To round up this major scale series, we’re going to cover how to play the Major Pentatonic Scale. This uses a very similar shape to the minor pentatonic, but sounds very different and is used for more major sounding songs, similar to the backing tracks in this course.

Major Pentatonic Scale Diagram

C Major Pentatonic Scale in TAB

Major pentatonic/ minor pentatonic relations

The real trick here is understanding that both use the same shape on the fretboard, but we start on the little finger for the Major Pentatonic, rather than finger 1. This is the main thing to keep in mind to play both scales correctly.

Notes wise, the major pentatonic has 5 notes, the full major scale has these same notes plus 2 extra, making it a 7 note scale. The 8th note of the full major scale is the octave where the scale simply repeats the same note names again but at a higher pitch.