Guitar scales › Major Pentatonic Scale

C Major Pentatonic Scale – Guitar

The bright, sweet-sounding pentatonic: country, pop and classic rock solos over major-key songs. Here it is in C: the notes, the whole neck, all five boxes with TAB, and a backing track to practise over.

Notes in the C major pentatonic scale

• C1
• D2
• E3
• G5
• A6

Formula: 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 6. Use it to solo over songs in C major.

Same five notes as the A minor pentatonic scale – the shapes are identical, only the home note changes.

C major pentatonic scale on the whole neck

Know the scale?
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• From 3 notes to your own solos
• Every note on the neck, with sound and TAB
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The 5 boxes (positions) with TAB

Each box is one hand position. Learn Box 1 first: play it up with the TAB, then back down, then move to the next box – together they cover the whole neck.

e|-------------------------------8--10-|
B|-------------------------8--10-------|
G|-------------------7--9--------------|
D|-------------7--10-------------------|
A|-------7--10-------------------------|
E|-8--10-------------------------------|

e|-------------------------------10-12-|
B|-------------------------10-13-------|
G|-------------------9--12-------------|
D|-------------10-12-------------------|
A|-------10-12-------------------------|
E|-10-12-------------------------------|

e|-------------------------------12-15-|
B|-------------------------13-15-------|
G|-------------------12-14-------------|
D|-------------12-14-------------------|
A|-------12-15-------------------------|
E|-12-15-------------------------------|

e|---------------------3-5-|
B|-----------------3-5-----|
G|-------------2-5---------|
D|---------2-5-------------|
A|-----3-5-----------------|
E|-3-5---------------------|

e|---------------------5-8-|
B|-----------------5-8-----|
G|-------------5-7---------|
D|---------5-7-------------|
A|-----5-7-----------------|
E|-5-8---------------------|

C major backing track

Play the boxes over this, starting and ending phrases on the gold root notes.

Smooth Slow Blues in C major | Guitar Backing Track – AUsher Jam Tracks

Songs in C major

These songs are in C major, so this is a scale that fits for soloing over them:

• Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley
• When I Was Your Man – Bruno Mars
• Dont Look Back In Anger – Oasis
• Let It Be – The Beatles
• Imagine – John Lennon
• Have You Ever Seen The Rain – Creedence Clearwater Revival
• All I Want – Kodaline
• Stay – Rihanna
• A Star Is Born - Always Remember Us This Way – Misc Soundtrack
• Ho Hey – The Lumineers
• Heaven – Bryan Adams
• Space Oddity – David Bowie

All songs in C major →

Other scales in C

• C Minor Pentatonic Scale
• C Blues Scale
• C Major Blues Scale
• C Major Scale
• C Natural Minor Scale
• C Dorian Mode
• C Mixolydian Mode
• C Phrygian Mode
• C Lydian Mode
• C Harmonic Minor Scale
• C Melodic Minor Scale

Major Pentatonic Scale in other keys

• D♭ Major Pentatonic Scale
• D Major Pentatonic Scale
• E♭ Major Pentatonic Scale
• E Major Pentatonic Scale
• F Major Pentatonic Scale
• F♯ Major Pentatonic Scale
• G Major Pentatonic Scale
• A♭ Major Pentatonic Scale
• A Major Pentatonic Scale
• B♭ Major Pentatonic Scale
• B Major Pentatonic Scale