Five Shapes of Pentatonic
There are five shapes of the pentatonic scale on the guitar neck. No matter where you start them, they always repeat in the same fashion, with the same shapes and fingerings. This is yet another way that the guitar makes life convenient for learning: repeating patterns. For our purposes, let's look at the F-minor pentatonic scale. The first position of the scale that begins on the first fret F of the sixth string will always be considered “form I.” Most guitar players who play pentatonic solos start there and venture up or down the neck to the other positions.
Form I
Form I is the simplest form to remember: It's the original pentatonic scale you learned. To recap, all you have to do to play a form-I pentatonic scale is to determine two things—what the root of the scale is and whether it's major or minor. Once you know that, you can place it accordingly with the rules you learned in Chapter 3. Remember that form I of F minor is the same as form I of A flat Major since those pentatonic scales share the same notes. FIGURE 5-4 shows form I of the F-minor pentatonic scale.
Form II
Form II continues where form I left off and continues up the fingerboard. You need to know how to find this scale as a separate entity, not something that is tied into form I. FIGURE 5-5 shows the form-II pentatonic scale in the key of F minor.
When multiple notes are circled, the root has been repeated elsewhere in the scale. To place this scale you need to locate where the root is. Form II is tricky because the lowest note is not the root; you have to look inside the middle of the scale to find the root. Once you've found the root, you can move this shape to any other key just as you did with the earlier forms. The two circled notes indicate that the scale contains a repeated note. The note F, which is the root, comes back in other parts of the scale. All five forms of the pentatonic scale are completely moveable into every key—just move the root. For the F-minor scale, the root is found on the third string, third fret F. Follow the fingerboard chart in FIGURE 5-2 to help you find the roots at first. As you play more and apply these new scales, you'll start to remember the notes on the fingerboard. If you play in the same keys, you will learn those notes easily. Practice makes perfect!
Form III
FIGURE 5-6's neck diagram shows the overall shape of form III. The root of this scale is on the fifth string, on the eighth fret F.
Just as you can do with the scales you learned in previous chapters, you can move these scales to any key as long as you place the root on the correct note. You don't always have to start on the root, but it may help at first to start there. As you get more comfortable with the shapes, you'll use the root as a guide and start anywhere in the shape you feel like starting. Remember, notes are just options; explore the ones you want!
Form IV
Form IV is an easier shape to deal with because it greatly resembles form I. The root of this scale is on the fifth string, eighth fret. This is the same root as form III, but unlike form III, this scale starts with your first finger and yields a totally different shape. FIGURE 5-7 is a neck diagram of this scale.
Form IV is simpler because its root is on the fifth string. Anyone who has played a lot of moveable chord shapes on the low sixth and fifth strings knows the names of those notes, making this scale easy to place since you can recognize F quickly and start the F scale there, for example. Visually, form IV shares a shape similar to form I, just altering one fret on the second string. Form IV is a nice in-between point for your scale playing. If your form I scale is low on the neck as F is, form IV is halfway up the neck and will allow you to hear the same notes higher on the neck.
Form IV of the pentatonic is the most useful scale to master because it puts you in a very different part of the neck than form I does.
Form V
Form V is the final pentatonic scale position, and its root is found on the sixth string. Wait—doesn't form I have its root on the sixth string? Yes it does! What makes form V different is that your fourth finger plays the root in this shape, not your first finger as in form I. FIGURE 5-8 is a neck diagram of the final shape, form V.
As a general rule, if you start from different fingers on the same note, the shape will change completely. In the end, you don't have to master every note on the neck to play these shapes. This chart will help you learn where these shapes are placed:
Form |
Starting Finger |
String |
I |
First finger |
Sixth string |
II |
First finger |
Fourth string |
III |
Fourth finger |
Fifth string |
IV |
First finger |
Fifth string |
V |
Fourth finger |
Sixth string |
As you can see from the chart, to be able to place these scales effectively, you need to know the roots on only the sixth, fifth, and fourth strings.
Shape Conclusions
As you might have guessed, you haven't gone beyond the pentatonic scale. What you've really done is explored the entire neck with it. To really go beyond the shapes, you have to view the entire neck as a whole and use bits from each shape freely. As you progress, your ability to move from one shape to another will grow.
Ideally, you should know all the notes that are available to you. In the end, you can pick and choose the notes you want. FIGURE 5-9 shows an F-minor pentatonic scale that uses every position in one long example.
Notice how the scales are connected with slides that help join the positions. What you get in the end is a very long scale. This example isn't playable in just one shape; you must use all the shapes to get through this. Pentatonic boxes can be easy to spot when you watch another player solo; the player doesn't have to move his or her hand at all. When you play this kind of example, people who don't play guitar won't know what you're doing! You'll use the entire neck in one lick. You paid for the whole neck, might as well explore it.
