[..YouTube..] Most people don’t bend notes with their pinky (fourth) finger so for the common blues and rock styles you need to get in the habit of using your third finger instead. I know it looks limiting but we’re not trying to be a pyro type of guitarist with this stuff. For the guitarist that wants advanced fingerings using the pinky look at my “Seven Positions of the Diatonic Major Scale” thakns, John H

[..YouTube..] Thanks a ton! That was really helpful.

[..YouTube..] I don’t bend notes with the little finger. To be ready at any given time to bend a note I use the third finger instead of the fouth. If you couldn’t see someones hand but listened and liked the music would it make a difference? Tommy Tedesco had dots on his classical guitar but he was employed and the trad-classical guys without the dots weren’t. John

[..YouTube..] nice. but wouldn’t it be better to start training early on with the pinky? i know u need to develop this in metal….

[..YouTube..] Do both…..JH

[..YouTube..] cheers dude, i only played the first position across the neck and it sounded out of key, but now i know the different scales to play, cheers man

[..YouTube..] Great Job Done John

I guess Pinky Automatically goes and third finger Comes when a guitarist has to emphasise on the trill or say bend one step up.
its a great demo vid in a cool fender strat

well up and down strokes are important i guess sir, and well i deliberately use all down strokes as an intermediate widdler when i have to use the pinch harmonics in this scale

[..YouTube..] I read some articles by Eric Clapton and Robben Ford, they both said they try and force themselves to do a lot of just down picking in order to phase tasteful slow melodies instead of trying to flash licks at people simply because they have good back and forth picking technique.

[..YouTube..] It would be a good idea not to imitate his fingerings. He never uses his pinky. You should never dismiss the pinky. If he would have used his pinky it would have diminished that unnecessary shift.

[..YouTube..] It’s perfectly true what mattryals says. But what if you want to bend a certain note that your pinky lands on? For me the third finger is the way I do it when you want to bend a note. I picked it up from watching Clapton, Beck and Page play. I do fast John Mclaughlin-type riffs with my little finger. When I’m in a note-bending phase I tend to use the third finger. We should learn how to do both. I just can’t bend notes with my little finger. JH

[..YouTube..] Really helpful. Hey john when are you uploading a new video?

[..YouTube..] Thanks.

We just put 3 new videos on YT this week - 2 lessons on how to play a solo walkin’ blues, and a song from one of his concerts this summer. His home page now lists additions to his website, which includes new guitar lessons.

-jc

[..YouTube..] greAT job
I`d like to see more of your lesson

[..YouTube..] You may already know this, but the Guitar Lessons section of the website has all the YouTube lessons on one convenient page, organized by category. Even the simple lessons may teach you something you don’t know.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Hey just fell onto your page here. I ve been playing guitar for over a decade but have yet to sharpen my lead skills. It looks like I came to the right place here; I like what I see and hear! You seem to have a very good approach! Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

[..YouTube..] this is such a great help to me it helped me improve my lead skills thanks alot! wish you could share more of your knowledge to people that are learning like me cheers and thanks alot!

[..YouTube..] HI, please check out my (short) vid of me doing some (mostly) pentatonic stuff i know im not synyster gates or anything, ive not been playing 2 years yet but it shows some cool little pentatonic licks in it

[..YouTube..] wo this is very helpul I only knew like 2 positions this really helped me especially with improv. thanxs john for all your wonderful lessons!!! =)

[..YouTube..] Just starting simply and then working up to the harder stuff….

[..YouTube..] Would it be difficult to make music without knowing the name of a note rather than knowing just the number?

[..YouTube..] Letters and numbers are only for trying to keep all the sounds/notes organized in groups. It helps in remembering what notes harmonize well with other notes. There are a lot of good musicians that don’t know a thing about all this theory and stuff. They just play from the heart or by ear as they say and go for the sound in their head. In other words they play music that sounds good to them no matter what letters or numbers we call it…John H

[..YouTube..] o.0

[..YouTube..] Why not using the fingers correctly? Like one finger for each fret? Use your pinky. You have 4 fingers, then use them =D Makes it easier when playing solos’ and stuff.

Anyways; great lesson. Just a few things I didn’t think was logical =P

Cheers,
Stein

[..YouTube..] Why not using the fingers correctly? Like one finger for each fret? Use your pinky. You have 4 fingers, then use them =D Makes it easier when playing solos’ and stuff.

Anyways; great lesson. Just a few things I didn’t think was logical =P

Cheers,
Stein

[..YouTube..] you actually have 5 fingers, and it doesnt really matter what finger you use as long as it sounds good

[..YouTube..] Well.. It’s easier to make it sound good if u use the correct techniques. But if u don’t wanna get my point. Then don’t =)

Stein

[..YouTube..] I asked my instructor the same thing when I started playing. He said that the main reason you should try to use the ring finger versus the pinky is for dexterity and strength. Your pinky is the weakest and least precise finger. It’s harder to control and almost impossible to use for lap steel bemding.

[..YouTube..] brillant helped my scale work thanks all the best gary

[..YouTube..] I’m with you Stein.
I believe you should use four fingers and alternate pick. You should build a good foundation to play off of, and not develop unnecessary habits.

And don’t be a smart ass shoes2shoes.
IT DOES matter, because things won’t sound good if you are playing with slow, and awkward techniques. Take it for what its worth.

[..YouTube..] ahahha 5 fingers hehehe ^_^ more like 5 fingers and a thum =p

[..YouTube..] ahahha 5 fingers hehehe ^_^ more like 5 fingers and a thum =p

[..YouTube..] Can you bend notes with your 4th finger? I can’t. I learned to do both. I bend notes with my 3rd finger so I use it to play these pentatonic scales. But, I can use the little finger too if I want to play some fast passage like John McLaughlin that can’t be played unless you use a more suitable fingering. Thanks for your comment, John

[..YouTube..] Can you bend notes with your 4th finger? I can’t. I learned to do both. I bend notes with my 3rd finger so I use it to play these pentatonic scales. But, I can use the little finger too if I want to play some fast passage like John McLaughlin that can’t be played unless you use a more suitable fingering. Thanks for your comment, John

[..YouTube..] You must of had a teacher that knows the blues and rock stuff. I use my THIRD finger to bend notes so I learned to play pentatonic scales with THE THIRD FINGER. But, I can do both if needs be. Thank you very much!!!!!John

[..YouTube..] Haha.. Okey.. Is okey.. But I prefer to always use the right fingers, even if it’s slow stuff.. And about the bending thing, I think if u can’t bend with your pinky, you should start practise more, and hit the string right on. It helps a lot.

Thanks for the comment,
Stein

[..YouTube..] Ever watch Eric Clapton? Maybe you don’t like that style of guitar playing but that’s all I’m saying here. It’s easier for most people to bend notes with the 3rd finger so learning to play these pentatonic scales with the 3rd IS another way to go. If you want to shred and play lightning type stuff then OK You’re right about that. But I bend with my 3rd finger and that’s the way I teach it to people who want to play Hendrix, BB King and Clapton stuff. Thanks for your interest in music, John

[..YouTube..] Django Reinhart had two good fingers on his left hand and set the pace for fast jazz players to copy. Explain that.

[..YouTube..] Can’t. I haven’t even heard about him, so I guess I shouldn’t speak about it either. =) But I guess he practiced more then necessary if he used the right technique for playing freaking fast. =P

Stein

[..YouTube..] thank you very much, your videos are very impressive.

[..YouTube..] i like the video but what i dont like is to tell people “if your just starting out just worry about downstrokes with the pick” Ive been playing about 5 months and I focused on downstrokes as a noob and its a hard habit to break (4 me anyway) I advise other noobs at guitar to just alternate pick from the get-go. gotta learn it anyway so start now.

[..YouTube..] Wurd! I like your playing. Knowing notes is good obviously too BUT he’s also able to fly up and down the neck with a little help from ALT. Picking too. good day!

[..YouTube..] IMHO ALWAYS alt. Pick Everyone

[..YouTube..] IMHO ALWAYS alt. Pick Everyone

[..YouTube..] I think John and others would disagree of your characterization of down picking as a ‘habit’. To repost what he said a few months ago:

‘I read some articles by Eric Clapton and Robben Ford, they both said they try and force themselves to do a lot of just down picking in order to phase tasteful slow melodies instead of trying to flash licks at people simply because they have good back and forth picking technique.’

[..YouTube..] I agree thats prolly bcuz they did it right from the beginning and learned alt picking. Good day.

[..YouTube..] All the information given in this video has been developed over a forty year period of teaching and performing. The point of this video is to get people playing blues and melodic rock riffs ASAP. You don’t need highly developed picking to do that. Students spend years trying to get good at back and forth picking and get preoccupied with that, they never play one melody that sounds good. You can work on your tecnical mastery as well….John H

[..YouTube..] All the information given in this video has been developed over a forty year period of teaching and performing. The point of this video is to get people playing blues and melodic rock riffs ASAP. You don’t need highly developed picking to do that. Students spend years trying to get good at back and forth picking and get preoccupied with that, they never play one melody that sounds good. You can work on your tecnical mastery as well….John H

[..YouTube..] You don’t get it RJRWJR. Watch any video of master blues players and they use thumbs, fingers, picks as well as thumbpicks and slides.
You want fast picking then go right ahead and do
the up and down picking. But, YOU DON’T HAVE TO IN ORDER TO PLAY GOOD BLUES! Understand? JH

[..YouTube..] You don’t get it RJRWJR. Watch any video of master blues players and they use thumbs, fingers, picks as well as thumbpicks and slides.
You want fast picking then go right ahead and do
the up and down picking. But, YOU DON’T HAVE TO IN ORDER TO PLAY GOOD BLUES! Understand? JH

[..YouTube..] %90 melodic ideas %10 fast up and down picking.

[..YouTube..] Boy you are good subject matter. Please stay in touch with me and let me know where you’re playing. Are you a US citizen? If you ever play a gig anywhere in the states I’m going to go out of my way to try and be there. This debate has to be taken up in person……John

[..YouTube..] i hardly know any theory so what happens when u down tune your guitar e.g drop d or c? do the scales stay the same?

[..YouTube..] i hardly know any theory so what happens when u down tune your guitar e.g drop d or c? do the scales stay the same?

[..YouTube..] If you tune every string down the same interval then the scale shapes or fingerings don’t change. normal = E A D G B E
drop all to D = D G C F A D
drop all to C = C F Bb Eb G C
If you use tunings that just drop the bass note down to D or C then that one string fingering will have to be changed….John H

[..YouTube..] ahh i have yet to master the scales. any tips on how to get them memorised other thatn wat u said in the vid???

[..YouTube..] I forwarded your question to John, but 2 things I thought of are:

the 1st and 6th strings have the same pattern (since they’re both E strings).

And the 1st position always starts on the fifth fret, and the 5th position always ends on the fifth fret, so they’re the easiest to memorize.

-jc

[..YouTube..] im not trying to be adick here, but moving the hand when you can just use your pinkie. thet is quite unnessescary i think. if you are going to get fluent you will need to use all fingers

[..YouTube..] That’s what I’m saying. Learn how to do both. Use the little finger for the fast runs and the third finger for note bending. Thanks for your comment….John H

[..YouTube..] A lot of it has to do with how much you look at it. Get a poster of the scales you wish to learn up on the wall. Get familiar with what they look like. There’s a lot of subtle things you don’t see at first that make them easier to memorize. You’ll discover some patterns that repeat themselves and soon you’ll know where all the notes are which is half the battle….John H

[..YouTube..] HOLY SHIT MAN. i got them!!!!!.
but more practice never hurts..thanks ur the best!!!
p.s so i realy liek the blues. and u need theory to play them. is learning theory hard? i dont mean to be a bother but ur good..

[..YouTube..] HOLY SHIT MAN. i got them!!!!!.
but more practice never hurts..thanks ur the best!!!
p.s so i realy liek the blues. and u need theory to play them. is learning theory hard? i dont mean to be a bother but ur good..

[..YouTube..] Thank you for the lesson about the pentatonic!

[..YouTube..] If you moved this down to the 7th fret would it work and would it be in the key of B?

[..YouTube..] Yes, if you move position 1 up to the 7th fret that would be in the key of B. Position 2 would be moved to the 10th fret, position 3 to the 12th fret, etc.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Yes, if you move position 1 up to the 7th fret that would be in the key of B. Position 2 would be moved to the 10th fret, position 3 to the 12th fret, etc.

-jc

[..YouTube..] B minor pentatonic. Learn theory to figure out how these scales are formed and what chord changes they’ll work over. If you told a person who doesn’t know theory that a B minor pentatonic will work over a B major progression, they look at you like your talking Chinese. In fact many classically trained musicians don’t know this. They think you have to play everything diatonically correct. lol

[..YouTube..] sir can you post like close ups slow?

[..YouTube..] thanks i look forward to using these 5 stars

[..YouTube..] thanks i look forward to using these 5 stars

[..YouTube..] cool, I was about to ask about the pinkie.
Cheers for the good info!!

[..YouTube..] cool, I was about to ask about the pinkie.
Cheers for the good info!!

[..YouTube..] Hi John, Great lessons in easy bites. With the five positions, do these relate to the CAGED system? i.e. your first position was A in the “E” shape of the chord. Therefore is the second postion the scale you’d use around the “D” shape and so on? I’m trying to get my head around these things :o)

[..YouTube..] Minor and relative major chord positioning relating to the pentatonic scale. 1st position of A minor at the 5th fret with an index finger bar or capo play an E minor shape or a G major shape. 2nd position bar D minor on the 7th fret or E major on the 8th. 3rd position play a C minor shape at the 9th fret or bar a D major at the 10th. 4th position bar an A minor or a C major chord shape at the 0/12th fret. 5th position G minor shape at the 2/14th fret and A major at the 3/15th.
C and G mi???

[..YouTube..] Thanks john, I think I get it. I also note your kindly subtle pointing out of my confusing minor & major shapes:o) Veiwed your live vids, great blues playing! You clearly love what you do so keep doing it. Terry U.K.

[..YouTube..] so i got a question: do these link up like diatonics do? (horazontaly and verticaly on the fretboard)???

[..YouTube..] so i got a question: do these link up like diatonics do? (horazontaly and verticaly on the fretboard)???

[..YouTube..] John’s out of town and I’m not sure I understand the question, but here goes anyway:

If you look at either of the E strings, position 1 ends and position 2 starts at the eighth fret; position 2 ends and position 3 starts at the tenth fret; etc. Similar things apply to the other 4 strings.

And the position of the scale notes are the exact same on the high and low E strings.

-jc

[..YouTube..] John’s out of town and I’m not sure I understand the question, but here goes anyway:

If you look at either of the E strings, position 1 ends and position 2 starts at the eighth fret; position 2 ends and position 3 starts at the tenth fret; etc. Similar things apply to the other 4 strings.

And the position of the scale notes are the exact same on the high and low E strings.

-jc

[..YouTube..] hell yeah so you can link and shred longer rifs, ok cool. thanx.

[..YouTube..] hell yeah so you can link and shred longer rifs, ok cool. thanx.

[..YouTube..] To everyone that is concerned about the pinky not being used, understand that this is the status quo for beginning to learn the blues. One must focus on hand movement so that you can begin transitioning between the different shapes. Further, using your index and ring finger teaches you how to properly angle your fretting wrist more towards the bridge instead of vertical along the strings.

[..YouTube..] To everyone that is concerned about the pinky not being used, understand that this is the status quo for beginning to learn the blues. One must focus on hand movement so that you can begin transitioning between the different shapes. Further, using your index and ring finger teaches you how to properly angle your fretting wrist more towards the bridge instead of vertical along the strings.

[..YouTube..] Cont’d

With regard to bending, it’s much easier to get your index and middle finger behind your ring finger, than it is to get your whole hand behind your pinky. It’s not a matter of not learning to bend with your pinky, it’s that someone who is just starting out learning the pentatonic scale, is not going to be able to bend wit their pinky. At this point in learning, we want to emphasize hand speed and proper fretting technique.

[..YouTube..] u don’t need to learn FIVE. only ONE. for major scale put middle finger on root note to start. the pattern is M - P (next string) I - M - P (next string) I - R - P. [m=middle,I=index,R=ring,P=pinky] u can slide your middle down and play the last note (which is the root again) with your middle instead of your pinky and you’re all set to go again. u can go all over the board like this. instead of skipping strings you can continue up the same string (just skip 1 fret).

[..YouTube..] continued from below: only think letter names of notes to find the root, then think in scale degrees (1,2,3,4,5,6,7). to play modes just start at that point in the pattern and play thru to the same point in the connected pattern.

[..YouTube..] continued from below: only think letter names of notes to find the root, then think in scale degrees (1,2,3,4,5,6,7). to play modes just start at that point in the pattern and play thru to the same point in the connected pattern.

[..YouTube..] coll lesson, easy to follow, thanks for breaking it down man, awesome !!!

[..YouTube..] coll lesson, easy to follow, thanks for breaking it down man, awesome !!!

[..YouTube..] Thanks a million pickup up your link from About dot com… really appreciate all the efforts. I’ve picked up a few things that no one else has taught me.

[..YouTube..] Can’t say I understand what you’re talking about. Look below at what dmcdowellSN95 says. It’s more about showing beginners how to rather than going into some new approach. Thanks for your input…..JH

[..YouTube..] Good of you to share your opinion and viewpoint. Thanks for your comments. This is the best observation of this 5-postion lesson yet. It’s for the benefit of beginners and it’s more of a blues approach rather than a shredding stlye. Learn both if you have the time and inspiration. JH

[..YouTube..] it’s perfectly simple. YOU’RE doing things the hard way. all you need to know is ONE SIMPLE major scale pattern to play contiguously all over the fretboard in any mode. perhaps you don’t want to take the time to think about what i wrote. fine. keep doing things the hard way. i just hate to see you “teaching” others how to do it the hard way too.

[..YouTube..] Wow dude just beacause of you Iv’e learned the 5 postions of the A minor penatonic and the A major positions thanks dude This will really help me. Iv’e been misguided by my first teacher didn’t teach me scales for shit

[..YouTube..] this is exactly what ive been looking for. great soloing set of scales. thanksthanksthanks 5 stars.

[..YouTube..] You rock! Thanks for explaining in clear terms and including tabs. Just learning scales and this was very helpful. Look forward to more!

[..YouTube..] This is the only helpful video i’ve found for learning the pentatonic scale! I like when guys that do these videos zoom in close and explain why they’re doing what they do. Thank you so much man. You’re a great teacher.

[..YouTube..] This is the only helpful video i’ve found for learning the pentatonic scale! I like when guys that do these videos zoom in close and explain why they’re doing what they do. Thank you so much man. You’re a great teacher.

[..YouTube..] Thats all he did man. He showed exactly how to play that major scale in all positions. I dont know what you’re on about. He made it pretty simple.

[..YouTube..] what i’m “on about” is that YOU DON’T NEED TO MEMORIZE A DIFFERENT PATTERN FOR ALL 5 POSITIONS.

there are 7 modes of the major scale. doing things his way has you having to memorize 35 different patterns.

doing things my way has you only having to learn ONE.

now if you are too lazy to read what i wrote then that’s YOUR problem.

this guy is wasting your time and making learning the guitar A CHORE.

it isn’t that hard. in fact, it’s EASY.

[..YouTube..] what i’m “on about” is that YOU DON’T NEED TO MEMORIZE A DIFFERENT PATTERN FOR ALL 5 POSITIONS.

there are 7 modes of the major scale. doing things his way has you having to memorize 35 different patterns.

doing things my way has you only having to learn ONE.

now if you are too lazy to read what i wrote then that’s YOUR problem.

this guy is wasting your time and making learning the guitar A CHORE.

it isn’t that hard. in fact, it’s EASY.

[..YouTube..] thanx john, for the penta-help.

[..YouTube..] really great..really great……thank you very much.

[..YouTube..] really great..really great……thank you very much.

[..YouTube..] you are a very wonderful person for teaching and sharing your skills… i’m sure you helped a lot of people already for free… thank you so much and may God give you more Strength, Power, and blessings… keep up the good work…

[..YouTube..] you are a very wonderful person for teaching and sharing your skills… i’m sure you helped a lot of people already for free… thank you so much and may God give you more Strength, Power, and blessings… keep up the good work…

[..YouTube..] im new at guitar so this might seem like a stupid question to you. I heard him mention this was the am pentatonic. does that mean that there are other keys of pentatonic scale? If so where can i find them. thank you

[..YouTube..] There are 12 different keys for the minor pentatonic scale, one for each of the 12 notes: E, F, F# (or Gb), G, G# (or Ab), A, A# (or Bb), B, etc.

Just move any of these 5 positions up & down the fretboard to get a different key. For example, to get a G minor pentatonic, start position 1 at fret 3 instead of fret 5; start position 2 at fret 6 instead of fret 8; etc.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Thank you so much. i understand. god bless

[..YouTube..] So if i’m playing an A minor scale the pattern would go A,C,D,E,G. So if i play it in the key of C i’d start on the 8th fret right?

[..YouTube..] So if i’m playing an A minor scale the pattern would go A,C,D,E,G. So if i play it in the key of C i’d start on the 8th fret right?

[..YouTube..] yes, that’s the pattern for the key of A, position #1; and you’re correct as well about where to start pattern #1 for the key of C.

-jc

[..YouTube..] yes, that’s the pattern for the key of A, position #1; and you’re correct as well about where to start pattern #1 for the key of C.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Thanks alot, I just started learning and thought i’d start on chords and scales first, it’s all starting to piece together now.

[..YouTube..] masterofmetalpup is wrong. 1st, this is a lesson on the pentatonic scale, not the major scale (see lesson “7 positions of diatonic scale”).

2nd, John’s method does not require one to memorize 35 or 49 patterns (7 modes * 7 patterns = 49) to play the major modes.

3rd, if one uses mmp’s method, for a given mode, one would get stuck trying to improvise using the same pattern throughout the fretboard.

0:50 into this lesson John explains how different patterns help one improvise.

-jc

[..YouTube..] If masterofmetalpuppets tried as hard to articulate his point better, instead of focusing on being a smartass, we might actually know what the hell he’s talking about.

Why he’s ranting about the major scale on a pentatonic lesson is beyond me.

[..YouTube..] If masterofmetalpuppets tried as hard to articulate his point better, instead of focusing on being a smartass, we might actually know what the hell he’s talking about.

Why he’s ranting about the major scale on a pentatonic lesson is beyond me.

[..YouTube..] this helped A LOT
thanks man!!!

[..YouTube..] can you please help me. my friends said i can randomly hit the notes in scale but when i try to randomly hit the notes and try to play it along with chords, some of the riffs doest sound in tune with the chords thx

[..YouTube..] Man your lessons are amazing. You get right to the point every time. I want to thank you for these lessons they are very helpfull. You realy know what your talking about.

[..YouTube..] try playing one of the 4 pentatonic riffs or one of the 2 major (diatonic) riffs we have on YouTube first. Our pentatonic riffs are in the key of A and the diatonic riffs are in the key of C, so you will have to adjust according to which key the song is in.

[..YouTube..] Tell me what chords were being played and what scale or notes you were using…..John

[..YouTube..] Thanks for your comment. I’m only using what I know that has worked for me. I’m sure there’s plenty of players out there with more ideas and technique than I have but this is what I’ve used with a certain degree of success for blues and rock….Thanks again, John

[..YouTube..] I try to play A minor pentatonic scale on Am and F, G and C maybe its wrong to say it doesnt sound in tune but it didnt match maybe i must hit the right note for every chord

[..YouTube..] john i love metal. what scale i must learn thx

[..YouTube..] You can use all the notes in the A minor scale but it will sound more “in tune” as you put it if you use all notes in the KEY scale BUT concentrate around the notes of each chord ie. starting, ending and letting notes that are in the chord being played at the time ring longer and maybe louder/more accentuated. So if the a min chords playing try starting and concentrating the riffs on the A C E notes. Also a good tip is to move box positions to really accent the change in chords. Hope that helps

[..YouTube..] thx now I your a big help but what do you mean by “move box position ” is that mean that if a play with C i can use the box 2 cause it start with C

[..YouTube..] Yeah thats pretty much it mate. By moving up the positions (as long as you dont do it on every chord) It will help you highlight the chord changes. If you need any more advice just message me n ask!!!

[..YouTube..] Yeah thats pretty much it mate. By moving up the positions (as long as you dont do it on every chord) It will help you highlight the chord changes. If you need any more advice just message me n ask!!!

[..YouTube..] thx you rock

[..YouTube..] thx you rock

[..YouTube..] I have also a question similar to dragonforceaddictz what do you mean “You can use all the notes in the A minor scale but it will sound more “in tune” as you put it if you use all notes in the KEY scale” sorry for stupid question but you see playing scale was very new to me I just head it from a friend a few months ago

[..YouTube..] I have also a question similar to dragonforceaddictz what do you mean “You can use all the notes in the A minor scale but it will sound more “in tune” as you put it if you use all notes in the KEY scale” sorry for stupid question but you see playing scale was very new to me I just head it from a friend a few months ago

[..YouTube..] Why not use your pinky on the low E string? Instead of senselessly sliding the whole hand out of position. Its known as “economy” ala John Petrucci and all the shred masters

[..YouTube..] nice demonstration john… really shows the beginners out there an easy way to pick it up

[..YouTube..] this is great
this is really important work for helping people get started - now that i can play this scale already i’m exploring much more of the fret board .. before i was just sticking to the first 5 frets

[..YouTube..] Hey!!! We are supposed to KNOW all places, you are very quick!!

[..YouTube..] Hey!!! We are supposed to KNOW all places, you are very quick!!

[..YouTube..] ok first its called alternative picking, and new guitarists should practice this right away. not just down picking.

second, you shouldnt be moving your hand around like that.
use your fourth finger! not just your index, middle, and ring.

for all who read this:

this guy is a joke,

i recomend justin sandercoe on youtube.

[..YouTube..] E minor pentatonic scale is the “heavy metal scale”

[..YouTube..] When he first shows the scale being played from the first position, the tablature that pops onto the screen is incorrect; the fifth string is played from the 5th to 7th frets, and the second string should be played from 5th to 8th.

[..YouTube..] Your comments about the frets and strings are true, but you are reading the tablature upside down. The numbers on the bottom of the screen are the low strings and the numbers higher up on the screen are the high strings. So the tabs are actually correct.

We have higher quality versions of this and other lessons on a diff platform if you have trouble reading the numbers. See the website for links.

-jc

[..YouTube..] No wonder, sorry about my ignorance, John. I think your lessons are great! Have a good day!

Owen

[..YouTube..] No wonder, sorry about my ignorance, John. I think your lessons are great! Have a good day!

Owen

[..YouTube..] hehehehe he said different fingerings! : D
helped alot though thnx

[..YouTube..] hehehehe he said different fingerings! : D
helped alot though thnx

[..YouTube..] hehehehe he said different fingerings! : D
helped alot though thnx

[..YouTube..] actually owenstuckey, im pretty sure it should be 5-8 5-7 5-7 5-7 5-8 5-8, 90% sure.

[..YouTube..] actually owenstuckey, im pretty sure it should be 5-8 5-7 5-7 5-7 5-8 5-8, 90% sure.

[..YouTube..] i have a question. when you were talking about making big stretches shouldnt u just use your pinky?

[..YouTube..] i have a question. when you were talking about making big stretches shouldnt u just use your pinky?

[..YouTube..] From a previous comment of John’s on this thread,

“Most people don’t bend notes with their pinky (fourth) finger so for the common blues and rock styles you need to get in the habit of using your third finger instead. I know it looks limiting but we’re not trying to be a pyro type of guitarist with this stuff. For the guitarist that wants advanced fingerings using the pinky look at my “Seven Positions of the Diatonic Major Scale” thakns, John H ”

So in other words learn to do both.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Man o man…this guy is goooooooodddd!!!!
Thanks for the great tutorial! A born teacher and guitarist. Loved it.

[..YouTube..] Man o man…this guy is goooooooodddd!!!!
Thanks for the great tutorial! A born teacher and guitarist. Loved it.

[..YouTube..] Hey John, just wanted to say that this lesson is awesome!! I never felt so much fun playing guitar until learning what you’ve showed here! Lots of thanks!!

[..YouTube..] Hey John, just wanted to say that this lesson is awesome!! I never felt so much fun playing guitar until learning what you’ve showed here! Lots of thanks!!

[..YouTube..] ok thank you

[..YouTube..] ok thank you

[..YouTube..] ok i’ve beeing playing for a year now and i’ve just been learning songs and some basic stuff and i had herd about pentatonic scales before but what exactly are they use for? why do need to learn them?

[..YouTube..] ok i’ve beeing playing for a year now and i’ve just been learning songs and some basic stuff and i had herd about pentatonic scales before but what exactly are they use for? why do need to learn them?

[..YouTube..] See John’s lesson “scales vs riffs” which answers your question. Or better yet start at the beginning and go through all the lessons in order. That can be done either on the website or playlists on YouTube.
-jc

[..YouTube..] alright thanks.

[..YouTube..] pentatonic scales are commonly used for soloing

[..YouTube..] pentatonic scales are commonly used for soloing

[..YouTube..] yeah i think so too

[..YouTube..] scales are used to create solos. They are meant to help you improvise.

[..YouTube..] mate you are a fukn guiter legend thnks

[..YouTube..] mate you are a fukn guiter legend thnks

[..YouTube..] Thanks for this, I have seen about three different versions of the Am pentatonnic scale, are there different versions? or the other one’s are wrong!

[..YouTube..] Thanks for this, I have seen about three different versions of the Am pentatonnic scale, are there different versions? or the other one’s are wrong!

[..YouTube..] very good lesson

[..YouTube..] i spent months learning to use pinky for the 4 fret stre3tches.bummer man

[..YouTube..] John uses the pinky sometimes. Look at his video “seven positions of major (diatonic) scale”, or some of the guitar review videos we recently posted where he plays heavy metal type riffs. He just doesn’t always use his pinky, especially when bending notes playing the blues.

Your effort was not wasted.

-jc

[..YouTube..] i found your johnhguitar website after posting and noticed he was using pinky in pent shapes like me so nice one…excellent videos by the way.thanks

[..YouTube..] There’s only one A minor pentatonic scale but there are several different ways to play it. There’s lots of different fingerings. Try and study as many as you can…..John H

[..YouTube..] thanks i’ve looked into it more, and this one is right! so thanks for that! looks like i need to re learn it,

[..YouTube..] thanks i’ve looked into it more, and this one is right! so thanks for that! looks like i need to re learn it,

[..YouTube..] This is brilliant - clear & quick. Thanks alot

[..YouTube..] u suck then

[..YouTube..] Actually I use my little finger for speed riffs and my third finger bending notes. I don’t like bending with the little finger so I use the third finger a lot more…..John

[..YouTube..] Actually I use my little finger for speed riffs and my third finger bending notes. I don’t like bending with the little finger so I use the third finger a lot more…..John

[..YouTube..] so all those ^ can be put together in the same piece?

[..YouTube..] thank you.now when im going through the modes ill be able to kno wher the pentatonic notes are

[..YouTube..] this is brilliant! very clearly explained and easy to understand. cheers

[..YouTube..] this is brilliant! very clearly explained and easy to understand. cheers

[..YouTube..] Overall a good lesson,
BUT I saw no use of the pinkie finger. I have always used 1 finger per fret. Using pinkie finger will build speed and lessen hand movement. What do you think?

[..YouTube..] This has been covered in several previous comments on this thread, here’s one:

“Most people don’t bend notes with their pinky (fourth) finger so for the common blues and rock styles you need to get in the habit of using your third finger instead. I know it looks limiting but we’re not trying to be a pyro type of guitarist with this stuff. For the guitarist that wants advanced fingerings using the pinky look at my “Seven Positions of the Diatonic Major Scale” [thanks], John H”

-jc

[..YouTube..] This has been covered in several previous comments on this thread, here’s one:

“Most people don’t bend notes with their pinky (fourth) finger so for the common blues and rock styles you need to get in the habit of using your third finger instead. I know it looks limiting but we’re not trying to be a pyro type of guitarist with this stuff. For the guitarist that wants advanced fingerings using the pinky look at my “Seven Positions of the Diatonic Major Scale” [thanks], John H”

-jc

[..YouTube..] why not use the pinky finger for the fourth house?

[..YouTube..] So. All those 5 positions you showed, is all A-minor scales. Does that mean that D, F, E etc. all have 5 scales? And is there any comparison between how and where all tones are played?

[..YouTube..] That’s been my question for about 2 months now.. and I still don’t understand it :S…

[..YouTube..] The 5 positions shown are all the same scale, the A minor pentatonic, played in different places on the fretboard.

The keys of D, F, E, etc., also have 5 positions that would be played in different places.

So as an example, consider the G minor pentatonic. Position 1 would start on fret 3 of the low E string instead of the 5th fret; position 2 would start on fret 6 instead of the 8th fret; pos 3 would start on the 8th fret of the low E string instead of the 10th fret.

-jc

[..YouTube..] See my reply to quarbon.

[..YouTube..] See my reply to quarbon.

[..YouTube..] thanks a lot man, that really helped me a lot. Do you have a movie that demonstrates the .. positions of the major scale?

[..YouTube..] There are videos for both the major pentatonic and major diatonic. The major pentatonic has 5 notes just like the minor pentatonic, but the major diatonic scale has 7notes. If you meant the major diatonic which is usually just referred to as the major scale:

There are 2 videos that go over the major scale, one with 5 positions and one with 7 positions. John recommends you learn the one with 7 positions, 3 notes per string. It’s called “seven positions of major (diatonic) scale”. CONT. >>>

[..YouTube..] There are videos for both the major pentatonic and major diatonic. The major pentatonic has 5 notes just like the minor pentatonic, but the major diatonic scale has 7notes. If you meant the major diatonic which is usually just referred to as the major scale:

There are 2 videos that go over the major scale, one with 5 positions and one with 7 positions. John recommends you learn the one with 7 positions, 3 notes per string. It’s called “seven positions of major (diatonic) scale”. CONT. >>>

[..YouTube..] However, it’s a more work to memorize the major (diatonic) scale positions since there are 3 notes per string vs 2 notes, as well as 7 positions vs 5 positions. So that comes to over 2 times as many notes to memorize.

I recommend you start from the beginning and go over the lessons in order. We have playlists on YouTube, or you can go to the website where the lessons are listed in the correct sequence.

-jc

[..YouTube..] I’m sorry if u think i’m like stupid or something… but my guitar technique skills are ok, but I’m trying to learn all of the theory behind scales and stuff… so here’s another question (if i should stop just tell me..)
Do keys likeD, F and E have minor pentatonic scales like the Am we learned in this vid?
and what exactly is the difference between diatonic and pentatonic? Dia = 2, Penta = 5 ??

[..YouTube..] I’m sorry if u think i’m like stupid or something… but my guitar technique skills are ok, but I’m trying to learn all of the theory behind scales and stuff… so here’s another question (if i should stop just tell me..)
Do keys likeD, F and E have minor pentatonic scales like the Am we learned in this vid?
and what exactly is the difference between diatonic and pentatonic? Dia = 2, Penta = 5 ??

[..YouTube..] I answered all your questions in the previous comments:
a) keys like D,F, E, etc. do have minor pentatonic scales like A. Just move the A shapes up and down the fretboard. For example, move the A shapes down 2 frets to play in the key of G,
2) the diatonic scales have 7 notes in the scale, the pentatonic scales have 5.

I recommend you go to “Video Guitar Lessons, Tabs” page of the website, and start at the beginning by pressing the button “Basics” near the top.

-jc

[..YouTube..] So… when someone talks about: The A scale (if they ever do that) do they mean the diatonic, or pentatonic.. or blabla…
And, if that D has the minor pentatonic scale, what does Dm(inor) have?? the same?? or does Dm have a major diatonic scale… :S

[..YouTube..] “The A scale” would be ambiguous without more info.

The diatonic scales have “modes”, some of which are minor. For example, there would be a D dorian minor (diatonic) scale, D aeolian minor (diatonic) scale, etc. But that gets into a whole different area and is more complicated.

I don’t think Dm would have a major diatonic scale as that would be a contradiction in terms. Dm has minor (diatonic) scales though as I just mentioned.

-jc

[..YouTube..] im sorry but why the pentatonic minor i learnt is diff from urs?

[..YouTube..] this is a real helpful video

[..YouTube..] you make it a lot easier than al the other guys! good job it really helped

[..YouTube..] you make it a lot easier than al the other guys! good job it really helped

[..YouTube..] uber helpful!!!!
lol

[..YouTube..] uber helpful!!!!
lol

[..YouTube..] Is this all I need to know for the 5 positions of the minor penatonic scale?Or is there like a g minor penatonic scale or a d minor penatonic scale in 5 positions too Im a little confused?

[..YouTube..] All of the 12 notes (E, F, F#, G, …) have their own pentatonic scales with 5 positions. But they have the exact same shapes as the A minor pentatonic scale, you just have to move the A positions up and down the fretboard.

So for example, position 1 of the G minor pent. scale starts on the 3rd fret instead of the 5th; position 2 starts on the 6th fret instead of the 8th; etc.

-jc

[..YouTube..] So its bascally the same it’s just diffrent cause they all begin on diffrent frets?

[..YouTube..] yes, very succinct way of putting it.

-jc

[..YouTube..] yes, very succinct way of putting it.

-jc

[..YouTube..] whats the point in calling it diffrent? why cant it just be called minor penatonic scale in 5 positions it doesent matter where you start does it?

[..YouTube..] whats the point in calling it diffrent? why cant it just be called minor penatonic scale in 5 positions it doesent matter where you start does it?

[..YouTube..] you mean those positions are the same to all root notes?

[..YouTube..] you mean those positions are the same to all root notes?

[..YouTube..] 30 minutes after got the puzzle done. Nice, lesson, i was a bit confused but now it’s all clear. I advice you to make that “5″ more visible in the tabs, it looks like a six.

[..YouTube..] Unfortunately YouTube doesn’t let one re-load higher quality versions of videos. However, the Guitar Lessons page of the website has links to higher quality version of this lesson, and others.

-jc

[..YouTube..] great video very helpful of understanding theory.

[..YouTube..] great video very helpful of understanding theory.

[..YouTube..] i think you can do that now can’t you? i think they changed it or something idk.

[..YouTube..] anyways, your lesson is gold

[..YouTube..] anyways, your lesson is gold

[..YouTube..] By re-load I meant overwrite the existing video with a new one. We could add a new higher quality video (1 gig limit vs old limit of 100mb), but then we’d lose all of the comments, views, ratings, etc.

-jc

[..YouTube..] By re-load I meant overwrite the existing video with a new one. We could add a new higher quality video (1 gig limit vs old limit of 100mb), but then we’d lose all of the comments, views, ratings, etc.

-jc

[..YouTube..] ohhhhhhh ok.

[..YouTube..] you shouldn’t move your hand to play the scale with your 1st and 3rd finger. you should get into the habit of using your 4th (pinky) finger for flexibility reasons

[..YouTube..] use your pinky!

[..YouTube..] why don’t you use the 4th finger. its better to show it right

[..YouTube..] From a previous comment John made,

Most people don’t bend notes with their pinky (fourth) finger so for the common blues and rock styles you need to get in the habit of using your third finger instead. I know it looks limiting but we’re not trying to be a pyro type of guitarist with this stuff. For the guitarist that wants advanced fingerings using the pinky look at my “Seven Positions of the Diatonic Major Scale” thanks, John H

[..YouTube..] From a previous comment John made,

Most people don’t bend notes with their pinky (fourth) finger so for the common blues and rock styles you need to get in the habit of using your third finger instead. I know it looks limiting but we’re not trying to be a pyro type of guitarist with this stuff. For the guitarist that wants advanced fingerings using the pinky look at my “Seven Positions of the Diatonic Major Scale” thanks, John H

[..YouTube..] how do you aply this to other keys though

[..YouTube..] That’s easy, just move the patterns up and down the fretboard. For example to switch to the key of B, move all patterns up 2 frets.

So pattern 1 on the low E string would start on fret 7 and end on fret 10. Pattern 2 on the low E string would start on fret 10 and end on fret 12, etc.

-jc

[..YouTube..] That’s easy, just move the patterns up and down the fretboard. For example to switch to the key of B, move all patterns up 2 frets.

So pattern 1 on the low E string would start on fret 7 and end on fret 10. Pattern 2 on the low E string would start on fret 10 and end on fret 12, etc.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Learn to do both. If you want to bend notes you’ll need the third finger so you have to get it into position quickly. Use the little finger for the fast jazzy runs. So pull the finger out of your butt and get busy. I do both so should you.

[..YouTube..] Learn to do both. If you want to bend notes you’ll need the third finger so you have to get it into position quickly. Use the little finger for the fast jazzy runs. So pull the finger out of your butt and get busy. I do both so should you.

[..YouTube..] Sooo ! This patterns you play … do they apply to any key?? If I want to play in the key of G … I just start this same patterns on the… 3rd fret? and work my way down the neck until I cant go further?

[..YouTube..] Sooo ! This patterns you play … do they apply to any key?? If I want to play in the key of G … I just start this same patterns on the… 3rd fret? and work my way down the neck until I cant go further?

[..YouTube..] finally someone i understand…..
so cud u do another vid on the major pentatonic scale???

[..YouTube..] finally someone i understand…..
so cud u do another vid on the major pentatonic scale???

[..YouTube..] Yes to the first two questions. On your 3rd question, once you hit the 13th fret that is the same as the 1st fret, but an octave higher (and the 12th fret is the same as the open strings, but an octave higher). John’s video review of the Fernandes Dragonfly guitar explains this.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Yes to the first two questions. On your 3rd question, once you hit the 13th fret that is the same as the 1st fret, but an octave higher (and the 12th fret is the same as the open strings, but an octave higher). John’s video review of the Fernandes Dragonfly guitar explains this.

-jc

[..YouTube..] They have already been done. See the guitar lessons section of the website for all the lessons in the proper order. Or you can stay on YouTube and view the playlists.

Some of the guitar and amp reviews also have tidbits of useful info as well.

-jc

[..YouTube..] They have already been done. See the guitar lessons section of the website for all the lessons in the proper order. Or you can stay on YouTube and view the playlists.

Some of the guitar and amp reviews also have tidbits of useful info as well.

-jc

[..YouTube..] that sg is staring at me

[..YouTube..] Sooooooooo!
If I want to play in the key of C …
I start all this patterns on the 8th fret…and work my way down the neck following the same patterns, and all those notes are the C minor pentatonic?

[..YouTube..] Sooooooooo!
If I want to play in the key of C …
I start all this patterns on the 8th fret…and work my way down the neck following the same patterns, and all those notes are the C minor pentatonic?

[..YouTube..] yes, start position #1 on the 8th fret of the low E string, position #2 on the 11th fret of the low E string, etc.

-jc

[..YouTube..] so this is in the key of a

[..YouTube..] so this is in the key of a

[..YouTube..] oh ignore that last comment i didnt watch all of it

[..YouTube..] oh ignore that last comment i didnt watch all of it

[..YouTube..] Does anybody know any songs that i can use to practice the scale?

[..YouTube..] Does anybody know any songs that i can use to practice the scale?

[..YouTube..] try this backing track in the key of A

(remove spaces)
youtube . com/watch?v=Isl1Lk_-yw8

-jc

[..YouTube..] The first tab he shows is wrong.. he means:
6-8 5-8 5-8 5-7 6-8 6-8

[..YouTube..] The tabs you gave would be (what John calls position 2 of) the G minor pentatonic scale, or (what he calls position 1 of) the Bb major pentatonic scale.

This lesson is on the A minor pentatonic scale.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Okay im sry i was wrong.
But is there differente scales for each tone or is it just the same ones moved? I mean the five minor pentatonic scales moved.

[..YouTube..] Just move the 5 positions of the minor pentatonic scale up and down the neck to play in different keys.

So for example, position 1 of the B minor pentatonic scale would start on the 7th fret and end on the 10th fret of the low E string.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Okay, thanks
What do you do if you are ”out of frets”. I mean if you are on 22 fret for example, and theres not enough space?

[..YouTube..] Okay, thanks
What do you do if you are ”out of frets”. I mean if you are on 22 fret for example, and theres not enough space?

[..YouTube..] Just subtract 12 from the fret# to get a lower octave. I’m pretty sure this is explained in one of the basic lessons (see Guitar Lessons portion of website or one of the YouTube guitar lesson playlists).

Also the Fernandes Dragonfly guitar review kind of explains it also.

-jc

[..YouTube..] If u dont have space ofr all scale if u get to end of guitar….just play the notes available! common sense if u think bout it

[..YouTube..] I was just checking out this lesson after not having seen it for a while. Learn how to use your third finger and your little finger. Third finger for bending notes and fourth finger for speed picking and correct alignment. You really can’t run up on position #2 and bend a note with your fourth finger unless you’re King Kong not BB King..Thanks for your interest and comment. John

[..YouTube..] is it me or are some of the tabs wrong?

On the scale shape starting at the 12th fret it says to play the fret 16 at the bottom but he plays 15?

[..YouTube..] is it me or are some of the tabs wrong?

On the scale shape starting at the 12th fret it says to play the fret 16 at the bottom but he plays 15?

[..YouTube..] The tabs are correct, just hard to read; this video was posted before YouTube increased their resolution.

15 is the correct fret# for the shape starting at the 12th fret. The notes of the A minor pentatonic are all whole notes with no sharps or flats (A, C, D, E, G).

The website has a link to a higher resolution version of the lesson.

-jc

[..YouTube..] The tabs are correct, just hard to read; this video was posted before YouTube increased their resolution.

15 is the correct fret# for the shape starting at the 12th fret. The notes of the A minor pentatonic are all whole notes with no sharps or flats (A, C, D, E, G).

The website has a link to a higher resolution version of the lesson.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Wow this video really helped me =D thanks!

AND i have the same shirt ^^

[..YouTube..] Well, good lesson and excellent explanation of the five positions, however, I have a few beefs. 1) Use your fourth finger (pinky)! Do NOT move your hand any more than you have to. Efficiency is key to speed and smoothness. 2) Include the open position of the Am-pentatonic (0-3 0-3 0-2 0-2 1-2 0-3). 3) In pos. #3 start with finger two and only shift on string 2 when you have to.

[..YouTube..] The 1st of your 3 points has been covered many times,

… Learn how to use your third finger and your little finger. Third finger for bending notes and fourth finger for speed picking and correct alignment. You really can’t run up on position #2 and bend a note with your fourth finger unless you’re King Kong not BB King… John

or

… For the guitarist that wants advanced fingerings using the pinky look at my “Seven Positions of the Diatonic Major Scale” thakns, John H

-jc

[..YouTube..] The 1st of your 3 points has been covered many times,

… Learn how to use your third finger and your little finger. Third finger for bending notes and fourth finger for speed picking and correct alignment. You really can’t run up on position #2 and bend a note with your fourth finger unless you’re King Kong not BB King… John

or

… For the guitarist that wants advanced fingerings using the pinky look at my “Seven Positions of the Diatonic Major Scale” thakns, John H

-jc

[..YouTube..] Good to know. There’s 141 comments so it’s kinda tough to read through every one of them. And with all due respect, I contend that you can (and should be able to) bend any string in any position with any finger, and that learning to do so will serve to increase your abilities. This is particularly easy on an electric guitar with low action and light-gauge strings. Just my experience with my and my students’ playing…

[..YouTube..] Will forward your comments / suggestions to John. I don’t have an opinion one way or the other as I’m just a mediocre guitarist, if that. There’s probably more than one good way to teach this stuff I presume.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Sounds great! Please mention that I’m only nit-picking because overall it’s a fantastic lesson, and detail stuff like that is all there is to critique.

[..YouTube..] Sounds great! Please mention that I’m only nit-picking because overall it’s a fantastic lesson, and detail stuff like that is all there is to critique.

[..YouTube..] are you Ted off scrubs? You totally look like Ted.

[..YouTube..] Ted who? Ted Greene one of the all-time great guitarists ever? Thanks if that’s the case..John

[..YouTube..] God!!!! I wish to hell we could have a guitar competition and shut up about the little/third finger thing. Practically every good blues player out there will bend notes with their third finger, not the forth. I said do both didn’t I? These lesson are for people who like Clapton not John McLaughlin or John Williams….. Most people don’t bend notes with their little finger. Do your homework MR.

[..YouTube..] Ok… what?

[..YouTube..] Ok… what?

[..YouTube..] “We’re gunna talk about that in an up and coming segment”

Is this up yet??

[..YouTube..] No but thanks for reminding me. The root note lesson(s) will require some written accompaniment like some of the mode lessons, so it will take a little longer.

-jc

[..YouTube..] You’re the best of all the teachers..

[..YouTube..] You’re the best of all the teachers..

[..YouTube..] Thank you sooo much, this has been mighty useful!

[..YouTube..] Thank you sooo much, this has been mighty useful!

[..YouTube..] he’s a good teacher. very down to earth

[..YouTube..] he’s a good teacher. very down to earth

[..YouTube..] haha yeah. thanks for the lesson dude

[..YouTube..] haha yeah. thanks for the lesson dude

[..YouTube..] So you’re saying that it’s possible to go from a minor pentatonic scale to major by moving down 3 frets, right?
For example move A minor in 5th fret to second fret for playing A major…? Hope I’m right

[..YouTube..] yes.

[..YouTube..] What makes the other positions part of the Pentatonic Minor Positions because 2-5 are the same as 1-4 of the Major Positions. I know the first position is different than the Major position but the rest are all the same. Could you please help me?

[..YouTube..] The 5 patters of the minor pentatonic and major pentatonic are the same, but the notes are different. Just look at the patterns being the same as being a lucky coincidence even though it’s not. Start with the first of the pentatonic scale lessons on the webiste if you haven’t already.

-jc

[..YouTube..] nice vid oh but i know ur an advanced player and u use ur 3 rd finger for he 4th fret of he 1st figure bu normally for any beginner u must use ur 4th finger or im sure theyll have problems

[..YouTube..] nice vid oh but i know ur an advanced player and u use ur 3 rd finger for he 4th fret of he 1st figure bu normally for any beginner u must use ur 4th finger or im sure theyll have problems

[..YouTube..] That topic has been covered endlessly in these comments. View all comments and then do a search (ctrl-F) for bend.

-jc

[..YouTube..] That topic has been covered endlessly in these comments. View all comments and then do a search (ctrl-F) for bend.

-jc

[..YouTube..] best video i’ve seen on Pentatonic scales here on youtube. thanks alot and ill be goin to your website

[..YouTube..] BY FAR!!!
you have the best teaching ability of anyone i’ve seen on this site! and thank you for not playing over top of your talking!

[..YouTube..] BY FAR!!!
you have the best teaching ability of anyone i’ve seen on this site! and thank you for not playing over top of your talking!

[..YouTube..] on the first scale u were teaching i cant tell if they are 5 and 6

[..YouTube..] It’s a 5. All the notes of the A min pent. are whole notes (A, C, D, E, G).

There’s a free, higher res version of this lesson avail, see website for link.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Hello. Once again I wonder if you`re playing the minor pentatonic scale in the key of G. Do you then start on the third fret and ends on the fifteen freet.??

[..YouTube..] I added an explanation on how to switch keys on the Pentatonic Scale and Riffs lessons (Course 2) on the website.

Let me know if that answers your question, or if it’s not clear.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Thanks.

[..YouTube..] Thanks.

[..YouTube..] Heyyy, great video it helped me so much with solos, my question is that is it reallly necessary tto play the 4th and the 5th one cant it be the pentatonic before the “A”

[..YouTube..] Heyyy, great video it helped me so much with solos, my question is that is it reallly necessary tto play the 4th and the 5th one cant it be the pentatonic before the “A”

[..YouTube..] this rlly helped but do u have any advice for string bending? i can bend downward very easy but bending upward is a challenge. also i cant seem to bend up on frets above 20 on high e because i hit all the other strings and that results in alot of unnecesary noise, any help plz?

[..YouTube..] this rlly helped but do u have any advice for string bending? i can bend downward very easy but bending upward is a challenge. also i cant seem to bend up on frets above 20 on high e because i hit all the other strings and that results in alot of unnecesary noise, any help plz?

[..YouTube..] Palm mute. I also sometimes mute individual strings with the fingers of my left hand.

I always pull the top string down for a bend, and push the bottom strings up. That way you don’t have to worry about pulling the strings off the side of the fretboard.

[..YouTube..] Maybe you should get that pinky working to hit the scale faster instead of unnecessarily moving your whole hand. When you start getting into really fast solos, not using your pinky finger will really trip you up.

[..YouTube..] This topic has been covered endlessly such as,

‘Most people don’t bend notes with their pinky finger so for the common blues & rock styles you need to get in the habit of using your 3rd finger instead. I know it looks limiting but we’re not trying to be a pyro type of guitarist with this stuff. For the guitarist that wants advanced fingerings using the pinky look at my “7 Positions of Major Scale (Diatonic)” thanks, John H’

John is plenty fast, see his his rock-fusion jam on YT.

-jc

[..YouTube..] This topic has been covered endlessly such as,

‘Most people don’t bend notes with their pinky finger so for the common blues & rock styles you need to get in the habit of using your 3rd finger instead. I know it looks limiting but we’re not trying to be a pyro type of guitarist with this stuff. For the guitarist that wants advanced fingerings using the pinky look at my “7 Positions of Major Scale (Diatonic)” thanks, John H’

John is plenty fast, see his his rock-fusion jam on YT.

-jc

[..YouTube..] Very good lesson

[..YouTube..] Very good lesson

[..YouTube..] necroon

practice my friend, or ur guitar sucks, but practice, thats all it is

learn, practice, theory, practice

[..YouTube..] necroon

practice my friend, or ur guitar sucks, but practice, thats all it is

learn, practice, theory, practice

[..YouTube..] Great, thank you.
to the point, no frills instruction. Well done sir!
I look forward to the rest.

[..YouTube..] Great, thank you.
to the point, no frills instruction. Well done sir!
I look forward to the rest.

[..YouTube..] serious question. i think the boxes u did was 4 minors and 1 major pentatonic scale. im a noob and i just learned the pentatonic scales so now im confused. can you pls clarify?

[..YouTube..] Hi John
You’ve helpen me one time before. Now I am wondering following:
To me it looks like the lydian scale is in MAJOR when u got the root note. Can u tell me how to go to minor. And same thing with dorian scale, looks like I play it in MINOR with my root note (doesn’t really match the A major key for example..)
So my question is: How do I switch from like A minor to A major and A major to minor?
In the pentatonic scale, u move 3 frets for going from minor to major. Is it the same thing here?

[..YouTube..] Hi John
You’ve helpen me one time before. Now I am wondering following:
To me it looks like the lydian scale is in MAJOR when u got the root note. Can u tell me how to go to minor. And same thing with dorian scale, looks like I play it in MINOR with my root note (doesn’t really match the A major key for example..)
So my question is: How do I switch from like A minor to A major and A major to minor?
In the pentatonic scale, u move 3 frets for going from minor to major. Is it the same thing here?

[..YouTube..] The minor and major pentatonic scales have the same shapes - so every minor pent. pattern is a major pent pattern in a diff key, and vice versa.

Start at the beginning of Course 2 on the website.

-jc

[..YouTube..] The major scale mode lessons begin at Course 6on the website and will answer your questions.

-jc

[..YouTube..] The major scale mode lessons begin at Course 6on the website and will answer your questions.

-jc

[..YouTube..] This guy is high !!!!!!!!

[..YouTube..] This guy is high !!!!!!!!

[..YouTube..] Hi John,

I learned these positions using 4 fingers (pinky included). Most positions i have down but the 3rd one gives me major problems. Especially if i have to bend. Should i do as you do and just use 1st and 3rd fingers??

Thanks

[..YouTube..] sooo all these postions go from the fifth fret down right????

[..YouTube..] sooo all these postions go from the fifth fret down right????

[..YouTube..] ooo yeaaa john wat guitar strings do you use????

[..YouTube..] ooo yeaaa john wat guitar strings do you use????

[..YouTube..] I think pentatonic scale always there are 2 or 3 semitones of sep . So the first one will be 5 8-5 7- 5 7 - 5 7 - 5 8 - 5 8

[..YouTube..] I think pentatonic scale always there are 2 or 3 semitones of sep . So the first one will be 5 8-5 7- 5 7 - 5 7 - 5 8 - 5 8

[..YouTube..] i´m a bass playing and can play all 5 positions but why is scales different on bass?
also the 5 positons have names:
Minor, Major, 3th, 4th and 5th pentatonic scale

[..YouTube..] Probably because of the lack of strings the bass has. You have to move around a lot more to play as many notes as on the guitar.

[..YouTube..] Nice tutorial bro

[..YouTube..] helpful video, but why don’t you use your pinkies?

[..YouTube..] Good pentatonic lesson. So many people on youtube like to show you the the Pentatonic scales, for example, the Am pentatonic but neglect to mention there’s more than one place on the fretboard to do them.

[..YouTube..] I’ve just broken my first sting ever xD

[..YouTube..] congradulationns. . . i guess

[..YouTube..] i have a question….if they are all the A minor pentatonic scale different positions give it a higher or lower pitch sound (moving closer or further down the neck) how do you know which to use? also they all have different patterns to them? is this because they are made up by a specific set of specific notes on the strings?

[..YouTube..] Let’s say you want to improvise over an A minor chord, any of the notes in all these patterns are usable. They are just different fingering patterns of the same notes up and down the fretboard. Thanks for the question..

[..YouTube..] ah so it is a pattern of the same notes i suppose. i will give this a shot. great videos. thanks a lot

[..YouTube..] hi sir!,,
just wanna ask how to break that scale, say for an instance i want to shift from minor pentatonic to harmonic minor. thanks…

[..YouTube..] Good question. The trick is the pentatonic sound has a flat 7th and the harmonic has a natural or major 7th. It’s difficult to explain this.
Can you find a book that has either of these scales for study purposes? Because of this type of question I’ve written a book to be published by Hal Leonard. It will be out by 2010. Thanks….

[..YouTube..] Hey I like that SG back there, I play a faded SG myself.

[..YouTube..] Why slide your hand within a 4 fret scale box, thats what your little finger is for. 1 finger per fret. Beginners should not be learning bad habits like you just thought. good lesson otherwise though.

[..YouTube..] See the previous comments John made on the subject - search (ctrl-F) for the word bend.

-jc

[..YouTube..] I see, many of the greatest playes don’t use their pinky. but thats usually because they were initially self thought and when they learned some theory they made their bad habits work for them. but as a teacher I think it’s important to stress the four fret rule of classical and jazz. 1 finger per fret is a basic rule every beginner should learn, after they learn they can choose to change whatever they want.

[..YouTube..] still though good video!

[..YouTube..] I am confused, I just started studying scales, and I thought that scales go from note to octave, but this ends with a C? Somebody correct me please

[..YouTube..] ok , just watched all of course 1. Sooo helpful thanks!

[..YouTube..] what’s the name of the red guitar on the left?

[..YouTube..] that’s a Gibson SG Standard.

[..YouTube..] Why aren’t you using your pinky?

[..YouTube..] Read the 20+ comments in this video on the subject for your answer.

-jc

[..YouTube..] hello again sir..
regarding my previous question, ahhmm maybe a week ago..
i havent read any book regarding changing of progresion..
i just really want to know how to make a good transition, say for example from minor pentatonic to blues scale…
i dont know how to make it sound good..

i suggest sir that maybe you can make a video regarding this…
thank you…

[..YouTube..] Hello,John.

I don`t doubt your skills as a guitarist,but i find it strange that as a teacher you teach MINOR pentatonics? :S What the hell is a minor pentatonic? According to the 2000 year old books of music theory,pentatonic doesn`t have minor. It`s actually impossible in the theory because it don`t have half steps. So can you please explain to me what you mean be minor pentatonic?

[..YouTube..] It’s just a 5-note scale. In the key of A minor it’s A C D E G A. This minor sound has a b7th. I didn’t make this up so the question about teaching it goes over my head.

[..YouTube..] try this link,

(remove spaces)
en . wikipedia . org/wiki/Pentatonic_scale

Types of pentatonic scales
Ethnomusicology commonly classifies pentatonic scales as either hemitonic or anhemitonic. Hemitonic scales contain one or more semitones and anhemitonic scales do not contain semitones…

-jc

[..YouTube..] The pentatonic minor scale is exactly like the pentatonic major scale in it’s relative key. For example, A minor and C major are relative keys. So pentatonic A minor scale shares the exact same notes with pentatonic C major scale.
Just like the first position played in this video at 1:27, it has A as it’s first note, next one is C. You can use that as a mnemonic for all relative keys. E minor’s relative key would be G major, D minor’s relative key is F major and so on. Use open strings as root.

[..YouTube..] In addition, if you tune your guitar in the standard A440 tuning, the open strings make a pentatonic E minor scale. E, G, A, B, D. Music works in mysterious ways.

[..YouTube..] yeah it’s and sg.. Im sorry! But I just have to say, I FRICKING LOVE YOUR NAME!!!!
yeah..

[..YouTube..] wow thanks this really helped me out man its favorite easily thanks again

[..YouTube..] The “real” octave you hit is the A on the high E string…. he is just going one note further since your hand is in that 5th fret position and you can reach the C on the 8th fret without moving……

[..YouTube..] What does it mean when someone is saying a minor third.?

[..YouTube..] Answer: A note that is three frets higher. On an E string= A at the fifth fret up to a C at the eight fret. The distance between those two notes is a minor third. If you move both notes up one fret it’s still a minor third between the two notes.

[..YouTube..] howcome your minor pentatonic scale ‘Shape’ changes at each position. cant you repeat the first position shape starting on the other frets to get that same variation of melodies without learning the other shapes.? im confused

[..YouTube..] The pentatonic scale only has 5 different notes in it so if you play the first position on another fret you change the notes that are in the scale. So play the first position starting with A as your root, you are in the key of A. But if you played the same position one fret higher you would now be in the key of A# with that as your root.

[..YouTube..] Hey there, the shape(pattern…) changes because you are starting on a different note of the scale in each position. Pentatonic scale is a 5 note scale. The 1st position starts on the Tonic(root note). The second position starts on the 2nd note of the scale, 3rd position starts on the 3rd note of the scale, etc… Since you are starting on a different note of the scale for each position, the “pattern” you play is going to change. That’s why each position has it’s own unique pattern.

[..YouTube..] I was under the impression you dont want to move your hand, but instead just play a lot of those intervals with your pinky. are you not doing this for speed’s sake? its easier for me to get lost if I move my hand around out of position.

[..YouTube..] I agree with kingof cramers.

[..YouTube..] this is a great lesson… except he should be using his pinky instead of fingers 1 and 3. and naughtypanda… u cant repeat the same shape in other positions other than an octive higher. once you learn all of these positions you will be moving around the neck in no time.

[..YouTube..] Learn to do both and don’t be fooled buy the perfect technique idea. I play blues with the third finger. I play jazz with the fourth finger. There’s a choice depending on the style. If you can bend a note with your fourth finger then great! I personally have never heard anyone I like in blues or rock bend notes with their little finger. Thanks for the comment.

[..YouTube..] hi a have a question: is the relative minor pentatonic scale a mode of the pentatonic major scale? They have the same root so the minor pent can’t be a mode of the major pent am I right?
So the word “relative” doesn’t refer to a mode but then what does it relate to theorically speaking? thanx

[..YouTube..] Let’s let the freak show answer this question. Without any bullshit or personal cutting help this guy understand. Tell us nicely please.

[..YouTube..] As a next step, I would suggest you have the students learn the five positions, but rather than moving up and down, they stay in one span of frets and let the chords change. The problem with “shape” thinking is that it tends to become mechanical and not musical For example, the Note “A” is the root of A Minor, the b3rd of F# Minor, the 4th of E minor, the 5th of D and the b& of B Minor…. In other words, yes, learn all the shapes, but stay in one position and change chords… KUTGW

[..YouTube..] The A Minor Pentatonic — A, C, D, E, G — is the same as C Major Pentatonic, C, D, E, G, A, so one would say A Minor Pentatonic is a “mode” of C Major Pentatonic. (A Minor is the “Relative Minor” to the Key of C Major,)

[..YouTube..] From my experience “I” found that not to view it as a mode but as a postion and to listen to the difference in the sounds created by both- the real magic comes from mixing the minor and major sounds but off the same root –a major pentatonic/ a minor pentatonic once mastered the entire neck comes a live!!(you still have 5 postions for each !!)–

[..YouTube..] P.s. The bb box would be played at the tenth fret (started on d) box number 2 is the albert king shape –Same shape but different starting points and target notes!!

[..YouTube..] hey great vid. i would love it if you could make one or show me one where it shows how to improvise around scales and petatonics and explains the basics of theory really well cuz im 14 been playing about a year and im trying to under stand how to make my own stuff without it just being randomosity.

thank bromeo

[..YouTube..] We are just about to make a video/DVD that will contain information and examples on the subject of improvisation using the pentatonic and diatonic scales. Keep checking up and view as much stuff as you can. Thanks for your interest. John

[..YouTube..] HEy, this is great, precise, accurate and patient, Thank you very much.

[..YouTube..] “view as much as you can” as in… you’re gonna take the vids down and charge at some point? I read between the lines Great vids!

[..YouTube..] thanks that was helpful

[..YouTube..] Thanks for a very good lesson.

[..YouTube..] what can you do with them?

[..YouTube..] sweet, send me a link to the dvd when yall are done cuz im interested and would prolly buy it.

thanks

[..YouTube..] No Pinky=FAIL!!!
USE YOUR PINKY{DONT LISTEN TO THIS BLUES CAT!!!!}

[..YouTube..] I have this scale 100% down and can tear it up. whats the next scale that I need to learn?

[..YouTube..] Learn the C major diatonic scale; the white keys of the piano. Good work and good luck.

[..YouTube..] solo : )

[..YouTube..] Great job on this. I was a little hazy on these and you cleared it up beautifully. Thank you.

[..YouTube..] nice thanks

[..YouTube..] There are 5 positions BECAUSE its the pentatonic scale. There are 7 positions in a normal ionian mode based scale(aka major scale). So if you scale has 6 notes then there will be 6 positions to learn. etc…

[..YouTube..] way to go dude keep it up!!!! great vid

[..YouTube..] use parts of them to write guitar solos or “shred” using multiple parts of many different pentatonic scales i think

[..YouTube..] Should have “beginner” somewhere in the tag

[..YouTube..] I forgot to mention, use the pinky for the 8th fret in the 1st Scale position

[..YouTube..] Yours are by far the best teaching vids on Youtube.

[..YouTube..] Why would you tell people to only use three fingers and move their hand instead of using all four fingers?

[..YouTube..] Use the 3rd finger for the blues and rock bends. Use the fourth finger for the fast jazz runs. Do both and ignore the puritan classic nuts. Like Frank Zappa, use the middle finger held high in the air pointed at all the people that don’t like the way you play. Is it fun or isn’t it? That’s what it’s about. I know great musicians that are unhappy people. Loosen up and be flexible. Do both.

[..YouTube..] Why? It has pentatonic in the title already… =P

[..YouTube..] The 6 note scale is Hexatonic AKA the blues scale.

[..YouTube..] good to see different positions all in one vid, helps a beginner like me

[..YouTube..] Very clear and useful. I’ll be checking out your website!

[..YouTube..] thanks, great and inspiring lesson.

[..YouTube..] FUCK! I wanted to pause and accidentally clicked on 1 star…I hate it that’ s the second time happening to me…youtube should move the fucker to a less “dangerous” position. Would someone rate this 5 stars for me please?

[..YouTube..] lol, i rated it for you ^^

[..YouTube..] Thanks man. XD

[..YouTube..] why you teaching to just use 2 fingers ?
good guitarist, but bad teachin dude

[..YouTube..] Thanks a lot!

[..YouTube..] so for the pentatonic, you can use all 5 positions on any fret? videos have been confusing me,

[..YouTube..] You can use all 5 positions on any fret, but it will change what key it is in. An example would be moving that first pattern he shows you at 1:28 in down two frets so the root note is G (3rd fret, low E string), now if you play that scale shape starting there you will be in the key of G. If you keep playing the same shape all over the neck the key keeps changing.

[..YouTube..] okay thats what i thought, So it will change from key of A on the 5th then change to key of E? and so on and so forth. Just cause every example i see, the first position always starts onthe 5th and the other 4 keep moving up the neck so i wasnt sure. any reason why its always shown in the 5th fret?

[..YouTube..] I find this odd..I mean this is a lesson video and you’re supposed to use your pinky to play the C (2nd note of the pentatonic scale, primary position) and so on… yet he uses his ring finger

[..YouTube..] What you need to do first is learn all the notes on the low e string. Take that position that starts at 1:28 on the 5th fret (Root note A) and choose a different fret. Move it up to the 7th fret and now the root note is B, if you play the shape it will be B Minor Pentatonic.

As far as why it’s always shown in A is mainly because it is the most common scale used for a long time. A good example of this is Jimmy Page, he constantly used that scale, all over the neck, adding some extra notes in

[..YouTube..] ok i just needed that cleared up.Thank You Very Much! Very helpful

[..YouTube..] np shoot me a message if you ever have any questions i’ll be happy to help as much as i can.

[..YouTube..] agh why did i wait so long to try and learn this. so much easier than i thought

[..YouTube..] if i want to be a good guitarist, be good at making and improvising, how many scales do i need to know?

[..YouTube..] What’s your idea of a good guitarist? I know that BB King and Eric Clapton don’t use a lot of scales but a guy like Frank Gambale who plays modern jazz/fusion would. Steve Vai would know a great deal about scales in order to play the kind of music he does.

[..YouTube..] no, those are the positions. only on those frets

[..YouTube..] got a question, if i use a different position of the scale, does that change the key its in also or is it still an a minor? (and so on)

[..YouTube..] actually when you said “just use downpicks for now” thats kinda not smart. i mean people should learn to pick alternately so they can get used to it, just picking down all the way through it can be a bad habit. still learning scales but ive gotten used to the alternate picking in about a week since i tried hard enough

[..YouTube..] Don’t limit yourself to the pinky only. Use the third finger for power bends like Jeff Beck and Erid Clapton. I’ve never seen or heard a top ranked blues player who bends notes with his pinky finger. I use the fourth finger for fast jazz/fusion type lines but always bend the notes with my third finger. Sorry, but that’s the way I teach people who want to play blues and jaz or rock fusion. Tell me to go to hell, I don’t care.

[..YouTube..] If you take the same scale shape and move it around it will change the key it’s in. It will be minor pentatonic but the key will depend on where you start on the low E string (the root note).

If you want to keep it in the same key you need to learn all 5 shapes.

[..YouTube..] Thanks,Suck on the poxy 5th fret for awhile, too long, to be honest,

[..YouTube..] Thanks for all you do John, all your stuff is great. We’re fortunate to have your posts.

[..YouTube..] thank you john…

[..YouTube..] i really like how you actully show all the positions, pretty much everyone else only shows the first position

[..YouTube..] are the scale patterns still the same when i change the root note

[..YouTube..] Oh thanks a lot, i hate it when people force me to use my pinky even on bends plus i bend more with my wrist then i do with just my fingers. Your lessons are one of the best on youtube keep posting videos

[..YouTube..] thats my question to i hope it get’s answered

[..YouTube..] thanks for the idea man

[..YouTube..] great lesson but its kinda hard to read some of the tab posted.

[..YouTube..] are those 5 or 6’s?? i know its supposed to be 5 but ur camera is blurry

[..YouTube..] is it necessary to memorize all of these patterns?

[..YouTube..] YES YES IT IS!!!

[..YouTube..] great. thanks.

[..YouTube..] the last scal it 16 17 15 17 14 17 14 17 16 17 15 17 right?

[..YouTube..] its 15 17 15 17 14 17 14 17 15 17 15 17

[..YouTube..] for imrpovise, yes, if you want to write a solo on a song, then its not necessary, but if you wanna be a good guitarist, yes

[..YouTube..] It is necessary if you ever want to be good at guitar.

[..YouTube..] I was taught to use my pinky instead of moving my hand around…. Is that the bad way of doing it?

[..YouTube..] Do both. Don’t do any fingering just one way ever…….

[..YouTube..] Hi john..can i ask something?

what chords that belong to the major scale and the minor scale?and so i can play some scale with the given chords..

[..YouTube..] Thanks a lot man

[..YouTube..] This helped alot. Thanx…do u think you can do the natural minor scale?

[..YouTube..] Go to the seven positions of the C major segment and consider that the A natural minor scale. They’re the same notes.

[..YouTube..] please tell me im playing for about 4 now but only now beginning to lean the scales, why are they important and so on, simply tell me like so so it would be dead crucial…

[..YouTube..] I use the scales to write music and improvise. It really helps to have scales down. It enables you to create.

[..YouTube..] Groovy, Dude!

[..YouTube..] it assures that youre scaling in the same key as the rhythm, and vice-versa, and helps you figure out the key of a song.

[..YouTube..] Hi, I just wanted to thank you for the lessons. I’m poor and the Internet is my main source of theory and new stuff. For me improvising is the best thing about playing. I don’t really care if I sound like anybody else. Any tips for working scale improvisations in with specific chords? By the way, I really like your style of teaching because you know your shit and don’t have an ego trip. Thanks again!

[..YouTube..] Thank you very much. These lessons may have been intended for someone such as yourself. Here’s the big pitch; I have a book coming out next month”Guitar Workout” If you could afford that a lot of questions about improvisation are answered in the text. Good luck and best wishes. John

[..YouTube..] nice teaching… please post more lessons so that i can afford to have knowledge… coz i have no idea what particular book should i have to learn all of those stuffs in guitar scaling/theory. would you give me some advise, what kind of lesson books should i buy, if you will put the author and title much better. Thank you… cargo: keep up the good work.

[..YouTube..] finally a good teaching video on youtube

[..YouTube..] Thanks for your interest. Look for my book “Guitar Workout” as it’s the best of whatever I have to offer and a well thought out text. Thanks again, John

[..YouTube..] I have a very important question. I have a friend who’s a very good guitar player, and he saw me playing the Pentatonic scale with the fingering, 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3, like, basically, using the ring finger and the index and sometimes the middle finger and not using the pinky. He said that was very bad. Then I watched a bunch of other videos and they were playing with their pinky as well, am I not efficient if I don’t use my pinky?

[..YouTube..] Ignore those comments. Try and do both but if you want to bend all the notes whenever possible like Clapton, Page, Beck, Johnson. etc., then get in the habit of using your third finger too. I’ve seen people bend with their little finger but none of MY favorite players do that. There of course could be some good HM people I don’t know about but that doesn’t mean you have to go that way just because that guy is doing it.

[..YouTube..] @johnhguitar See, here’s the thing. In mostly everything on the guitar, I use my index and ring finger, and sometimes other fingers, but almost never the pinky. On the pentatonics, I’m being told if I don’t use my pinky, I won’t be as fast as I could be using my pinky, and if I am that fast, I won’t be as precise. T/F?

[..YouTube..] spit fire this is my two cents. I think you should train your pinky to be able to keep up with your other fingers, but that doesn’t mean you have to always use it. I think its good to be able to finger both ways. If you are doing licks with alot of bending, maybe use mostly 1 and 3. If you are doing fast passages, maybe use your pinky as well. There is no one right way

[..YouTube..] This is sound philosophy. Ever watch Alan Holdsworth play? There’s no book to tell you what’s the right fingering. He’ll use every possible combination of fingers zig-zagging across the fretboard and there’s no rule about what finger you have to use. Use the finger that gets the job done and do it well.

[..YouTube..] (There are) instead of there.

[..YouTube..] Well, I mean, I’m not a braggart, but I’m starting to climb the “Guitar ranks” if you will, and people are watching me and helping me, and telling me I sound like Jimmy Page. This is WITHOUT using my pinky. Can I still be as fast as someone who uses their pinky, without using mine?

[..YouTube..] Great lesson. Thanks.

[..YouTube..] Ahh… too bad I only now found this video. I struggled for a long time to understand what you, so clearly, just said .

[..YouTube..] I’ve been using my pinky finger while learing the scales, should I stop using it and start using my third finger instead?

[..YouTube..] Do both.

[..YouTube..] thanks for uploading m8. i needed one of those for practice cheers

[..YouTube..] thanks man…awsome

[..YouTube..] @JOC1992
I reeally dont see the point of not using your pinky and moving your hand - frankly keeping your hand still would be better as it also prepares your hand for change later on as you change position.
one more finger (the pinky) opened a new world for me especially in solo’s, its ridicoulus to not use it and CONTINUE to use it all the time where its needed

[..YouTube..] OK Whatever. But it depends on the style. If you watch Clapton and other players in that music they tend to play blues riffs with the third finger. If you want more speed and a flashier style then yes by all means use the fourth finger AS WELL. If you don’t like the way Clapton, Beck, Hendrix, Page, play that classic rock then FINE. Did I really say DON’T use the pinky at all? Anyhow, so many people write to me about it it’s crazy! I play radically fast stuff with hy pinky and blues stuff w/#4.

[..YouTube..] @JOC1992 Nah man. You’re good.

Slash uses his pinky where a lot of people use their third finger.

It’s whatever comes natural to you.

[..YouTube..] great lesson..!! to use or not to use pinky will not change that this is a very good lesson….!!!! cheers from Peru

[..YouTube..] Slash sucks penises

[..YouTube..] @Exutus It’s sad that you think that’s funny.

[..YouTube..] ? why

I think Slash is an ass
And yes I do use my pinky
I also use my middle finger to say fuck slash

[..YouTube..] people who don’T use the pinky just suck balls and lack abilities BIG LOL

[..YouTube..] slash is an ok guitarist, just highly overrated, just like kirk hammet.
pinky powah!

[..YouTube..] I learned these years ago but its very nice too see people like yourself taking the time too share with upcoming musicians. Thanks so much and Rock On !!

[..YouTube..] Why are you posting comments purely to provoke a negative reaction? Nobody is going to listen to your opinion of Slash and then all of a sudden change their own because of what they read. So really, your wasting your time.

[..YouTube..] @Hughespipe Cause Slash sucks and I pwn him

[..YouTube..] What an intelligent human being you are. I’m going to presume thats why your the internationally famous rock star?

[..YouTube..] @Hughespipe No but I know a lot of things, which is better than being famour and lost and stuck in a hippy look and suck at guitar

[..YouTube..] Are you talking about Eric Clapton?

So you think your a real big shot Exutus? Without lying why don’t you tell everyone out here in the world how old you are.

[..YouTube..] @Exutus its true thay have no controle lol

[..YouTube..] Still under 30

so what

I know people who played for 50 years and still suck cocks and are cast out to pentatonic land and stuck there

[..YouTube..] wow! great lesson! very clear and easy to follow as well as being not to slow and not to fast and love the visual tabs! One question though if u have the time to tell me…can i use the a minor pentatonic scale to solo with any song? or just mostly rock songs? might be dumb question but just wanted to ask… thx for ur lessons!

[..YouTube..] this was SO CLEARLY EXPLAINDED THANKS SO MUCH

[..YouTube..] thanks, very helpful
great lesson !!!!!!!!

[..YouTube..] are you hitting every note? because on my chart some circles are filled while others are empty.

i didn’t know whether some notes were open, or all are played.

[..YouTube..] NO OPEN STRINGS

[..YouTube..] Ehhh this doesn’t make sense to me, i’m able to play this scale anywhere on the neck i want as long as i just change certain notes on certain places on the neck! I didn’t know you were only meant to be able to play scales in certain positions (i’m self taught).

[..YouTube..] The shape of the scale remains the same but you can move it up and down the fretboard in to different keys. The first note of position or pattern #1 is the root note of whatever note that is on at the time..

[..YouTube..] I try to use the smaller little finger but you replace it with the ring finger…. what should i do? ..and why ? thanx so much.

[..YouTube..] Thank You John, thank you for making these video. Rock on

those guys who are bad mouthing are just ass holes

[..YouTube..] i was told ALWAYS use my pinky??

[..YouTube..] -good day sir im new to playing guitar..may i ask..how about if my root chord is bm?where is it postion?thank you very much your lesson makes a lot of help specially on beginners like me.

[..YouTube..] thanks. I always used to have to remember “skip 2 frets-1-1-2… on E string, skip 1-2-…on A string” but now it make more sense. Lots easier now.

[..YouTube..] i was about to say, l2use pinkie finger
but yeah cheers for the vid

[..YouTube..] thank.u sir.

[..YouTube..] I would suggest reading up on basic music theory, I’ve been playing for like 5 years and was always self-taught and really you dont get anywhere…Ive been reading up on theory and memorizing all the notes on the fretboard,which has helped me alot.

[..YouTube..] edit: for MadM4X939

[..YouTube..] i have learned so much from this video. what i did was print out some blank fretboard sheets from the internet and follow the patterns but write out the notes for each also. so these scales contain no B or F notes.

-john can you do a video (or already have one) explaining the C minor pentatonic scale positions?

[..YouTube..] Get my book “Guitar Workout”. It has everything explained clearly and nothing is left out. It’s a Hal Leonard publication. Thanks and glad you’re getting something from this.

[..YouTube..] go up to your URL bar, put a Q between the words you and tube and then press enter or click go

[..YouTube..] damn man, thanks for the video. really helps

[..YouTube..] wow. i never knew of this until now.
ive been playing guitar for like 3 years already.. (self-taught)
i thought when he was going to change frets on the same string, it’ll produce another sound or chord but i was surprised it was the same.

[..YouTube..] nice

[..YouTube..] @hotrod9983 True. I’m self taught also, for more than 10 years. Maybe the most adventurous way, but definitely the longest way to learn guitar. You really need some basic theory to start from, and expand your knowledge from there, whether by trial and error (self taught), or by an instructor. Above all, always have fun when playing.

[..YouTube..] umm one thing,

[..YouTube..] great lesson

[..YouTube..] Can I ask, why exacly are there 5 positions of the pentotonic scale and what are the differences between them? Thanks.

[..YouTube..] This video is the only thing that helped me learn the AM Pentatonic Scale. It was part of my beginner guitar lessons that my teacher is teaching me right now.

[..YouTube..] @darkmint1614 I know this is a big sales pitch but all the pentatonic information
I can give you is in my book “Guitar Workout”. You can order it online from Amazon.

[..YouTube..] @usetheknee The notes in the 5 different positions are the same scale they just start and end differently, higher or lower. The reason for knowing them is more melodic options.

[..YouTube..] great!! thanks!!..so far this is the best explanation I’ve found

[..YouTube..] te recomiendo que uses los 4 dedos, es el mejor consejo para los que recien estan aprendiendo

[..YouTube..] HEY JOHNHGUITAR, i have been playing guitar for many years i am self taught i play lead and rythym , i could not tell you what a scale or a mode is if it hit me right in the face, i found your 5 positions of a minor pentatonic scales very helpful thank you , SWOOSH ////// OFF TO PRACTICE

[..YouTube..] Hi, so can you only play the first position on the 5th fret, second position on the 8th fret etc… What would happen if you played the first position on the 14th fret say?
Thanks.

[..YouTube..] The Fingerposition is defenetly wrong. Don’t use your Hand to slide around. oO

[..YouTube..] i dont know shit about but i think the reason there are 5 and you need to learn all 5 is so that you know all the notes fluently on the fretboard for the a minor pentatonic scale only and move on with the next key.

[..YouTube..] damn son. this lesson is terse, concise. appreciated.

[..YouTube..] Hey John, why did you suggest for people not to use their pinky fingers? Any specific reason for that?

[..YouTube..] ALWAYS use alternate picking. It may be slower at first but in the long run it will pay off. NEVER practice a scale (or any licks) useing down strokes….bad advice. But this dude knows his shit, Im not putting him down at all

[..YouTube..] @TNkenny Thanks for your input. These lessons are designed for people who like players such as Clapton, BB King, mainly the great slow blues players. You may be good at back and forth picking but you don’t really need it in that style. Is it easier to play the snare drum hitting down on the head or up on the bottom. You can work on your picking but if you’re just beginning you can develope it slowly.
I like getting results soon after beginning. Enjoy good blues licks without being a virtuoso.

[..YouTube..] im lerning pentatonic, should learn all the fred or just five like ur are showin and how do i use this pentatonic scales in a song???? i hope u can help me thank you

[..YouTube..] Wow, 6 years I’ve played guitar and only now have I realised that one of my positions for the A minor pantatonic scale was wrong.

Still, no bad for a pure ‘guess’ out of experimenting around. Cheers!

[..YouTube..] puke orange….. my favorite color on a strat

[..YouTube..] Is it me or in the second position tab on the second fret it’s supposed to be 7 - 10? It doesnt so right and you’re playing on the seventh fret….

Thanks for the video. Really helped me improve my guitar skills

[..YouTube..] @UnicornSlaya Never mind, it was a resolution problem. Sorry =)

[..YouTube..] Do these 5 positions work with other keys as well? Like do these positions work in B minor or C minor (just for example)?

[..YouTube..] he started on A, making it in A minor, but if u move the fingerings up one fret u get Bb or A# minor, so if u learn these fingerings and the root note (the root in the video is A) u can pretty much improvize any song, as long as you know the root note of the song, im pretty sure

[..YouTube..] Thankyou dude this helped me out so much!

[..YouTube..] what is the exact name of the scale that he plays that starts on the 8th fret of the low E string?

[..YouTube..] wow that shits great Really Helped Out

[..YouTube..] @johnhguitar i cannot tell you enough how awesome and helpfull your videos are!!! just one thing , someone told me a scale has to start and finish on the root note , but on your vids and in my scale book the scales do not start and finish on root note except the first position in every scale??? whats the deal?? thanx a million!

[..YouTube..] @tabulaerasae82 The idea is to learn where the notes are and it’s especially important to know where the roots are too. These positions are different in their shapes and fingerings but they’re all the same notes in the same key but just at different places on the fretboard, A scale can begin with and end the root sure. But when you go to jam and improvise you don’t want to sound like you’re practicing scales. Try to break away from always going 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. Be more creative than that. OK?

[..YouTube..] @TedEdFred21 My too

[..YouTube..] @johnhguitar cool john , thanx for feedback , i know what you mean about 1-8 , very boring ,if you have time pls checkout my 3 videos on my channel of original music , just click on my upload section , they aint great , ive been playing 12 months now. please let me know what you think. cheers , great tutorials!!

[..YouTube..] why not use the pinky instead of sliding?

[..YouTube..] wow dude thanks alot this is the first scale ive EVER learned. This has to be one of the most helpful vids ive ever seen. 500000/5. Thanks again!!

[..YouTube..] not alternate, no pinky… but helpful!

[..YouTube..] @stevesteve55
could alwaysdo without it.. but try playing freejazz without pinky

[..YouTube..] Can anyone tell me if notes can be added in this scale because it has no half steps and I really like the sound of those half step notes in the rock scale.

[..YouTube..] Put those half step notes in and anything else you think sounds good. In the end it’s what sounds good to you that’s important.

[..YouTube..] iu always thought this was in g minor my mistake lol

[..YouTube..] @SteelSkullX Of course you can put in notes if you’d like to, but from that point it will be no pentatonic anymore. However it may sound right (or even better) depending what you’re playing over.

[..YouTube..] @stevesteve55 The use of pinky would enable u to play faster coz you don’t have to move much.

[..YouTube..] @SomethinWild Appreciate the advice. I just learned to play a few months ago. I guess I have quite some ways to go before i’m ready to alter scales.

[..YouTube..] @johnhguitar yeah. that’s what we in the blues call a “blue note”, when you add a half step note.

[..YouTube..] any book where i can see this charts? thx

[..YouTube..] The book…..’GUITAR WORKOUT’……by John Heussenstamm a Hal Leonard Corp. publication. Thanks, John

[..YouTube..] Bah. it boggles my mind. I’ve never had a formal lesson, so scales are prettymuch out of my league…. lmao

[..YouTube..] How come you never use the 4th finger????? Is it dead??

[..YouTube..] @johnhguitar Hey John, I just watched this video again and realized that I didn’t give you thanks for your advice. I thought I did. My apologies, I appreciate your feedback. Thanks.

[..YouTube..] Haha… fingerings…

[..YouTube..] did he just say get in the habit moving your left hand around??man you need to use your pinky for those separated notes!

[..YouTube..] Is this all notes that can be played on the Am scale?

[..YouTube..] YES

[..YouTube..] @johnhguitar What about the darker tones then the lowest A then? And higher then the 17th fret on the E string?

[..YouTube..] Hi. Thank you for the video, but I am bit confused. Why do not you use your pinky finger?:-) Id say it would be more comfortable and also good for practicing with it?

[..YouTube..] what helps me alot when learning scale is guitar pro. You can see ALL possible scales and easily make scale sequences out of it

[..YouTube..] this is a Great Lesson

[..YouTube..] Sweet, spot on, and with tabs. Love that strat btw. Try this with my iPhone app “JAM amigo” which gives you backings for learning and practicing soloing and improvisation, specially good for pentatonic and blues scales. Just look up “JAM amigo” on iTunes/App Store and/or check it out here on youtube by clicking on my username. Enjoy!

[..YouTube..] man I’m really confused. Does this mean that if I memorize the 5 positions, I can use it for all keys?

[..YouTube..] thnx man, appreciate the tabs

[..YouTube..] Great vid! One question though, why not use the pinky? I was told way back it’s good to use the pinky and that I should exercise it as much as I can

[..YouTube..] @dookiebabii: yes, just move your root

[..YouTube..] @stevesteve55 whatever works for you. i use mine too.

[..YouTube..] so minor pentatonic scales are mostly used than the major pentatonic? did i hear it right?

[..YouTube..] No No It’s all up to the music and the player.

[..YouTube..] @dookiebabii ya it sounds cooler hahah

[..YouTube..] if just the first section of Aminor is the same as C major, then is Minor pentatonic like major pentatonic, but moved up/down 3 frets, right?

[..YouTube..] jhon can u plz send me ur guitar lessons to my mail nd here is my male : nanychinni2006@yahoo.com

[..YouTube..] I do have a book out called ‘Guitar Workout’ published by Hal Leonard. How I’m I suppose to send lessons to you?

[..YouTube..] Dude you are playing them right but the tabs are wrong look at them and change them because it may confuse beginners

[..YouTube..] @luisespinax the tabs are actually correct, but hard to read because the video was uploaded a long time ago in lower quality. I’ll reload a higher quality video to eliminate any confusion.

-jc

[..YouTube..] you talk like you were kinda stoned

[..YouTube..] helped a lot thx

[..YouTube..] i learned 2 play guitar about 2-3 years ago but i forgot

[..YouTube..] @taylormadeNo1
how can u forgot to play guitar? if u forgot, it means u never learned…. guitar is like bicicle or skate, u never forget how to do –’

[..YouTube..] ALWAYS USE YOUR PINKY! when needed ;P

[..YouTube..] hey i know a diffrent tab for the 5 position its correct too,do you think not all minor pentatonic scales are similar????

[..YouTube..] @johnhguitar God, if he was going to ask for something, might as well ask big. Can you send me the Strat you’re playing in this video? If not, the SG in back of you will do nicely, too.

[..YouTube..] dead pinky

[..YouTube..] @johnhguitar

So wait is the video I see now correct? I’d hate to think im practicing the wrong tab

[..YouTube..] @prathapd1

go to guitarjamz

[..YouTube..] @AmazingViper the tabs are correct (notes in all positions are are A, C, D, E, G)

-jc

[..YouTube..] @luisespinax The tabs are right, but just tabbed from highest to lowest. Kind of upside down you could say.

[..YouTube..] does other notes like e and g….have 5 position pentatonic scale???….if they do…
how do i know it

[..YouTube..] Use the first position to line up the key you’re in. In the video it’s in the key of A minor and position #1 starts on the 5th fret and that first note is an A. If you move that position down two frets it will become a G minor scale. Learn the names of the notes along the bass or 6th string and move that pattern around. Keep the shape.

[..YouTube..] everytime i try practicing this scale…i end up with all 11 fingers up my arse. Do you have any tips to combat this?

[..YouTube..] Man i just realised ur hands are friggin huge! You got some hendrix mits on ya!

[..YouTube..] @squalruben uhhhh…I never said I forgot how to play guitar. Better check your posts there hot shot.

[..YouTube..] @squalruben
Except someone who plays guitar for five years, then stops completely for thirty will have forgotten.

[..YouTube..] John you make this quick and simple whereas my head is exploded with other people and their overcomplicated BS!!
Thanks John

[..YouTube..] nice class man help me a lot but i have a question those 5 minor positions scales pentatonic i can just use in key od A or i can use in more keys like E G D thaks!!

[..YouTube..] The shapes remain the same. You just move the positions up and down to find the new keys. Move everything down 2 frets and you’re now in G, understand?

[..YouTube..] @johnhguitar yeah sur thanis very much very cool and easy class thanks dude

[..YouTube..] i have another question dude if you don’t mind i can use like the 3 position on 5 fret but on 5 fret it’s supost to be the 1 position can i do that??

[..YouTube..] the 67 people who didnt like this video are idiots