Twelve scales to tap and hear.
Back to the start pageA Minor pentatonic has only 5 notes, so there are no degree chords here. They come from every other note of a seven-note scale - with fewer notes, "every other" jumps too far and no clean triad appears.
The drone quietly plays the root and fifth – the colour comes from the scale alone.
Every note at a glance
The pattern laid onto the root note.
Which part of the fretboard is shown.
Without note names you only see the pattern - good for memorising the shape.
raw, direct, gutsy
A – C – D – E – G
Rock and blues solos - the most played scale on the guitar, full stop.
Which accidentals does the scale use? Tap a major key on the outside or a minor key on the inside - it is selected as the scale above.
Major · Minor
No accidentals - natural notes only.
A Minor pentatonic uses 5 of the seven notes of A minor - and no others.
Try it
Two scales on A. Switch on the drone of A and E and listen to them one after the other.
What do you notice?
Which one sounds brighter – and on which note does the colour change?
What it's called
Modes – Seven scales made from the notes of a major scale – each starts on a different degree and colours its root differently.
Why
A Dorian and A Natural minor (Aeolian) differ in exactly one note: the 6th degree. In Dorian it is F#, in Aeolian F – a half step lower. That is why Dorian sounds brighter, less gloomy.
The drone plays only the root and the fifth. The third – whether it sounds major or minor – comes from the scale alone. So it carries any scale, and you hear the scale's own colour.
This way you can compare any scale with any other at the top: keep the root, turn on the drone, switch the scale – the drone keeps playing. With Locrian it plays only the root: there the 5th degree is a half step lower, and a perfect fifth would clash.
Quick check
Which of the two scales was that?