Box 1
Pattern 1 (root box)
Frets 1–4
When to use it: Start here. The root sits under your first finger on the 6th string, so the whole box moves with the key — slide it up two frets and you are in the next one.
Minor Pentatonic
F Minor Pentatonic Scale
The rock and blues workhorse. If you learn one scale on guitar, learn this one.
- Notes
- F A♭ B♭ C E♭
- Formula
- 1 · ♭3 · 4 · 5 · ♭7
- Sound
- bluesy, gritty
- Guitar positions
- 5
The patterns on guitar
5 fretboard positions in standard tuning, low string on the left. Every dot is a note of the scale and the number inside it is the scale degree, so you can see the shape and the theory at once.
root notescale notenumbers inside the dots are scale degrees
Box 2
Pattern 2 (b3 box)
Frets 4–7
When to use it: Directly above the root box. Most blues phrasing lives in the overlap: bend the ♭3 here and resolve back down into pattern 1.
Box 3
Pattern 3 (4th box)
Frets 6–9
When to use it: The middle of the neck. Good for horizontal runs — you can slide out of it into pattern 2 below or pattern 4 above without repositioning your hand.
Box 4
Pattern 4 (5th box)
Frets 8–11
When to use it: Root on the 4th string. This is the shape to reach for when the vocal sits high and you want to answer above it.
Box 5
Pattern 5 (b7 box)
Frets 11–14
When to use it: The lowest box in the set. It puts the ♭7 under the 6th string, which is why it feels like the turnaround shape.
The notes
5 notes, built off F with the formula 1 · ♭3 · 4 · 5 · ♭7. Five notes, five boxes, and roughly half of all recorded guitar solos. Pattern 1 is movable, so once you can play it in one key you can play it in twelve.
Tap any note to hear it on its own.
Chords built from this scale
With 5 notes there is no seven-chord diatonic set to stack. What matters instead is which chords this scale fits over: every chord below is built entirely from notes in the scale, so you can solo across it without hitting a note that fights the backing chord.
Common questions
What notes are in the F Minor Pentatonic Scale?
The F minor pentatonic scale has 5 notes: F, Ab, Bb, C, Eb. The interval formula is 1–♭3–4–5–♭7, counted up from F.
What chords are in the F Minor Pentatonic Scale?
It is not a seven-note scale, so it has no diatonic harmony of its own. The chords whose notes fit entirely inside it are Ab, Fm, Absus2, Bbsus2, Ebsus2, Bbsus4, Ebsus4, Fsus4 — those are safe to solo over with this scale.
Where do I start on guitar?
Start with Pattern 1 (root box) at fret 1. Start here. The root sits under your first finger on the 6th string, so the whole box moves with the key — slide it up two frets and you are in the next one.
Is the F Minor Pentatonic Scale the same as the Ab Major Pentatonic Scale?
They use exactly the same notes — F, Ab, Bb, C, Eb — but resolve to different home notes. Play the pattern thinking F and you hear the F minor pentatonic scale; think Ab and the same shape becomes the Ab major pentatonic scale.
Learn the theory behind it
The patterns above get your fingers moving. These explain what the notes are actually doing, so you can use the scale instead of just running it.