C major pentatonic scale on DADGAD guitar

C · D · E · G · A

The course explains what this page shows in Lesson 16 · The minor pentatonic.

The notes

  1. C1
  2. D2
  3. E3
  4. G5
  5. A6

The C major pentatonic scale is C, D, E, G, A.

You may also see it called 1 2 3 5 6.

On the staff

CDEFGABC

On a treble staff, the C major pentatonic scale is written C D E G A.

The solid notes are the C major pentatonic scale. The pale notes are the rest of C major, the larger scale it is carved out of, so you can see which notes it leaves out.

Why the C major pentatonic scale has no sharps or flats

  1. C1
  2. T
  3. D2
  4. T
  5. E3
  6. T+S
  7. G5
  8. T
  9. A6
  10. T+S
  11. C8

A scale is a pattern of steps, and this one is T T T+S T T+S: a tone, a tone, a tone and a half, and so on. T stands for a tone, which is two semitones. T+S stands for a tone and a half, which is three semitones. The pattern is what gives C major pentatonic its sound, and it stays the same whichever note you start on.

This scale has only five notes, so it does not use every letter. It is C major with some notes taken out, and it keeps that scale's spelling exactly.

Every letter already falls where the pattern needs it, so C major pentatonic is written with no sharps or flats at all.

The C major pentatonic scale needs no sharps or flats, because every letter already falls where the T T T+S T T+S pattern of steps needs it.

The pattern of steps is the part of a scale that never changes. The letter names take sharps or flats to fit that pattern, and a key signature is a record of those sharps or flats.

On the piano

1C2D3E4F5G6A7B1C2D3E4F5G6A7B1C2D3E4F5G6A7B1C2D3E4F5G6A7B1CC♯D♯F♯G♯A♯C♯D♯F♯G♯A♯C♯D♯F♯G♯A♯C♯D♯F♯G♯A♯C2C3C4C5C6

The keyboard shows the same five notes as a shape you can see. The coloured keys are the C major pentatonic scale, the pale keys are the rest of C major, and you can click any key to hear it.

C major pentatonic scale on the whole neck

DADGAD123456789101112131415D2E3G5A6C1D2E3A6C1D2E3G5A6C1D2E3G5A6C1D2E3G5A6C1D2E3G5A6A6C1D2E3G5A6C1D2E3G5A6C1D2E3

60 notes of the C major pentatonic scale are marked across six strings.

This is every place the notes of the C major pentatonic scale fall on the DADGAD guitar, with each note's name and its scale degree. The roots are marked so you can find your bearings.

The five boxes

Box 1 — starts on the 1
DADGAD78910111213123561235612
Box 2 — starts on the 2
DADGAD910111213141516235612356123
Box 3 — starts on the 3
DADGAD12131415161718356123561235
Box 4 — starts on the 5
DADGAD14151617181920561235612356
Box 5 — starts on the 6
DADGAD17181920212223612356123561

The C major pentatonic scale has five playable positions, at frets 7–12, 9–15, 12–17, 14–19 and 17–22.

There are five shapes, and each one starts on a different note of the scale. Once you know one shape you can slide it along the neck, and once you know all five they join up to cover the whole neck.

One climb up the neck

DADGAD1011121314151617181920123561235612356TAB101214101210121412141517191719

The climb runs from fret 10 to fret 19 and plays fifteen notes.

This is one path from the lowest root to the top of the neck, and it plays each note once, never on two strings. It takes a different number of notes on different strings. The widest stretch on any one string is four frets.