The pentatonic is THE scale when it comes down to soloing. 90% of the lick you here are based off the pentatonic and it’s the simplest scale to learn.

The pentatonic scale consist of only five core notes, and the best part is you don’t even have to know what the notes are.

It’s a scale that can straightforwardly be stirred all over the fretboard, used in any key, in any situation, but there’s so much more to it than that.

All knows the vital “box” shape of the pentatonic, but I want to introduce you to the pentatonic modes.

All that means is that where on earth you are on the fretboard, you’ll be able to rip into a solo. As you start to learn these different shapes of the pentatonic your soloing is going to take off, and the fretboard is going to open up.

Practice these shapes every day, and at the end of 7 days I guarantee that you’ll be a better guitarist.

If you don’t know how to read tabs, the simplest way to clarify it is to pretend that the guitar is laying on your lap face up. So you’re looking at a birds eye view of the fretboard, and the facts on the strings point headed for which fret you need to play.

Let’s start.

If we were in the key of G, the standard box shape of the minor pentatonic would look like this:

E|———————3-6—————————————–|
B|—————–3-6———————————————|
G|————-3-5————————————————-|
D|———3-5—————————————————–|
A|—–3-5———————————————————|
E|-3-6————————————————————-|

Now expand your practice, by culture each of these modes of the G minor pentatonic, remember once you have the fingerings then you can straightforwardly transpose these modes to use in any key.

E|———————6-8—————————————–|
B|—————–6-8———————————————|
G|————-5-7————————————————-|
D|———5-8—————————————————–|
A|—–5-8———————————————————|
E|-6-8————————————————————-|

E|—————————–8-10——————————–|
B|————————8-11————————————-|
G|——————7-10——————————————-|
D|————8-10————————————————-|
A|——8-10——————————————————-|
E|-8-10————————————————————|

E|——————————-10-13—————————–|
B|————————-11-13———————————–|
G|——————-10-12—————————————–|
D|————-10-12———————————————–|
A|——-10-13—————————————————–|
E|-10-13———————————————————–|

E|——————————-13-15—————————–|
B|————————-13-15———————————–|
G|——————-12-15—————————————–|
D|————-12-15———————————————–|
A|——-13-15—————————————————–|
E|-13-15———————————————————–|

And then that will lead you right back up to the octave of the first “box” shape starting at the 15 fret.

Learn these patterns, and you’ll be playing quicker, and better than you’ve ever had before.