FIrst of all, I have now learnt the Pentatonic scale in all 5 positions or boxes and at last I feel I can play along to a backing track yipee its starting to come together ( I might not be able to play in time but in time I hope to be able to)
my question is the names of the Pentatonic scales:
I understood that the name is taken from the root note on the low E string with this shape 5/8 5/7 5/7 5/7 5/8 5/8 and therefore the note at the 5th fret E string is an A so this should be an A pentatonic scale....right? I have seen it called A minor, C major Pentatonic - why is it not called an A major?....going up the E string - what is the names of the pentatonic scale using the first shape as described above - I thought it would be E (obviously when using the open strings) - then F, F#, G at the third fret "A" at the 5th Fret, "B" at the 7th, "C" at the 8th & "D" at the 10th etc etc.
What determines whether its called a major or minor scale?
Pete :?
The distance between the root and the 'third' (not the third note in the scale, but the third note name in a major scale).
If that distance is two whole steps - four frets - it's a major scale... if that distance is one and one-half whole steps (three frets) it's a minor scale.
The reason: those notes will match up with a major or minor chord.
Your A pentatonic has the notes A-C-D-E-G. That lines up with the A minor chord (A-C-E), but not the A major (A-C#-E). It also lines up with the C major chord (C-E-G)... so that scale is either the A minor pentatonic or the C major pentatonic, depending on which one is your root note.
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I am not sure I fully understand the reply but let me try this:
Using the A note on the low E string as a starting point, is it the case that you can start with any of the 5 shapes and depending on the shape used, where the third note of the scale is a distance of 4 frets is a major scale and where the shape means that the 3rd note of the scale is three frets its a minor scale?
Or is there a fixed point to start the pentatonic scale. ie is one of the shapes always the starting point that gives it its name - say the shape 5/8 5/7 5/7 5/7 5/8 5/8 does the scale start with the note at the 5th fret of the E string - if I used a different shape as the starting point then surely that would be a "B" pentatonic scale even if I the next shape down as the starting point on the A string and played 5/7 5/7 4/7 4/7 5/7 5/7, I say that would be a "B" scale because the starting note of the same shape originally used has been moved up to the root note of B?
Hope you understand what I am trying to say?...I may be confusing you
yeah, you're doing a pretty good job of confusing me :)
If you take a major scale in A (everything in theory grows out of the major scale) you have these notes: A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G#. The distance between the first and third notes is called a third, and going from A-C# is a major third
If you took a minor scale in A, the first three notes will be A-B-C, and going from A-C is a minor third
So that's what makes the difference betwen a major and minor pentatonic scale - how far the 'third' (which could be either the second or third note in the scale) is up from the root. If you go A-B-C#, you have A major; if you go A-C, you have A minor.
Since there are five notes in a pentatonic scale, your fingerings starting from the 'A' note will be in five different pentatonic scales, one for each fingering. Where it gets confusing is that each of these fingerings has TWO names:
A-C-D-E-G (A minor or C major)
A-B-D-E-F# (B minor or D major)
A-B-C#-E-F# (F# minor or A major)
A-C-D-F-G (D minor or F major)
A-B-D-E-G (E minor or G major)
Since each set of notes can be either major or minor, what makes the difference is the note you treat as the root - the note you'll keep returning to to end phrases. If you play the shape you showed, you're in A minor if you treat A as the root, and you're in C major if you treat C as the root.
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In your first post, you are playing the Aminor pentatonic.
Notice that on the low E string, fret 8 is C, the A major pentatonic would have been 5/9 A,C#
In fact the pattern you are using is minor pentatonic.
Word of caution here, it is nice to just pluck away with box patterns like that but while you are playing the notes it is in your best interest to name the notes and learn where they are, it will eventually evovle into your ability to play any scale anywhere on the neck.
Don't get stuck in a rut of playing frets and not notes.
OK. I am starting to understand - but not fully - I will study a little more. David has a good page with this example:
is an A minor scale because the first not of the scale is on the 5th fret and the 3rd degree of the scale is on the 8th fret, Ok I understand that
but if a Cmajor was called for I would use exactly the same pattern at the same place but not pluck the E string at the 5th fret first but at the 8th fret as here: 
Ok I understand that too
Word of caution here, it is nice to just pluck away with box patterns like that but while you are playing the notes it is in your best interest to name the notes and learn where they are, it will eventually evovle into your ability to play any scale anywhere on the neck.
Don't get stuck in a rut of playing frets and not notes.
OK I will try to take the advice on board but I have only just learnt the 5 patterns of the pentatonic scale and it is helping I kept reading - learn the patterns - learn the patterns...as soon as ya do its "learn the notes learn the notes"..lol :roll:) - my original problem was the formula for naming them - I was a bit confused with which note on the E string to use to name it - ie in order to improvise to a backing track in D or say B minor - where is the starting point, I know the pattern but how to find the starting point was a bit confusing.
Thanks very much for taking the time to explain - it is getting clearer.
Pete
Using that pattern, Start Bm on the 7th fret Dmajor on the same fret with the pattern but don't play the B note on the 7th fret, play the D on the 10th fret (exactly the same thing you did with the Aminor/Cmajor scales)
