A Different Pentatonic Shape!

Music Lesson: Exploring a New Pentatonic Position

Hello again!

Hopefully, you enjoyed the last lesson and you've worked on playing over the A, D, and E using the A minor pentatonic, D minor pentatonic, and E minor pentatonic scales. You should have a feel for that and have learned your pentatonic scales in five different positions to open up the neck.

Introducing the New Pentatonic Shape

What I want to look at now is a different pentatonic position that I really prefer. This shape opens up much more of the neck for me.

The 2 and 3 Scale

I call it the "2 and 3 scale" for reasons that will become clear:

• It uses two frets on one string.
• Then it moves to the next string and uses three frets.

Let's dive in and you'll see how it works.

Position One: The A Pentatonic

1. Start on the third fret of the E string:

   • Start on G, then move to A.

2. Move to the A string:

   • Play the third fret, fifth fret, seventh fret.

3. Next, the D string:

   • Play the fifth fret and the seventh fret.

4. Now, the G string:

   • Play the fifth, seventh, and ninth frets.

5. Next is the B string:

   • Play the eighth and tenth frets.

6. Finally, the high E string:

   • Play the eighth, tenth, and twelfth frets.

This is a normal pentatonic scale, but it encompasses from the third fret right up to the twelfth fret in one position.

Repetition in the Scale

You'll notice that you are repeating yourself three times:

• Play: 3, 5
• 3, 5
• 7
• 3, 5
• 5, 7
• 5, 7
• 9
• 8, 10
• 8, 10
• 12

So, the same thing is played three times, giving you some scope to play in a different way.

Adding Technique

What I want you to do is incorporate hammer-ons and slides into your scale practice to make it more valuable.

• Hammer on and slide:
  • Go from 3 to 5.
  • Hammer on, hammer on slide.
  • Hammer on, hammer on slide.
  • Hammer on, hammer on slide.

Once more, you'll find that sounds lovely.

Putting It All Together

Now, let's throw in a 12-bar progression, and I'll show you how you can use that to great advantage before we start adding some more notes to it.

Count In:

• One, two, three, four...

Lovely, thank you!

Conclusion

You can see that even by sticking to a pentatonic scale, the sound can be quite nice. This approach gives you more of the neck to explore, helping you to move beyond that initial box pattern while also providing techniques to use.