Topic: Guitar Theory
Sometimes the answers to questions are right out there - I mean, really right out there and they seem so evident to some folks that actually explaining them doesn't seem necessary. But alas that is not the case in real life. Here we have a diagram of the Five Pentatonic Shapes along the Fretboard. Now the shapes are pretty good to know but it's only one step in understanding them. You can see them lined up together on the Fretboard in the usual manner - confusing unless you can see the individual shapes as you can in this diagram. Not only can you discern the five individual shapes but there is also actual reasons for the shape that become apparent to you when you've memorized all the notes and shapes and have spent years in study. But for me without a music education I need things put a little more simply and understandably. To the left you can see the two 6th String Root, Minor and Major Pentatonic shapes. Those have a purple box for the 6th String Root, Minor Pentatonic and a green box for the 6th String Root Major Pentatonic Shape. So the first shape you usually see nearest the nut on the Fretboard is the shape for the 6th String Root, Minor Pentatonic Shape. The second Shape you see is the 6th String Root, Major Pentatonic Shape. Now those shapes give you the minor and major pentatonics for the root note which is the lowest note on the sixth string. That note is the note closest to the top or nut of the Fretboard. You can go down the sixth string and put the root for the major and minor shapes, looking below this entry for those Scale Formulas for the 6th Strings and just go to town. It's a good way to start learning those notes and why you want to learn those notes. The middle Pentatonic Shape, the Third Pattern has it's own unique information with both the minor and major shapes from that pattern, - that's another posting. The two shapes at the end or right of the Fretboard diagram are for the 5th String Root, Minor and Major Pentatonic Shapes. They use the same scale formulas that you will find in previous blog entries below. It's almost like this stuff is making sense to me. 
