A Minor Pentatonic Scale on Guitar
A C D E G — the first scale most guitarists learn, and the one most rock and blues solos are built on.
A minor pentatonic
Tap any fret to hear it. Gold dots are the root. Positions start at each scale note on the low string, so position 1 is the lowest box.
Notes
Five notes, no semitones, nothing that clashes. The first scale most rock and blues players learn, and the one most solos are built on.
Play it over
Try it over Am or A7, a progression in A minor, or a 12-bar blues in A. Or turn the drone on and improvise over that.
Want a backing track instead of a drone? Loop a progression in the same key.
Notes and Intervals
| Note | Interval | From the root |
|---|---|---|
| A | R | Root · 0 semitones |
| C | ♭3 | Minor 3rd · 3 semitones |
| D | 4 | Perfect 4th · 5 semitones |
| E | 5 | Perfect 5th · 7 semitones |
| G | ♭7 | Minor 7th · 10 semitones |
Positions in Standard Tuning
| Position | Frets | Low E string starts on |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0–4 | E |
| 2 | 2–6 | G |
| 3 | 4–8 | A · root |
| 4 | 7–11 | C |
| 5 | 9–13 | D |
Positions are numbered from the lowest box on the neck, as in the explorer above. Add 12 to any of them for the same shape an octave higher.
About the A Minor Pentatonic Scale
The A minor pentatonic has five notes: A, C, D, E and G. There are no semitones between them, so no note clashes hard with the chords underneath, and almost anything you play sounds musical. That forgiving quality is why it is the standard first scale for lead guitar.
It is usually learned as a box at the 5th fret, with the root on the 6th string under your first finger. That box is one of five shapes that tile the whole neck; the explorer above shows each one, and the table below lists where they sit.
Finding It on the Fretboard
The scale has 5 notes, so it has 5 positions: five-fret windows that each start on a different scale note on the low E string. The one that starts on the root, A, covers frets 4 to 8. It is the shape most lessons teach first, and the easiest to keep your bearings in, because the root is under your hand on both E strings. Use the position buttons in the explorer to isolate each one, and switch the labels to intervals to see what every fret does in the scale.
How to Practise It
- Learn the 5th-fret box first, ascending and descending, until you can play it without looking. Start and end every run on an A.
- Bend the D on the 3rd string (7th fret) up a whole step to E. That single bend is in an enormous number of rock solos.
- Turn on the drone on A and play only three notes — A, C and E — for a minute. Then add D and G. Hearing what each note does is worth more than speed.
- Learn the next box up, starting at the 7th fret, and practise sliding between the two on the 3rd string.
A steady reference makes every one of these more useful: open the drone generator on A in another tab and play against it.
Where You Hear It
Over almost any song in A minor, over a 12-bar blues in A (where the minor third rubbing against the A major chord is the blues sound), and in a great deal of classic rock. Jimmy Page's solo in "Stairway to Heaven" is the textbook example of how far five notes can go.
The same five notes, starting from C, make the C major pentatonic — the relative major. Play the A minor shapes over a song in C and they sound bright rather than bluesy.
Explore every scale in every key in the scale explorer, or print the free guitar charts to practise away from a screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the notes of the A minor pentatonic scale?
A, C, D, E and G. As intervals from A: root, minor third, perfect fourth, perfect fifth and minor seventh. It is the A natural minor scale with the 2nd (B) and 6th (F) removed.
Is A minor pentatonic the same as C major pentatonic?
They contain the same five notes, so the fingerings are identical. The difference is which note is home. Over an A minor chord, A is the root and the scale sounds minor; over a C major chord, C is the root and it sounds major.
Which position of A minor pentatonic should I learn first?
The box starting at the 5th fret, with the root under your first finger on the low E string. It is the shape most lessons call "position 1" and the one most solos start from. Then learn the box above it.