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The Pentatonic scale is one of the most important for guitar players in all styles. 'Pentatonic' means '5-notes.' This scale goes all the way back to the ancient Greeks, and is important in African, Indian and Asian music.

Many if not most guitar leads in rock, blues, country, jazz or any related styles use pentatonic scales. Pentatonic scales are an indispensible building block for anyone interested in learning lead guitar.

The diagram below shows the notes used in the open E minor pentatonic scale.

(Remember that this is a diagram not tablature. It's the same orientation as a photo or video of a guitar neck.)

The pentatonic scale form used in this chapter has 2 notes on each string: One of the notes is an open (unfretted) string. The other note is fretted at either the 2nd or 3rd fret.

We will add notes to this scale in some of the examples that follow. The next section includes diagrams, video clips and Microsongs (MP3 practice tracks).