E Minor Pentatonic Scale For Guitar.

The E minor pentatonic scale just might be the single most powerful guitar scale when it comes to playing lead guitar. This complete tutorial includes free downloadable scale charts and video. The guitar lessons video is at the bottom of the page -- but there's important information here in the written part of the lesson -- so don't skip over it, OK?

If you've been playing electric guitar or lead guitar for a little while, you probably already know this scale in at least one position. Pentatonic simply means a scale that has 5 notes in it. These 5 notes repeat up the neck. It's a Minor scale because it the 3rd note of the scale is lowered by a semi tone.

A semi tone on guitar is equal to one fret. A whole tone is equal to 2 frets. The formula for the Major Scale ( do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti back to do) is Root, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 back to Root one octave higher. When musical scales are described, they are often compared to the major scale.

The minor pentatonic scale is as follows: Root, b3, 4, 5, b7.

As you can see there is no 2nd or 6th note -- and the 3rd is flattened. Again, this lowered 3rd is what makes either a guitar chord or scale minor in tonality. One of the things that makes E minor pentatonic scale so great for guitar players is that all the open strings are available!

In the guitar lesson video you will see and hear a couple of ways in which this scale can be used. I'll also demonstrate some of the ways to practice it depending upon which level you're at.

I'll be using an electric guitar, but you can play this guitar scale on your acoustic just fine.

How To Practice E minor Pentatonic Scale On Your Guitar

Download these free guitar scale diagrams and follow along with the instructions listed below. Also see the guitar lessons video below for more insight.

• Memorize one of the forms that you don't know yet. There are 5 forms in total.
• Play the form up and down until the fretboard shape is memorized visually and with some muscle memory.
• Download these blank guitar fretboard sheets and draw the scale form out on the paper. Make sure to label the Roots, b3, etc.
• Play the form ascending and descending on your guitar. Say the scale degrees ( root, b3, 4, 5, b7) out loud. Even sing them if you want.

• Record yourself playing some chords in the key of E minor. If you don't know what to play, you can download this free jam track.
• Jam along using the guitar scale form that you have memorized.

Moving Forward with E minor Pentatonic Scale

Once you have one or two forms memorized, you're going to want to memorize all 5 forms of the guitar scale on your fretboard. Knowing a scale over the entire fretboard is one of the "secrets" to great lead guitar playing. Here's a list of step by step instructions to help you practice what you need to practice in order to learn the E minor pentatonic scale all over the neck of your guitar.

• Repeat the steps outlined above in How To Practice the E minor pentatonic scale for all the forms. This may take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks for each guitar scale form -- depending upon your current experience level.
• Once you have the 5 forms memorized, you want to be able to connect them at will. This can be accomplished in several ways. One of the best ways is to practice the scale HORIZONTALLY along the string axis. In other works along one string. This will show you how to connect the 5 forms of this E minor pentatonic scale. Watch the guitar lesson video and download these guitar TAB examples for more ideas.
• Also play the scale horizontally on pairs of strings across the guitar neck. Again, this is demonstrated in the video.
• Play the scale in patterns or sequences. There are many patterns you could invent, but the one I demonstrate in the video and have written out in guitar TAB is a great one -- and used in classic rock guitar playing as well as blues, jazz and pop styles all the time!

So there you have it. The E minor pentatonic scale. Use the downloads to your advantage and play your guitar. That is the true secret to improving! No secret pill or method. Just focused practice with proper direction provided by a good teacher or teachers. Don't jump around all over the place. Keep a practice journal and stay organized as best you can.

Further Related Reading and Study

Major Pentatonic Scales

Minor Pentatonic Scale

Caged System for Guitar

Thanks for tuning in and tuning up!

Dave Yeager

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