12 scales (including enharmonic equivalents)
C Minor Pentatonic Scale
C – D# / Eb – F – G – A# / Bb
C# or Db Minor Pentatonic Scale
C# / Db – E – F# / Gb – G# / Ab – B
D Minor Pentatonic Scale
D – F – G – A – C
D# or Eb Minor Pentatonic Scale
D# / Eb – F# / Gb – G# / Ab – A# / Bb – C# / Db
E Minor Pentatonic Scale
E – G – A – B – D
F Minor Pentatonic Scale
F – G# / Ab – A# / Bb – C – D# / Eb
F# or Gb Minor Pentatonic Scale
F# / Gb – A – B – C# / Db – E
G Minor Pentatonic Scale
G – A# / Bb – C – D – F
G# or Ab Minor Pentatonic Scale
G# / Ab – B – C# / Db – D# / Eb – F# / Gb
A Minor Pentatonic Scale
A – C – D – E – G
A# or Bb Minor Pentatonic Scale
A# / Bb – C# / Db – D# / Eb – F – G# / Ab
B Minor Pentatonic Scale
B – D – E – F# / Gb – A
ANATOMY
Minor Pentatonic Scale Formula
The 5 scale degrees that build every minor pentatonic scale — in any key.
The minor pentatonic is the natural minor scale with two notes removed — the 2nd and the ♭6. That leaves five notes (degrees 1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7) and, crucially, no half-steps. With no adjacent semitones there are no "avoid notes": every tone is consonant over the i chord, which is exactly why the minor pentatonic is the safest scale for beginners to improvise with and the backbone of blues and rock lead guitar.
Applied to A: A – C – D – E – G (drop the B and F from A minor). Applied to E: E – G – A – B – D (drop the F# and C). Applied to G: G – Bb – C – D – F (drop the A and Eb).
About Minor Pentatonic Scales on Guitar
The minor pentatonic scale is the five-note backbone of blues and rock lead guitar. Take any natural minor scale, remove the 2nd and ♭6 degrees, and you are left with five notes that contain no half-steps and no clashing tones — a scale that sounds resolved over almost any minor-key backing. On guitar it maps onto the neck in five overlapping box shapes, and because it shares its notes with the relative major pentatonic (A minor pentatonic = C major pentatonic), learning one box quietly teaches you two scales at once. It is the foundation of blues, rock, metal, and the darker side of pop and folk soloing.
- 01Built from 5 notes — scale degrees 1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7 of the natural minor scale
- 02Formed by removing the 2nd and ♭6 from the natural minor scale
- 03Contains no half-steps, so every note is consonant
- 04Dark, expressive, beginner-safe "no wrong notes" sound
- 05Maps onto the guitar fretboard in 5 overlapping box positions
- 06Shares its notes with the relative major pentatonic
- 0712 unique minor pentatonic scales cover every possible root note
Frequently Asked Questions
A minor pentatonic scale is a five-note scale built from the 1st, ♭3rd, 4th, 5th, and ♭7th degrees of the natural minor scale. In A that gives A, C, D, E, G. Because it removes the 2nd and ♭6, it has no half-steps and no clashing notes, making it the most popular scale for blues and rock soloing.
The notes depend on the root. A minor pentatonic is A, C, D, E, G; E minor pentatonic is E, G, A, B, D; D minor pentatonic is D, F, G, A, C; G minor pentatonic is G, B♭, C, D, F. Every minor pentatonic follows the same 1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7 pattern — pick any of the 12 roots above to see and hear its exact notes.
There are 12 minor pentatonic scales — one for each note in the chromatic scale: C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab, A, A#/Bb, and B. Each contains the same five-note pattern starting from a different root.
The minor pentatonic uses scale degrees 1, ♭3, 4, 5, and ♭7 — in semitones, 0, 3, 5, 7, 10 from the root. It is the natural minor scale with the 2nd and ♭6 removed.
Minor pentatonic uses degrees 1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7 and sounds darker. Major pentatonic uses degrees 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and sounds brighter. They are relatives: A minor pentatonic and C major pentatonic contain the exact same five notes.
It removes the 2nd and ♭6 degrees — the two notes most likely to clash in a minor key — and contains no half-steps. With no adjacent semitones there are no "avoid notes", so every tone is consonant over the i chord.
A minor pentatonic (the famous box at fret 5) and E minor pentatonic are the classic starting points. E minor has every open string as a scale tone, and both underpin a huge amount of blues and rock lead guitar.
The blues scale is the minor pentatonic with one extra note — the ♭5, added between the 4th and 5th. That single "blue note" turns the minor pentatonic into the six-note blues scale; otherwise the two are identical.