The B Pentatonic Minor Scale is one of the most beloved scales in western music. Used across genres and used to compose some iconic guitar riffs and solos.
Experienced players know the guitar fretboard well and can quickly create licks by practicing at-home with their fretted instrument. Playing these songs also builds speed and accuracy on the instrument, as well as speed of thought processing on its part.
The root note
The B Pentatonic Minor Scale is one of the most beloved scales for guitarists, often used across rock, blues and jazz genres. It is versatile yet accessible – making this scale a favorite choice.
This scale is derived from the natural minor scale without including its second and sixth degree, making it simpler to learn than its major equivalent. Furthermore, it’s easier to pair with chords; for instance, it can be played over dominant 7th chords which are widely used in blues music as this clash between minor and major tonalities is one key aspect of its distinctive sound.
To master the B Pentatonic Minor Scale, first memorize its fingering pattern for position 1 shown in Figure 1. This Em-shape serves as the starting point of this scale and should be practiced up and down the fretboard until it can be played confidently. Call out intervals between notes while practicing it so as to become familiar with its patterns on the fretboard.
Beginners should begin practicing this scale octaves higher, which will provide them with a deeper insight into how the notes move across the neck and connect.
The tonic
The B minor pentatonic scale features a tonic note repeated an octave higher from its starting point. This scale is ideal for learning, as its five notes make up many chord progressions; furthermore, it has been popularly utilized by rock and pop musicians due to its bluesy sound.
In any pentatonic scale, the tonic note is B; subsequent notes that follow from it include C, E, D and G before concluding with A as the final note in the scale.
Learning this scale involves understanding a few rules. For instance, knowing how to count both whole steps and half steps allows one to identify scale note positions accurately across both major and minor keys. Furthermore, understanding the relationship between major key signatures and relative minor key signatures is also vitally important.
To gain an understanding of their relationship, referring to the chart is helpful: the number next to each black key represents its corresponding major key signature while that associated with each white key represents its relative minor key signature.
The first shape
Are You New to Pentatonic Scales? If you are, you may be curious as to their construction. The notes in b pentatonic minor scale can be arranged into several patterns that bass players often utilize when creating their riffs and solos. One such melodic pattern involves moving through each note of the scale up or down by one note at a time; this technique known as “phrasing” makes coming up with solos much simpler!
To create the b pentatonic minor scale, begin by choosing a root note and counting the intervals between notes – each difference in pitch is called a whole step and can either be flat (b) or sharp (#). As it avoids major/minor clashes more easily than other scales do, playing this scale becomes much simpler.
The b pentatonic minor scale can also be created using the harmonic minor scale, which features similar yet different notes. Knowing both scales allows you to select the most appropriate one for your riffs and solos.
The second shape
Like its predecessor, this shape can be more challenging to learn; but perseverance will pay dividends when playing solos or chord progressions. The pattern here is Wide Narrow with each string duplicating two others for easier remembering and understanding.
The second note in a flattened 3rd scale is a D instead of D# from the major scale; all other notes remain the same.
This scale is an ideal way to play major chord progressions without dissonance from discordant major tones, as it avoids creating dissonance between major tones and minor seventh chords. Furthermore, its usage makes this an excellent choice for blues playing since many popular blues chords feature minor sevenths.
One great aspect of this scale is its adaptability; you can move it easily into any key you desire by shifting its root note up or down one fret; the rest of the scale will remain the same, creating limitless scale patterns and licks!
The third shape
I find the third shape of the B Pentatonic Minor Scale particularly enchanting due to its distinctive sound. A flattened 3rd sits between 5th and 4th of the scale, creating a sound neither major nor minor that allows me to play an array of melodies without clashing with chord tones.
Another great feature of this shape is that it provides a great starting point for learning how to move a scale across the fretboard. Once you know where the root note of your chosen key lies on the fretboard, you can begin determining where other shapes will occur.
When playing A minor, your root note will be E on string 6. From there, look for shape 1 on the fretboard.
From there, you can progress to shape 2, which lies one octave below shape 1. This pattern can be found in many popular songs including Jimi Hendrix’s iconic riff for “Purple Haze,” as well as Albert King’s “Born Under a Bad Sign”; both songs demonstrate the profound sound that can be achieved using this scale.
The fourth shape
The fourth shape is often considered one of the more challenging for guitarists, since it marks a change from tonic note up an octave, making this transition particularly hard for newcomers to grasp.
However, once mastered it can open up the fretboard to some incredible licks and melodies. Furthermore, its diatonic chord progression capability gives this shape an advantage over others that have more vague relationships between chord progressions and scales.
This scale contains no half steps, meaning its notes are closer together, decreasing the risk of clashing notes that could sound dissonant. This scale is perfect for beginners looking to create beautiful bluesy melodies easily with this format.
As when learning these shapes, it is best to start off slowly and familiarize yourself with each position before moving onto the next. A metronome can help here – try playing each shape at each click of its beat until you feel comfortable enough to increase its tempo slightly and repeat this exercise until all shapes have been learned successfully.
The fifth shape
This final shape begins on the fifth fret (A note) of the low E string. Just like its counterparts, this one also utilizes a three-note per string pattern and provides an effective means to build strength in fingers while familiarizing oneself with scale patterns – yet is adaptable across keys!
Once you have learned all five shapes of the minor pentatonic scale, moving them around is relatively straightforward using the CAGED Method to help locate each of them on the fretboard. Also note that half steps (or two frets) mark each interval between these forms.
As you progress through these shapes, make an effort to use a metronome when playing. Start slow but build to playing each note perfectly on time with each click of the metronome – this will build your confidence in playing each scale and allow more freedom when soloing in music – you could combine shapes together to form different chords or switch between parallel Major and Minor pentatonic scales if desired!