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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → 5 positions of the minor pentatonic scale.
Hey guys!
Just wanting to improve my soloing. Can anyone give me some advice on learning the positions of the minor pentatonic scale? I know a couple of them. Just trying to learn how to play better all of the neck instead of just a couple spots.
Thanks!
Hey Adam, I'm going to put this in the Gear section, because I know for a fact that there are plenty of posters who are players, who don't look any further than the Gear section. I think you'll have a much better shot of attracting replies there.
Should that prove not to be the case, it can always come back. 
Thanks! 
I am not a teacher, but I have this on my guitar blog that helped me learn them.
Actually, once you know ONE position, you can work out the rest from that point onwards fairly easily.
In fact, it might be better for you to try and work out the notes by ear, rather than by trying to memorise scale patterns on the neck - it will make you a better guitarist.
I always say the BEST thing I ever learned in my guitar playing was 30+ years ago when a session musician showed me the minor pentatonic scale. The WORST thing I ever learned in my guitar playing was 30+ years ago when a session musician showed me the minor pentatonic scale! 
It is all to easy to get locked into the 'patterns' and that will make your solos sound just like everyone else.
What I am working on at the moment with my teacher is, for example knowing the position all over the fretboard of every 'A' note. From that, we can build the scales around them. It is amazing how 'freeing' that is, when you become more and more familiar with the neck, and can move easily from position to position with confidence and still hit the right notes.
I am still a long way off personally, but it has given me a whole new perspective on the fretboard, and indeed, made me think about solos in a more musical fashion, rather than just fixed licks in fixed positions...
Good luck with your learning!
Here is probably a quick way to learn them
http://www2.gibson.com/Lessons/Skills-H … cales.aspx
watch the instruction video
and here is the printable lesson
http://lm.gibson.com/Lessons/PowerWorko … Scales.pdf
Hi mate,
Yeah, learning the pentatonic boxes is a revelation at first but can easily become a bit of a playing "Prison" as it fits so readily over just about anything! I would always recommend a beginner learns these in every position on the neck but you should always, always know where your root is and what key you are in, this develops your fretboard knowledge for when you move onto more difficult modal theory.
The best advice I could give anyone learning for the first time would be to master the five pentatonic shapes, the seven modal shapes and start studying the CAGED theory for chords and moving them around the fretboard, once you know all these along with knowing the every note on the fretboard you will find it so easy to introduce arpeggios, triads, chord tones etc into your improvisation. Its a long road but just keep in mind playing is about the journey, not the destination! Hope that helps!
I know where things are. I know The "A" position starting on the 5th fret. Even that same "shape" on the second fret when paying a major scale. And up on the 12th. Just want some exercises to improve my soloing. I don't want to get stuck in positions, but I just want to improve. So, any advice on improving my soloing over the neck would be awesome!
Thanks guys!
My suggestion as a place to start...
Pick or write a simple lick in first position, then transpose it to the other positions and where necessary, octaves. Check out how it sounds on the different strings and feels in the different boxes, exploring off the lick and then try creating a connecting lick.
From there, try doing a run with 4 beats in one position and then try to create a smooth transition for the next 4 beats at another adjacent position and so on, smooth natural transitions are key. Once you get that, try jumping around.
And lastly, while your practicing, don't stay where your comfortable, if 1st position is second nature, make a point to noodle on 4th (or whatever) more.
Of course one very straight forward example of how you can create movement with pentatonic... combine the top of the 5th position (E and A strings), then as you climb the middle of the 1st position (A, D , and G strings) and then slide up to the top of the 2nd position (B and E strings). All half step boxes and slides....
Hope that helps.
Learning the five shapes is the easy part. I can't imagine it would take more than a couple days to memorize a single pattern. So in less than two weeks, you've got it.
I think the point others are making, and is the more difficult aspect of this, is essentially knowing the degrees of the scale for each pattern. For example, for a given position, where are your roots, minor 3rds, etc. When you know where the degrees of the scale are located, and what sound each degree offers, then you can start to solo with intent and compose more interesting solos rather than randomly playing notes that fall in the pattern.
Once you've got that down, you need to be able to visualize those patterns up/down the fretboard rather than just across. You need to be able to visualize how the various patterns connect to each other. I've played for a long time and still find new ways to visualize how these shapes connect with each other, and the chords that lay over top of those shapes. It's definitely a continuous journey.
One exercise, is to do the 'Clapton' style of playing 'along' the neck on a pentatonic scale, rather than just 'up and down' the one spot...
E |-----------------------8-10
B |-------------------8-10----
G |-------------5-7s9---------
D |---------5-7---------------
A |---3-5s7-------------------
E |-5-------------------------This way, you are now playing across 3 pentatonic patterns, using elements of each. Start experimenting with other combinations across the neck...there are tons...this will help you break out of those fixed boxes.
Thanks for all the help!
I have found while noodling around yesterday that I play some of the notes already in these patterns without realizing it. But, there are other notes in the patterns that I never knew would fit. The thing is now to try and fit them all together. I don't want to get to a point where all I do is be bored with patterns. So, I am going to just try and learn what notes sound good and not get stuck into patterns. But, now I have some extra notes that I didn't know.
Thanks for all the help!
Once you get to know where the 5 positions are, try and work out ways to join them together, work on licks that go from one position to another, try and make some jumps a couple of positions up. Learn the scales on one string only, and try to play solos with that one string. Watch good blues players, they are always ascending or descending the neck, try and see what devices they use to spice up when they move up or down the scale/positions. On is to play a hammer on and pull off from note, then slide the original note down to the next note in the scale, and then you sit in that new position. An interesting one I heard in Joe's playing quite a lot. Say your playing E Minor Pent in Position/Box/Shape 5. He bends the 12th Fret on the B string up 1,5 tones, comes back down, then he plays a hammer on pull off from 10 to 12 on the same string, then slides the 10th fret to the 8th, then hammer on to the 10th again. for that string tab would be something like this.
12b(15)----10h12p10s8h10----<insert lick from Position 4 here to get your full lick over the 2 positions>
I picked that little beauty up from trying to learn Songs of yesterday solo. So thats another idea, learn songs, find the nice licks you can use. Cant always use that one above, but in the right place it sounds awesome.
Once you start to get the Pentatonic scale under your fingers, then you can start to add in some notes as well. Joe uses the 9th(2nd) a lot in his solos. He likes to bend the 6th a lot as well, so those 2 notes should be ones you could add in.
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