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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.

This lesson demonstrates the same passages shown in the Open Em Pentatonic (Lesson 2) transposed to the key of A minor. The fingerings shown in this lesson are completely different from the open forms. The fingerings shown in this lesson are movable, and can be transferred to any fret on the guitar up to the 18th fret.

The diagram below shows the notes used in the A 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 fretted at the 5th fret on each string string.
• The other note is fretted at either the 7th or 8th fret, depending on the string.

Play the 5th fret notes with your index finger. Play the 7th fret notes with your ring finger, and play the 8th fret with your little finger.

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).