The anhemitonic form of pentatonic scale has no semitones (ex. c–d–f–g–a–c} this is the most commonly used form.
The two basic forms of pentatonic scales are:
Major Pentatonic - Consists of the 1st - 2nd - 3rd - 5th - 6th notes of major scale.
Minor Pentatonic - Consists of the same 5 notes of a major pentatonic scale but its tonic (first note of the scale} is 3 semitones below the tonic of the major pentatonic scale. For example the C major pentatonic (C - D - E - G - A} has the same notes as the A minor pentatonic (A - C - D - E - G} but arranged differently. The first note or tonic of the A minor pentatonic scale (=A) is 3 semitones (half steps) lower than the first note of the C major pentatonic scale (=C). It uses the 1st - minor 3rd - 4th - 5th - minor 7th notes of a scale.
Tablature Legend
A C D etc. are the notes.
1 4 1 etc. suggested fingering
A Pentatonic minor Scale Pattern 1 (A C D E G)
A C D E G A C D E G A C
1 4 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 4
-------------------------------5--8---------------
-------------------------5--8---------------------
-------------------5--7---------------------------
-------------5--7---------------------------------
-------5--7---------------------------------------
-5--8---------------------------------------------
(also starts at 17th fret)
C D E G A C D E G A C D
2 4 1 4 1 4 1 3 2 4 2 4
-----------------------------------8--10----------
----------------------------8--10-----------------
----------------------7--9------------------------
---------------7--10------------------------------
--------7--10-------------------------------------
-8--10--------------------------------------------
(also starts at 20th fret)
A Pentatonic minor Scale Pattern 3 (D E G A C)
D E G A C D E G A C D E
1 3 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 4 1 3
----------------------------------------10--12----
--------------------------------10--13------------
-------------------------9--12--------------------
-----------------10--12---------------------------
---------10--12-----------------------------------
-10--12-------------------------------------------
A Pentatonic minor Scale Pattern 4 (E G A C D)
E G A C D E G A C D E G
1 4 1 4 1 3 1 3 2 4 1 4
-----------------------------------------12--15---
---------------------------------13--15-----------
-------------------------12--14-------------------
-----------------12--14---------------------------
---------12--15-----------------------------------
-12--15-------------------------------------------
A Pentatonic minor Scale Pattern 5 (G A C D E)
G A C D E G A C D E G A
2 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 2 4 2 4
-----------------------------------------15--17---
---------------------------------15--17-----------
-------------------------14--17-------------------
-----------------14--17---------------------------
---------15--17-----------------------------------
-15--17-------------------------------------------
(also starts at 3rd fret)
