E Minor Pentatonic Scale

1Composition: what it contains

E – G – A – B – D

Formula

1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7

Steps

W+H – W – W – W+H – W

Number of notes

5

Sharps and flats

no sharps or flats

Also called

pentatonic minor, rock scale

2Appearance: diagrams and sound

Tip: click any note, key or fret to hear it. Orange = root.

3Indications: what it is used for

The first scale most guitarists learn, central to blues, rock, hard rock, funk, soul and R&B. It works over minor chords and minor progressions, over the whole twelve-bar blues (even with dominant chords, as a 'blue' minor-third colour), over power chord riffs, and over Dorian or Aeolian minor vamps. Its degrees are 1-♭3-4-5-♭7. It is the core of countless riffs and bass lines, and adding the flat fifth turns it into the blues scale.

4Dosage: how to practise it

Ten to fifteen minutes daily. Start at 60 BPM in eighth notes in the first box, then learn all five positions across the neck. Practise sequences of three and four, and string-skipping patterns. Work on whole-step bends (4 up to 5, ♭7 up to the root), slight bends on the minor third, vibrato and hammer-ons. On bass, use it for grooves built on 1-♭7-1 and 1-♭3-4. On piano, play left-hand root-fifth patterns and improvise phrases of two bars.

5Warnings and common mistakes

Do not get stuck running up and down the box: phrase with rests and target chord tones. Over a major chord, the minor third is a 'blue note' that should be bent slightly toward the major third or resolved to it. It does not fit major seventh chords. Beginners often over-bend; check pitch with a reference note. It lacks the second and sixth, so for Dorian or Aeolian colours you must add them.

6Interactions with chords, scales and keys

Chords that fit this scale

Em Esus4 Em7 E7sus4

Same notes, different starting point

• G Major Pentatonic Scale

7Other presentations available

The same scale from every note

• C Minor Pentatonic Scale
• C sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
• D Minor Pentatonic Scale
• E flat Minor Pentatonic Scale
• F Minor Pentatonic Scale
• F sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
• G Minor Pentatonic Scale
• G sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
• A Minor Pentatonic Scale
• B flat Minor Pentatonic Scale
• B Minor Pentatonic Scale

Other scales from the same note

• E Major Scale
• E Natural Minor Scale
• E Harmonic Minor Scale
• E Melodic Minor Scale
• E Dorian Mode
• E Phrygian Mode
• E Lydian Mode
• E Mixolydian Mode
• E Locrian Mode
• E Major Pentatonic Scale
• E Blues Scale
• E Major Blues Scale
• E Whole Tone Scale
• E Half-Whole Diminished Scale
• E Whole-Half Diminished Scale
• E Phrygian Dominant Scale
• E Hungarian Minor Scale
• E Lydian Dominant Scale
• E Altered Scale
• E Double Harmonic Major Scale
• E Bebop Dominant Scale