E minor Pentatonic

The pentatonic scale is a five-note scale used in blues, folk and popular music. The major pentatonic scale is derived from the major scale taking the scale degrees 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 6. So a C major pentatonic scale includes the notes C D E G A. The minor pentatonic scale is derived from the natural minor scale by taking the scale degrees: 1 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 7. So E minor pentatonic scale includes E G A B D.

Because the pentatonic scale is a simple scale and used in popular forms of music and improvising we tend to apply it on guitar as a pattern rather than reading it. So it is a good idea to start becomig familiar with the penatonic scale patterns. In this lesson, we’ll look at a basic pattern for E minor pentatonic which looks like this:

Let’s play it and practice it as follows: