keys of the pentatonic minor

[hot_for_teacher]

i was wondering if anyone could let me know which notes are in the different keys of the pentatonic minor. i know that there's five basic patterns, do you just play them in a different order for different keys??

[cyberfret]

A minor pentatonic scale can be used for any minor key, or any major key that has a bluesy feel to it. The 5 positions that your are referring to are all the same 5 notes, just in different places and different octaves on the neck of the guitar. Understanding where to play them will require a knowledge of where the notes are on the neck of the guitar. Each scale form has a root, which is the primary note that a scale or chord is named after. So if you are trying to play a C minor pentatonic scale in all 5 positions, then you need to line each scale form up so that the root is C. The root is not the lowest note in each scale form....sometimes it is in the middle of the form. You can also think of those 5 positions as pieces of a puzzle. There are 2 notes on every string. The higher of the 2 notes on each string will are exactly the same as the lower of the 2 notes in the next position. So at first that is a good way to use them. You might be improvising in one position, and you just shift to the next position higher or lower.

lessons to check out

Names of notes on the neck of the guitar
http://www.cyberfret.com/first-fret/note-names/index.php

Minor pentatonic scale shapes
http://www.cyberfret.com/scales/minor-pentatonic/index.php

Pentatonic scale from a theory prospective
http://www.cyberfret.com/theory/pentatonic-scales/index.htm

--Shawn