A Major Pentatonic, All Five Positions
Five notes build the A major pentatonic scale: A, B, C#, E and F#. Open A, B and both E strings are inside the scale, so playing it near the nut sounds full and bright.
The root is on the 5th fret of the low E string. The shape is the same as F# minor pentatonic, which shares the notes. If you ever lose your place, the notes on the fretboard chart is the one to keep nearby.
Play the A major pentatonic scale
Use the step menu in the player to switch between the single-string run and the box shapes.
Notes of the A major pentatonic scale
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones from root |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | Root | 0 |
| B | 2 | Major 2nd | 2 |
| C# | 3 | Major 3rd | 4 |
| E | 5 | Perfect 5th | 7 |
| F# | 6 | Major 6th | 9 |
Structure
A major pentatonic scale notes:
How the major pentatonic scale is built:
The major pentatonic scale is built from the degrees 1 2 3 5 6, which gives the step pattern W-W-W+H-W-W+H (W = whole step, H = half step).
Counting in semitones from the root: 0, 2, 4, 7, 9. That makes it a 5-note scale.
A Major Pentatonic Scale Guitar Patterns
Static diagrams of every position shown in the player above.
On one string (A)
Box pattern — position 1
Box pattern — position 2
Box pattern — position 3
Box pattern — position 4
Box pattern — position 5
3 notes per string — position 1
The major pentatonic scale in other keys
Created by
Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher
