E minor pentatonic using CAGED shape?

[Larry S]

I followed Brian’s lesson on using the CAGED shapes for the A major and minor pentatonic scales. Can someone suggest how I might used the CAGED shapes for E major and minor?

If I use the 6th string I am all the way up on the 12th fret, which is a bit uncomfortable.

I can find the E note on the 5th string, but how do I use the CAGED shapes there?

[Michael L]

Hi Larry,

For the 5th string E note your have two options. With your pinky on that note you can play out of the C-shaped E chord and Brian’s position/shape 4 of the pentatonic scale works over that. With the C-shaped chord you have another root note on the second string… in this case the E note on the 5th fret, second string.

The other option is with your first finger on that 5th string E note you play out of the A-shaped E chord. Your middle or pinky finger will barre the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings on the 9th fret. You have another E note on the 3rd string, 9th fret. Position/shape 5 of the pentatonic scale works for that area.

I just realized you asked about the minor pentatonic and I described the major pentatonic shapes there.

Here’s for minor:
With you pinky on the 5th string E note the minor shape is pretty tough… most of the time I’ll default to just the upper portion of that which is 2nd string, fifth fret (E), 3rd string, fourth fret (B), and 4th string, fifth fret (D). This area uses the 3rd position/shape of the pentatonic scale.

With your first finger on the 5th fret E note you make the A minor shaped chord. The minor pentatonic here is position/shape 4.

Hope this helps… Brian’s lesson on the pentatonics explains it pretty well.

[Larry S]

Hi Michael,
This is very helpful… makes sense. Now, I just have to train the fingers.

[Jean-Michel G]

Hi,
A pentatonic scale consists of the following intervals: T b3 4 5 b7
If we look at the intervals between each pait of adjacent notes, we get: WH W W WH
So, as long as you know how to play a b3 (WH) and a 2 (W) interval on the guitar, you can play the minor pentatonic scales wherever you want on the fingerboard.

Shapes (“boxes”) are just one convenient way to play them, since they are then organised around familiar chord shapes – even for the minor pentatonic scales, although some of the chord shapes in minor are not really played as such because they are inconvenient..
The attached PNG represents Michael’s information in a graphical way. For the E Minor pentatonic, just place the “R” on the 5th string at the 7th fret.
Hope this helps.

[Larry S]

This is extremely helpful. Thank you very much for clearly explaining this. You have opened a door for me.
Best regards.

[Author]

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