Blues Scale

The Five boxes of A minor pentatonic guitar scale.

Mode 1 in A minor

E I-(A)5———-8——-I

B I—-5———-8——-I

G I—-5——-7———–I

D I—-5—(A)7———–I

A I—-5——-7———–I

E I-(A)5———-8——-I

Mode 1

Mode 2 in A minor

E I——–8——-10—-I

B I——–8—(A)10—-I

G I—-7——-9———I

D I(A)7———  10—-I

A I—-7———-10—-I

E I———8——10—-I

Pentatonic box 2

<script type=”text/javascript”><!–
google_ad_client = “pub-2130167865292380″;
/* 728×15, created 10/19/10 */
google_ad_slot = “6061159323″;
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 15;
//–>
</script>
<script type=”text/javascript”
src=”http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js”>
</script>

Mode 3 in A minor

E I——10—-12——-I

B I–(A)10——–13—I

G I-9———12———I

D I—-10—–12——-I

A I—-10-(A)12——-I

E I—-10—–12——-I

Mode 3

Mode 4 in A minor

E   I—-12——–15——I

B   I——–13—-15——I

G   I—-12—-(A)14——I

D   I—-12——–14——I

A   I(A)12——–15——I

E   I—-12——–15——I

OR

E   I–0———3—I

B   I—–1——3—I

G   I–0—-2——–I

D   I–0—-2——–I

A   I–0——–3—-I

E   I–0——–3—-I

Mode 4

Mode 5 in A minor

E I—-15—17–I

B I—-15—17–I

G I–14—–17–I

D I–14—–17–I

A I—-15—17–I

E I—-15—17–I

OR

A  I——-3—(A)5—I

B  I——-3——-5—I

G  I(A)2———-5—I

D  I—-2———-5—I

A  I——-3——-5—-I

E  I——-3—(A)5—I

Mode 5

These are the 5 different modes or boxes of the a minor pentatonic scale.

As you may have noticed I labeled the root of the scale – A – in all the modes,  I did this so you can move the box or pattern to align that note with a different root and be able to play all 5 modes of the minor pentatonic scale in a different key.

I will soon add the diagrams for the major pentatonic scale.  Although if you don’t want to wait the above modes are the exact same boxes and notes that will appear in the C Major pentatonic scale because a minor is the relative minor of C Major and contains the same notes.

C Major Mode 1 = A minor mode 1

C Major Mode 2 = A minor mode 2

C Major Mode 3 = A minor mode 3

C Major Mode 4 = A minor mode 4

C Major Mode 5 = A minor mode 5