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D Major Pentatonic Scale – Guitar
The bright, sweet-sounding pentatonic: country, pop and classic rock solos over major-key songs. Here it is in D: the notes, the whole neck, all five boxes with TAB, and a backing track to practise over.
Notes in the D major pentatonic scale
- D1
- E2
- F♯3
- A5
- B6
Formula: 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 6. Use it to solo over songs in D major.
Same five notes as the B minor pentatonic scale – the shapes are identical, only the home note changes.
D major pentatonic scale on the whole neck
Know the scale?
Now solo with it.
A guitar soloing course: 81 short lessons, each one ends with you jamming over a real backing track.
- From 3 notes to your own solos
- Every note on the neck, with sound and TAB
- 379 backing tracks in every key
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.
Box 1 · frets 9–12
e|-------------------------------10-12-| B|-------------------------10-12-------| G|-------------------9--11-------------| D|-------------9--12-------------------| A|-------9--12-------------------------| E|-10-12-------------------------------|
Box 2 · frets 11–15
e|-------------------------------12-14-| B|-------------------------12-15-------| G|-------------------11-14-------------| D|-------------12-14-------------------| A|-------12-14-------------------------| E|-12-14-------------------------------|
Box 3 · frets 2–5
e|---------------------2-5-| B|-----------------3-5-----| G|-------------2-4---------| D|---------2-4-------------| A|-----2-5-----------------| E|-2-5---------------------|
Box 4 · frets 4–7
e|---------------------5-7-| B|-----------------5-7-----| G|-------------4-7---------| D|---------4-7-------------| A|-----5-7-----------------| E|-5-7---------------------|
Box 5 · frets 7–10
e|-------------------------------7--10-| B|-------------------------7--10-------| G|-------------------7--9--------------| D|-------------7--9--------------------| A|-------7--9--------------------------| E|-7--10-------------------------------|
D major backing track
Play the boxes over this, starting and ending phrases on the gold root notes.
Slow blues backing track in D major – Beardly Jam Tracks
Songs in D major
These songs are in D major, so this is a scale that fits for soloing over them:
- Cant Help Falling In Love – Elvis Presley
- Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
- Love Story – Taylor Swift
- Hey There Delilah – Plain White T's
- Best Part – Daniel Caesar
- Last Christmas – Wham!
- I Dont Want To Miss A Thing – Aerosmith
- Linger – The Cranberries
- A Horse With No Name – America
- Cigarette Daydreams – Cage the Elephant
- With Or Without You – U2
- Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Other scales in D
- D Minor Pentatonic Scale
- D Blues Scale
- D Major Blues Scale
- D Major Scale
- D Natural Minor Scale
- D Dorian Mode
- D Mixolydian Mode
- D Phrygian Mode
- D Lydian Mode
- D Harmonic Minor Scale
- D Melodic Minor Scale
Major Pentatonic Scale in other keys
- C 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
Put it to use: solo with it, step by step, starting with three notes.
FAQ
What notes are in the D major pentatonic scale?
D, E, F#, A, B. The formula is 1 2 3 5 6.
Where do I start playing the D major pentatonic scale on guitar?
Start with Box 1, frets 9–12. The root note D is on the low E string at fret 10.
What is the relative minor of D major?
B minor – it uses the same notes.