Minor Pentatonic Scales Part 3 - A Pentatonic Minor Scale

If you've been practising the E Minor and G Minor pentatonic scales from the previous lessons, you should know them quite well now. I'm not going to show you all the scales, you should be able to work them out for yourself now. What I am going to do is quickly show you the tabs and fretboard diagrams for the A Minor pentatonic scale.


This is the first pentatonic box with the root note, A, on the fifth fret of the sixth string:

e |----------------|----------------|--------5---8---|
B |----------------|----------------|5---8-----------|
G |----------------|--------5---7---|----------------|
D |----------------|5---7-----------|----------------|
A |--------5---7---|----------------|----------------|
E |5---8-----------|----------------|----------------|

A Minor Pentatonic Scale - First Box

Second pattern:

e |-----------------|-----------------|--------8---10---|
B |-----------------|-----------------|8---10-----------|
G |-----------------|--------7---9----|-----------------|
D |-----------------|7---10-----------|-----------------|
A |--------7---10---|-----------------|-----------------|
E |8---10-----------|-----------------|-----------------|

A Minor Pentatonic Scale - Second Box

Third position:

e |------------------|------------------|--------10---12---|
B |------------------|------------------|10---13-----------|
G |------------------|---------9---12---|------------------|
D |------------------|10---12-----------|------------------|
A |--------10---12---|------------------|------------------|
E |10---12-----------|------------------|------------------|

A Minor Pentatonic Scale - Third Box

Fourth box:

e |------------------|------------------|--------12---15---|
B |------------------|------------------|13---15-----------|
G |------------------|--------12---14---|------------------|
D |------------------|12---14-----------|------------------|
A |--------12---15---|------------------|------------------|
E |12---15-----------|------------------|------------------|

A Minor Pentatonic Scale - Fourth Box

Last of the five patterns, the fifth box:

e |------------------|------------------|--------15---17---|
B |------------------|------------------|15---17-----------|
G |------------------|--------14---17---|------------------|
D |------------------|14---17-----------|------------------|
A |--------15---17---|------------------|------------------|
E |15---17-----------|------------------|------------------|

A Minor Pentatonic Scale - Fifth Box

First box, one octave higher:

e |------------------|------------------|--------17---20---|
B |------------------|------------------|17---20-----------|
G |------------------|--------17---19---|------------------|
D |------------------|17---19-----------|------------------|
A |--------17---19---|------------------|------------------|
E |17---20-----------|------------------|------------------|

A Minor Pentatonic Scale - First Box One Octave Higher

Fourth box, one octave lower:

e |----------------|----------------|--------0---3---|
B |----------------|----------------|1---3-----------|
G |----------------|--------0---2---|----------------|
D |----------------|0---2-----------|----------------|
A |--------0---3---|----------------|----------------|
E |0---3-----------|----------------|----------------|

A Minor Pentatonic Scale - Fourth Box One Octave Lower

Fifth box, one octave lower:

e |----------------|----------------|--------3---5---|
B |----------------|----------------|3---5-----------|
G |----------------|--------2---5---|----------------|
D |----------------|2---5-----------|----------------|
A |--------3---5---|----------------|----------------|
E |3---5-----------|----------------|----------------|

A Minor Pentatonic Scale - Fifth Box One Octave Lower

Finally, the last of the diagrams shows all of the notes on the guitar for the A Minor pentatonic scale:

A Minor Pentatonic Scale - All Notes