Improvising in minor keys

There are a total of five basic major/minor pentatonic scale fingerings to learn, plus a couple of extended forms. In order for these to be of any use, you will need to know where the roots of the scale are. These are going to be your guides in deciding what fret to play a particular fingering. The notes of a major pentatonic and minor pentatonic are exactly the same. The difference is how you will use them, and how the notes will sound in relationship to the key area. If you are playing an A minor pentatonic in the key of C, your ear is not going to hear the notes you are playing in relationship to A. Your ear is going to hear C as your root or home base in the scale.

C D E G A C -- C Major Pentatonic

A C D E G A -- A Minor Pentatonic

Try to think about playing a minor pentatonic in a minor key area, and a major pentatonic in a major key area.

Using the exact same scale fingerings you did in the first exercise, improvise on 2 measures of Am, then 2 measures of Gm. Even though you are playing exactly the same notes, they have a different sound against the minor keys.

Page 1, improvising in major keys

Page 3, pentatonic scale forms