E Minor Pentatonic Scale

What is the E Minor Pentatonic Scale?

The minor pentatonic is probably the single most-played scale on guitar — and for good reason. By stripping the natural minor down to just five notes (removing the 2nd and 6th), you eliminate the intervals most likely to clash, leaving a scale that sounds great over almost any minor or blues progression right out of the box. Here's how the E Minor Pentatonic Scale lays out on the fretboard.

Notes and Positions

The most popular guitar scale. Blues and rock foundation. On bass, the fretboard view helps you visualize where the important tones sit for building lines across positions. Use a finger-per-fret approach first, then add shifts only when the line needs a wider range. In the key of E, the notes are: E, G, A, B, D.

How to Use It

You'll often hear it in Blues, Rock, Pop, and Jazz. A good way to internalize the sound is to sing the root, then sing a few scale degrees before you play them.

Start with the root on beat 1, add the 5th on beat 3, then work the other scale tones in as passing notes. Use the interactive fretboard above to spot repeats of the same note on different strings and frets.