C# Minor Pentatonic on the Fretboard
The C# minor pentatonic scale uses C#, E, F#, G# and B, the home scale for any jam in C# minor. Your first box sits around the 9th fret, where the low E string gives you the root.
A good habit in this key is to also start from the A string root on the 4th fret, so the scale does not live only in the high register. The notes are shared with E major pentatonic, which doubles the places you can use them. For a way to build solos on top of it, see soloing over a blues progression.
Play the C# minor pentatonic scale
Use the step menu in the player to switch between the single-string run and the box shapes.
Notes of the C# minor pentatonic scale
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones from root |
|---|---|---|---|
| C# | 1 | Root | 0 |
| E | b3 | Minor 3rd | 3 |
| F# | 4 | Perfect 4th | 5 |
| G# | 5 | Perfect 5th | 7 |
| B | b7 | Minor 7th | 10 |
Structure
C# minor pentatonic scale notes:
How the minor pentatonic scale is built:
The minor pentatonic scale is built from the degrees 1 b3 4 5 b7, which gives the step pattern W+H-W-W-W+H-W (W = whole step, H = half step).
Counting in semitones from the root: 0, 3, 5, 7, 10. That makes it a 5-note scale.
C# Minor Pentatonic Scale Guitar Patterns
Static diagrams of every position shown in the player above.
On one string (B)
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 minor pentatonic scale in other keys
Created by
Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher
