How to Play a Pentatonic Guitar Scale

You may have heard your music teacher at one time or another chastise you for not learning your scales. Whether you play piano, guitar or any other instrument, the scales provide you with the necessary foundation to be able to play and improvise melodies when necessary. The basic pentatonic scale is used in many of today's basic rock songs and ballads.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Start on the fifth fret of the guitar, at the sixth (low-E) string. Pressing on this string with your index finger and plucking it gives you the first note of the A pentatonic scale. This starts us off in the key of A.

2. Press on the low-E string, but now with your little finger at the eighth fret. Pluck this string and you have the second note of your scale. Move to the fifth (A) string, and place your index finger on that string at the fifth fret. This is your third note. Then press that string on the seventh fret with your ring finger, to give you the fourth note of the scale.

3. Place your index finger on the fourth (D) string, fifth fret, and pluck it. After that, place your ring finger on that string on the seventh fret and pluck it. Those are your next 2 successive notes.

4. Move to the third (G) string, and repeat the finger motions from the previous step: index finger on fifth fret, then ring finger on seventh. Pluck those one after the other to get the next notes in the scale.

5. Go to the fifth (B) and sixth (high-E) strings next, in succession; press and pluck the fifth then the eighth frets on each string.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice every day, as much as you can. The motions seem stilted and foreign to you at first, especially if you haven't played any guitar before. You have to work at it over and over again until the movements become natural.
• Place your thumb at or around the center of the back of the threat as much as you can, as this helps you get freer and more expansive movement with your fingers along the fret board.