Guitar scales › Minor Pentatonic Scale

C♯ Minor Pentatonic Scale – Guitar

The first scale most guitarists learn for soloing: five notes, five boxes, and the sound of almost every rock and blues solo. 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♯ minor pentatonic scale

• C♯1
• Eb3
• F♯4
• G♯5
• Bb7

Formula: 1 – b3 – 4 – 5 – b7. Use it to solo over songs in C♯ minor, and over C♯ blues and rock progressions.

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

C♯ minor pentatonic scale on the whole neck

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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|-------------------------------9--12-|
B|-------------------------9--12-------|
G|-------------------9--11-------------|
D|-------------9--11-------------------|
A|-------9--11-------------------------|
E|-9--12-------------------------------|

e|-------------------------------12-14-|
B|-------------------------12-14-------|
G|-------------------11-13-------------|
D|-------------11-14-------------------|
A|-------11-14-------------------------|
E|-12-14-------------------------------|

e|---------------------2-4-|
B|-----------------2-5-----|
G|-------------1-4---------|
D|---------2-4-------------|
A|-----2-4-----------------|
E|-2-4---------------------|

e|---------------------4-7-|
B|-----------------5-7-----|
G|-------------4-6---------|
D|---------4-6-------------|
A|-----4-7-----------------|
E|-4-7---------------------|

e|---------------------7-9-|
B|-----------------7-9-----|
G|-------------6-9---------|
D|---------6-9-------------|
A|-----7-9-----------------|
E|-7-9---------------------|

3 C♯ minor licks to play with it

Box 1 licks from the JamEase lick library, written for C♯ minor (h = hammer-on, p = pull-off, / = slide, b = bend, ~ = vibrato).

e|----------|
B|----------|
G|-11-9-----|
D|-------11-|
A|----------|
E|----------|

e|-------------------------|
B|---------9---------------|
G|-9h--11------11p-9-------|
D|---------------------11--|
A|-------------------------|
E|-------------------------|

e|---------------------|
B|-----9---------------|
G|-11b-----11--9-------|
D|-----------------11--|
A|---------------------|
E|---------------------|

C♯ minor backing track

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

Slow Blues Rock Ballad Jam | Guitar Backing Track in C# Minor – Now YOU Shred Backing Tracks

Songs in C♯ minor

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

• Counting Stars – OneRepublic
• Jolene – Dolly Parton
• Shape Of You – Ed Sheeran
• Skinny Love – Birdy
• Summertime Sadness – Lana Del Rey
• California Dreamin – The Mamas & The Papas
• Slow Dancing In A Burning Room – John Mayer
• The Cave – Mumford & Sons
• This Is The Life – Amy Macdonald
• Mean – Taylor Swift
• Isnt She Lovely – Stevie Wonder
• Those Eyes – New West

All songs in C♯ minor →

Other scales in C♯

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

Minor Pentatonic Scale in other keys

• C Minor Pentatonic Scale
• D Minor Pentatonic Scale
• E♭ Minor Pentatonic Scale
• E Minor Pentatonic Scale
• F Minor Pentatonic Scale
• F♯ Minor Pentatonic Scale
• G Minor Pentatonic Scale
• G♯ Minor Pentatonic Scale
• A Minor Pentatonic Scale
• B♭ Minor Pentatonic Scale
• B Minor Pentatonic Scale