A minor pentatonic scale, box 1: tab and practice loop
The first shape of the A minor pentatonic from the 5th fret, up and down in eighths. It's the scale most rock, blues and metal solos are built from, and box 1 is where most players start improvising. Once the fingering is automatic, your attention is free for phrasing when you start making up licks over it.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with the metronome on, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 140 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 140 bpm
- Starts at
- 84 bpm
- Length
- 3 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
How to play it
Fingers 1 and 4 for the three-fret gaps, 1 and 3 for the two-fret ones.
The shape covers the 5th to the 8th fret, two notes on each string, starting on the A at the 5th fret of the low E. On the E strings and the B string the two notes are three frets apart; on the others, two.
Play it up and back down in eighths, alternate picking. It ends on the A it started from, held for a beat, which is where the loop comes round.
Mistakes to watch for
- Using the 3rd finger for every three-fret reach. Use the 4th, so the hand stays in position.
- Letting two notes ring together when moving between strings with the same finger.
- Speeding up on the way down, where the shape feels more familiar.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 84
- 91
- 98
- 105
- 112
- 119
- 126
- 133
- 140
That's 16 loops and about 2 minutes before you're playing at 140 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one.
Questions
How fast should I play A minor pentatonic, box 1?
The goal is 140 bpm in eighth notes, which is 4.7 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 84 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
Why is it called box 1?
The pentatonic scale makes five shapes along the neck, and each fits in a compact box of frets. Box 1 is the one that starts on the root note on the low E, and the one most players learn first.
How do I play it in another key?
Move the whole shape so the 1st finger on the low E is on the new root: at the 3rd fret for G minor, the 7th for B minor, the 12th for E minor. The fingering doesn't change.