Scale Fingering.
The E minor Pentatonic Scale
Improvisation comes from scales. Chords come from scales. Everything in music comes from scales. Learning how to practice these scales correctly can make a huge difference in the way you play.
Below is the E minor Pentatonic Scale.
Notice, there are five “penta” boxes for each scale. Each box has five repeating notes. Each box starts with the lowest note as the I, the iii, the IV, the V or the vii. Every box shape is different. Every box shape is four frets wide except for one. It is five frets.
All five of these shapes are applicable to all twelve keys in music. All you have to do is memorize the fingering for each shape, and know exactly where the root note is for each shape.
Where are the roots?
We’ll start from the far left. The first box has three (red) root notes in it. The second box has only two roots. The third shape also has two root notes in it. The fourth shape, again, has just two root notes in its shape. The fifth shape has three root notes in its shape.
Now, let’s make it a little more interesting.
Going up!
In this diagram, we will be looking at the fingering used to climb up the E minor Pentatonic scale from the low open “E” string all the way up to the twelfth fret “E” of the 1st string.
We will also incorporate one extra note which gets played by the second finger. It is called a “Leading” note. A leading note is not part of the scale. It is used as a sort of chromatic enhancement to the scale to make it more interesting.
Simply follow the numerical order of the notes (i.e. 0-1-3-3, 1-2-3, etc).
The “arrows” indicate sliding that finger to the next position, or switching fret positions to the next string.
Going back down!
Once you’ve reached the twelfth fret of the previous scale, you’ll want to climb back down the scale.
Again, start at the twelfth fret with your third finger and play the notes in descending order (i.e. 3-2-1, 3-2-1, 3-1-1, etc.)
Notice there are two directions you can go once you’ve reached the “A” note on the seventh fret of the fourth string. You can either continue down to the G on the fifth fret, or switch over to the G on the tenth fret of string five, and then continue down the scale.
Remember to use your metronome when practicing these scales, and above all, when you are playing eight notes, make sure that you are alternating your picking.