------------- 
------------0---2---------------------------
---(2)/3------------------------------------


---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
-(1)/2---(1)/2---0------------------------
------------------------2-------------------
-----------------------------0--------------


-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
-2p0--------0---------------------------------2-----
---------2--------2p0--------0---2p0-------2---- 
---------------------------3----------------3---0----

Below are licks I showed from the second octave:

---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------
-2b3b2---0--------0---2---3p2p0--------0--------
-----------------2------------------------2--------2---
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------


------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
--------0---2---3p2p0--------0---2b3---2p0--
---2------------------------2------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------


----------------0----------------------------------
-----------0--------3p0--------0----------------
---2b3---------------------2--------2p0--------
-----------------------------------------------2---
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------

---------------0--------3p0--------0---3-------------------
-----------0--------------------2------------3---------------
---2b3-------------------------------------------2p0-------
-----------------------------------------------------------0---
----------------------------------------------------------------


Notice the basic lead guitar techniques that I am utilising. Bends, hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides and triplet feel ~ I have a whole series of tutorials covering these techniques in more detail :)