How to Play the Pentatonic Scale on Acoustic Guitar – 8 Solo Ideas

The Pentatonic scale is one of the most famous scales on the guitar. We call it Pentatonic because it only contains five notes. The I, II, III, V, and VI for the Major Pentatonic and the I, III, IV, V, and VII for the Minor Pentatonic. This scale can be used in a verity of music styles to write melodies and solos.

But how can you play the Pentatonic scale on the acoustic guitar? To play the Pentatonic scale on acoustic guitar, learn the simple E minor pentatonic scale in the first position of the neck. Practice the scale with fingerpicking and picking technique. Learn the sound of the scale and sing aloud the notes. Once you memorize the scale, learn the remaining Pentatonic shapes.

One of the remarkable things about the Pentatonic scale is the fact that it can be easily used to solo over a chord progression. Playing this scale on the acoustic guitar can give you access to many melodic ideas that work beautifully in styles such as Folk, Blues, Pop, Rock, and Jazz.

In this lesson, we are going to explore how to play the Pentatonic scales on the acoustic guitar with eight solos ideas that you can practice, learn, transform, and implement into your playing.

We will learn:

How should you practice the Pentatonic scale on the acoustic guitar?
Fingerstyle vs. guitar pick.
Major vs. Minor Pentatonic.
The five Pentatonic shapes.
Guitar solo 1 – Pentatonic melody in E minor.
Guitar solo 2 – Pentatonic riff in G major.
Guitar solo 3 – A minor Pentatonic solo.
Guitar solo 4 – Hendrix Pentatonic over chords.
Guitar solo 5 – C major Pentatonic.
Guitar solo 6 – Blues Pentatonic.
Guitar solo 7 – Connect the Pentatonic boxes.
Guitar solo 8 – Mechanical Pentatonic melody.

How Should You Practice the Pentatonic Scale on The Acoustic Guitar?

The Pentatonic scale is mostly associated with the electric guitar and the Blues (as well as a lot of different genres), but can you play it on the acoustic guitar?

Absolutely! Playing the Pentatonic scale on the acoustic guitar will give you a different feel to the scale, especially with the fingerpicking technique.

When you practice the Pentatonic scale with the fingerpicking technique, you are forced to play fewer notes (unless you can play the scale fast). Playing less makes you focus more on target notes and melody. In the examples you will learn below, I am using the targeting notes approach a lot.

So how should you practice the Pentatonic scale? If you are using the fingerpicking technique, focus less on the speed and more on the note choice.

Of course, we can practice the scale with mechanical patterns to help to memorize the shapes and build skill, but the end goal should never be just speed.

Here’s the difference between playing the Pentatonic scale mechanically vs. playing the scale melodically and rhythmically.

Fingerstyle vs. Guitar Pick

On acoustic guitar, you can practice the Pentatonic scale with either fingerstyle technique or a guitar pick. However, playing the Pentatonic scale with the fingerstyle technique will force you to work more on notes choice rather than technique and speed.

If you decide to practice the scale with the fingerstyle technique start by plucking the strings with common patterns such as “index – middle” or “index – ring.” Always use the alternate fingering technique at the beginning.

If you are new to fingerstyle and you like to play the acoustic guitar with a guitar pick, you can practice the Pentatonic scale with the alternate picking “Up-Down,” which is indeed the most common picking pattern for scales.

Here’s an example of the B minor Pentatonic played with the fingerstyle pattern “Index-Middle” or the alternate picking “Up-Down.”

Major vs. Minor Pentatonic

Now that we’ve covered some of the basic techniques on how to practice the Pentatonic scale, let’s learn the difference between the Major and the Minor Pentatonic.

The Major Pentatonic comes from the Major scale, and it is considered by many musicians the simplification (both harmonically and melodically) of the Major scale.

Major Pentatonic

So, how many notes we have in the Major Pentatonic? In the Major Pentatonic, there are five notes, the I, II, III, V, end VI. If you play the C major scale C D E F G A B C and you get rid of the note F and the note B you will play the Major Pentatonic scale.

Here’s a comparison between the Major scale and the Major Pentatonic.

Minor Pentatonic

The Minor Pentatonic comes from the Natural Minor scale. In music, the Natural Minor scale is also called the “Relative minor,” which is the scale that starts from the sixth degrees of the Major scale.

In the C major key, for example, the relative minor scale is the A Natural Minor scale, because this is the scale that we build on the sixth degree of the scale.

We can apply the same concept of “Relative minor scale” to the Pentatonic scale. The relative minor Pentatonic scale of C major will then be the A minor pentatonic scale.

The Five Pentatonic Shapes

In this section, I am going to show you the five Major and Minor pentatonic shapes. We will not spend too much time playing around with the scale mechanically. Instead, we will be exploring the Pentatonic scale melodically and harmonically with musical examples.

The white dot represents the Root note of the scale. You can easily transpose the scale in any key by playing the box in a different position. If you move the white dot on the note D, for example, you will play a D major or D minor scale.

There is no difference in notes between the C major Pentatonic and the A minor Pentatonic. The only difference is the Root note position.

The Five Major Pentatonic Shapes

The Five Minor Pentatonic Shapes

Guitar Solo 1. Pentatonic Melody in E Minor

In this first example, we are going to play a Pentatonic melody in E minor key. The E minor is indeed one of the most popular keys on the guitar along with the E minor Pentatonic scale.

The melody is played with the Pentatonic shape, which has the root note on the Low E string open.

Guitar Solo 2. Pentatonic Riff in G Major

The riff is a phrase that is repeated over and over throughout the song. Think about Smoke on the Water or Layla. We can create beautiful and simple guitar riffs on acoustic guitar using the Pentatonic scale.

In this example, we are going to play a Pentatonic riff in G major key. The goal for this example is to come up with a riff that is easy to play and difficult to forget. We will be using the G major Pentatonic.

Guitar Solo 3. A Minor Pentatonic Solo

The Pentatonic scale is used to improvise and write guitar solos. In this exercise, I am going to show you how to play a solo on the acoustic guitar using the A minor Pentatonic.

One of the most common A minor Pentatonic shape is the one played on the position five of the neck. The solo you are about to learn is entirely played on the top three strings only. We will use the D, A, and low E string to play the bass note of the chords.

Guitar Solo 4. Hendrix Pentatonic Over Chords

Hendrix loved the Pentatonic scale. He was able to implement this scale into his chord progressions melodically and harmonically. The technique Hendrix used is called “Double Stops.” This technique involved playing two strings simultaneously. After plucking the strings, Hendrix will then hammer one of the two strings creating an interesting rhythmic and melodic embellishment.

Here is an example.

Guitar Solo 5. C Major Pentatonic

Let’s try an example using Major Pentatonic. One of the things that I like about the major Pentatonic is the positive and bright sound. Major scales always sound beautiful to my ears.

For this example, we are going to learn a melody in C major using the C major Pentatonic scale in the first position of the neck. We will also move the melody to position five for some of the chords.

Guitar Solo 6. Blues Pentatonic

The Blues is one of the most inspired music styles of all time. The major and minor Pentatonic scale work magically over the blues chord progression. We can’t talk about the Pentatonic scale without going through the Pentatonic scale.

In this example, you are going to learn a simple Blues in A played with the Pentatonic scale. Some of the chords could be new to you. Take things step-by-step and learn one position at a time.

Guitar Solo 7. Connect the Pentatonic Scale Shapes

In all the examples we learned in this lesson, we always used the Pentatonic scale in one position. As there are five Pentatonic positions, it is advisable that you also learn how to connect the Pentatonic boxes up and down the fingerboard.

So, how do you connect two Pentatonic shapes effectively? The easiest way to connect two Pentatonic shapes is to write the scale down and practice the changes while reading the scale. Start by connecting two strings only. Then, add more strings as you become better. When you feel you memorized the scale get rid of the tab and play the scale from memory.

This is an example of how to move the Pentatonic scale up the fretboard.

Guitar Solo 8. Pentatonic Runs Up the Neck

Another great way to play the Pentatonic scale is by practicing runs up the neck. Playing the scale across the fretboard is not only a good exercise for your fingers but also for your musicality, plucking, and tone.

Is it challenging to play Pentatonic runs on the acoustic guitar? Playing the Pentatonic scale across the neck can be challenging if you don’t know where to start. The Pentatonic runs can be of two, three, or four notes. At first, move the scale up and down the neck on two strings only. Write the tab if you need a reference. Once you get better at playing the runs on two strings, add one more string to the group.

This is an example of how to play Pentatonic runs up the neck.

Let’s Wrap This Up

I hope you enjoyed this lesson. The Pentatonic scale is a must for any guitar player and musician who loves music. It’s a versatile scale that can be played almost on any style of music and at any level.

If you want to know more about this scale, check this excellent article by musical.u talking about the Pentatonic scale. Watch the video of Bobby McFerrin demonstrating the power of the Pentatonic scale.

Good luck.

Marco

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