The Pentatonic Scale

My question is about the Minor Pentatonic scale, more specifically the A Minor Pentatonic scale.  When I learned it (granted, not as fast, or as smooth as Anders,) I thought that was it, that I had learned the Pentatonic Scale.  Then I started to read more, from different sources and they were talking about the A Minor Pentaonic Scale in positions 1-5. 

So my question is, how many Minor Pentatonic scales and/or positions are there and why do the lessons only show the Pentatonic scale in A Minor, or did I miss something???  I'm finishing up Fundamentals 1.

There is one for each note A through G plus the sharps & flats, each with 5 positions. Depends what root note you start on.

DJ,

There are five positions/patterns/forms for both the major and minor pentatonic scales. I think you can play any one of the patterns in any key you choose by simply moving the root note up and down on the low E-string, although I'm not sure about that.

You can in any case get acquainted with these (and other) scale patterns on this site's Scale Finder, at least until Christopher Schlegel joins this thread and schools us properly on this matter. Look through Chris's archive of tutorials for low difficulty lessons pertaining to pentatonic scales. Realize, however, that it's strongly recommended that you start at the beginning of any tutorial/course wherein such individual lessons are found.

Sascha

This is similar to your question about the musical alphabet.  There are many different ways & places to play the pentatonic scale.  There are a total of 12 pentatonic minor scales, one for each possible letter of the musical alphabet (A, A#, B, C, etc.).  There are a total of 5 basic patterns each scale makes on the guitar.

But that is all well beyond the scope of beginner material.  In the Fundamentals course Anders is simply introducing you to the pentatonic minor scale.  So he shows you the one most commonly used pattern that will help you get started playing the scale in a very useful practical way.

And that's all you need to work on as a beginner.

For future reference, the scale can be played across the guitar as low & high in pitch as the instrument extends.  Exactly like the musical alphabet.  The good news is that is more advanced material for later lessons.  For now, as a beginner, it's enough to know that one pentatonic box shape & work on making music with it.

Regarding the 5 different pentatonic positions (they are also called boxes or patterns), since the pentatonic minor scale contains 5 notes, there are 5 possible boxes it can form on the guitar when you start playing the scale on each one of those 5 notes on the low E string.  I cover this in my tutorial on Pentatonic Scales.  

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial/296

Regarding that numbered list (1. Position 1, 2. Position 2, etc.), it is referring to diatonic major scales (that contain 7 notes) & not pentatonic (which contain 5 notes).  That is all well beyond the scope of beginner material.  

Don't worry about any of this.  You'll get to it later.  Keep working on the Fundamentals course & keep practicing that material.

Hope that helps!

Hey Chris, you wrote above:

"For now, as a beginner, it's enough to know that one pentatonic box shape & work on making music with it."

I'm really glad you said that. For some reason, I was getting wrapped up with trying to go up and down the neck as a beginner. Seems stupid in retrospect. Anders said something that compliments what you said. Something like, "Limitation fuels creativity", then went on to demonstrate that by playing some awesome sounding improvised blues riffs over a backing track... using just 3 notes.

Your advise about staying in one pentatonic box must be constraining for advanced guitarists, but it's liberating for beginners like me. Thanks!

Sascha

Yes, the goal is to make music.  That's the only reason to learn scales as a step in the process.  So, it's always best to keep that in mind.  Learning a new scale or pattern can certainly be a great incentive or motivation to make more music in a new way.  But it's not helpful as an end in itself.  If you can get all the licks you want out of one pattern (or 3 notes!), then that's all you need. 

This is true even when you know more scales & patterns.  The ultimate goal is to make a bunch of music with each one.  Or it's useless info that isn't helping your musicianship.

And yes, I agree that Anders does a great job of demonstrating that principle in his lessons.

Chris - I'm happy to say that my "scales for the sake of scales" phase is now over. I know, I know... you told me so. I do realize that I'm sometimes frustrating to work with, but please know that I have always appreciated, and continue to value highly, your ongoing contributions to my music education.

Sascha

Sascha,

Thanks so much for your reply and directing me to the scale finder, something I should have already been using.  I guess with 7 notes, A-G and 5 positions for each one, it seems a bit overwhelming to learn al of them?

I think Anders was showing it in the Scale of A, Position, or Position 2 and I guess my real question is, how far do you have to go.  I don't want to short change myself, but at the same time, I don't want to go overboard learning things I'll never use.

DJ

DJ,

I hear ya, my friend. It's often terrifying to think that you're missing something very important that's going to cause you to veer off the path and end up stranded and stalled. Ironically, it's the fear itself that has driven me off a constructive music learning path... time and time and time again. The short answer to your question is that at this point in your learning, you do not need to know much about scales, or keys, or moving them up and down the neck. Eventually you will, but that time is not now. As evidenced by the posted pics in this thread, you've obviously discovered Anders' affinity for a particular pentatonic shape on a specific part of the neck. That's all you're going to need to know for quite some time.

For me, learning music online has never been a linear process where each new lesson dovetails neatly into the next. It's more like putting together a giant tabletop jigsaw puzzle. I know what it's supposed to look like when it's finished, but my attempts at getting there has involved creating multiple small islands of pieces (of knowledge and technique) that fit together. But they're scattered all over the table, like a jigsaw puzzle in progress. That's the world I've created by ping-ponging all over the internet, just as you have. I have no clear understanding of how to connect all of those islands, other than to keep enlarging them until they eventually come together. But for now, I'm sticking to the script here at GT (by far the biggest section of my puzzle). I've come to realize that in order to reliably improve my music related knowledge and skills, I have to have faith in this GT process, and to trust the instructors here to guide me toward the promised land. I still do some ping-ponging, but remain vigilant for anything that's going to pull me off-track from my work on GT.

You are clearly highly motivated to learn music. That's a rare commodity in here. Don't screw that up by allowing yourself to get overwhelmed due to obsessing over what you think you are supposed to know. Just work with one puzzle piece at a time for now by continuing the Core Learning System and coming to this forum to ask questions when you get confused or lost. Chris and Anders are the Lewis and Clark of this new world expedition, and I'm confident that they won't steer us wrong.

On last thing. You don't need to understand 100% of any given lesson before moving on to the next one. Study the whole tree, grab the low hanging fruit, then move on. That's because, if you're smart about it, you'll circle around at some time and do the course over again... and maybe again after that - until you DO understand 100% of the material. I've done some of these courses 3 to 4 times. Some of the music theory lessons I revisit on a regular basis.

Hopefully these obtuse remarks make some sense.

Sascha

Good deal.  Thanks for the positive feedback.  Keep practicing!