Minor pentatonic scale in A on electric guitar
Minor pentatonic scale in A: A, C, D, E and G, the degrees 1–b3–4–5–b7. The box shown is in open position, from the open strings up to fret 3; the lowest tonic sits on the 5th string, open, and the hand stays put in the region, with no position shift.
On electric guitar, the slimmer neck invites legato — the same fingering runs with less effort, and the high positions stay comfortable. Plugged into an amp, each chord sustains for as long as you hold it, and the tone — clean or driven — shapes the whole sound.
Practice it tonic to tonic: hearing degree 1 at both ends anchors the scale's sound.
Text description
Open strings and frets 1 to 3, 6 strings. Root (A): string 5 open and string 3, fret 2.
- String 6 (E): open, E, fifth; fret 3, G, flat seventh, finger 3
- String 5 (A): open, A, root; fret 3, C, flat third, finger 3
- String 4 (D): open, D, fourth; fret 2, E, fifth, finger 2
- String 3 (G): open, G, flat seventh; fret 2, A, root, finger 2
- String 2 (B): fret 1, C, flat third, finger 1; fret 3, D, fourth, finger 3
- String 1 (E): open, E, fifth; fret 3, G, flat seventh, finger 3
In the diagram, each dot carries its scale degree; 1 is the tonic, highlighted.