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Hello, how're you doing? Justin here.

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In this lesson today we're going to be checking out the minor pentatonic scale.

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Now, I don't want you to get scared. I know, scales kinda sound like they're gonna be nasty

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and really boring but actually scales are pretty damn cool.

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And the reason that scales are cool is

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because they teach you the notes that you can use when you improvise.

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So what we're gonna be doing now is checking out this very first scale called the minor pentatonic scale

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and it's the scale that most guitar players learn first and for a lot of guitar players it's the only scale

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they ever learn. It's got a lot of mileage. You use it for Blues and Rock and even in Jazz and Country.

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It's a really, really useful, excellent sounding scale and one that you'll use

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and for as long as you play guitar you'll be using this scale.

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So, what we're gonna do is, we're gonna learn it just to play it up and down

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and work on making sure that we've got our fingers stretched out right.

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Now, if you've been doing the preparation exercices properly that I've told you about,

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about, you know, working your fingers up and down and picking the strings individually

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you're probably not gonna find playing the scale very difficult.

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So, let's get stuck in now and learn our very first scale: the A minor pentatonic.

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OK, here we are for a look at the A minor pentatonic scale.

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So, we're starting here with our first finger in the 5th fret of the thickest string.

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So, this is the root note, this is the note A.

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. . .

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Then we reach up with our fourth finger into the 8th fret.

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You can see it's kinda one finger per fret here.

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We got first finger is going in the 5th, second finger in the 6th, third finger sits in the 7th

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and little finger reaches the 8th.

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Of course, we don't need to put those other two now

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'cause at this point we're just playing those two notes, but just be aware of that nice spacing.

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Then we move on to the next string [plays]. We play first finger and third finger in the 7th fret.

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Onto the next string: First finger in the 5th fret, third finger in the 7th fret.

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Now we're onto the 3rd string: First finger 5th fret, third finger 7th fret.

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2nd string: first finger on the 5th fret, little finger in the 8th fret.

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First finger in the 5th fret - now we're on the thinnest string - and little finger in the 8th fret.

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Now we're going straight back down. So we play that note there with the first finger

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in the 5th fret thinnest string. It's like a tongue twister.

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Little finger on the 8th fret of the 2nd string, down to the first finger.

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Now we're onto the 3rd string: third finger in the 7th fret, first finger in the 5th fret.

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Onto the 4th string: third finger in the 7th fret, first finger in the 5th fret.

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Next string: third finger in the 7th fret, first finger in the 5th fret.

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Onto the thickest string now: little finger in the 8th fret, first finger in the 5th fret.

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Now I'm gonna play it once up and down for you, still nice and slowly but without all the talking.

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Here we go:

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. . .

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And a little faster:

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. . .

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Now, I have this scale on the web site as both a neck diagram

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which is usually the easiest way to learn a scale but it's also written there in tab, in regular notation

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and you can also see the finger numbers under the tab. The 1-4, 1-3, 1-3, 1-3, 1-4, 1-4 thing.

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Now it's a really, really simple box pattern to remember.

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Just remember that it starts on the thickest string with 1-4,

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then it's a bunch of 1-3, 1-3 finger groupings and then 1-4, 1-4 on the thinnest two strings.

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Make sure that you're playing it correctly on the way up and on the way down

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and that you check out the fret numbers that you should be playing so it doesn't go...

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Some people try and go up the strings coming 'down'.

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Putting 'up': it's down, descending the scale and you get this kinda

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. . .

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This isn't right. It should be

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. . .

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Just be careful with that. Check the tab if you're unsure with the tab there's a ...

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One of the lessons in the early hundreds. Can't remember what lesson number

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off the top of my head now but "How to read tab".

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There's a lesson on that. So check that out on the web site.

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I'll stick a link in the lesson as well for those confused by the tab.

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This is a really, really, really class little scale to check out.

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There's loads of different ways of playing it, loads of tricks to playing it.

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We use it for Blues and string bending and all sorts of cool stuff.

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So do have a go at that now. When you feel kinda confident with this,

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maybe toward the end of the course, if you wanna experiment a bit more with your lead guitar.

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You might wanna check out my Blues Lead Guitar Series which is online and on DVD.

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It's a very, very cool little set

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and that's a perfect follow one for after you've finished the Beginner's Course.

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So, you might wanna bear that in mind, too, but more on that another time.