Guitar scale
A Minor Pentatonic Guitar Scale
A minor pentatonic is a five-note scale built from A, C, D, E, and G. It is a core guitar vocabulary scale for blues, rock, funk, and lead playing.
- Notes
- ACDEG
- Formula
- 1 b3 4 5 b7
- Semitones
- 0 3 5 7 10
How to read this scale
The notes are shown as pitch classes first. Square markers represent A root notes in the fretboard view, while circular markers represent the other notes in the scale.
Use the interactive fretboard to see where the A roots sit inside the full-neck minor pentatonic pattern.
Fretboard diagram
Open this scale in the fretboard tool
Start with A Minor Pentatonic loaded, then adjust tuning, labels, colors, fret count, and orientation.
Open in interactive fretboardCommon chords and contexts
- Use A minor pentatonic over A minor chords, power-chord riffs, and many blues or rock solos.
- Its five-note layout removes the half-step tensions from natural minor, which makes it easy to phrase on guitar.