Pentatonic Scale Help

[BradSpliff]

I’ve just started learning the pentatonic scale in Am and now I need help understanding how to transpose it to different keys. I also wonder why different videos or diagrams have the patterns labeled differently like position 1 is position 3 in a different chart / video. I also need someone to shed some light on where the fretboard ends and how it continues back at the top..

the way I learned it is:

position 1: 020303
position 2: 243535
etc.

how do I transpose it to say dm? any info is greatly appreciated!!

 

[Mike $]

Transposing is as simple as reciting the alphabet. If you want to transpose from A to D, you add the letters of the first scale until you reach the next one. Am has no flats or sharps. So the Am pentatonic scale starts on A, then goes to C, D, E, and G. Count up to the D note to get to the Dm scale. The notes will be a perfect 4th above where it was in the Am pent. scale. That's 5 half steps sharp. You will end up with D, F, G, A, C. then back to D. Just as in the diatonic scale ( the normal scale you use with 7 different notes and ends on the octave), the Dm pentatonic scale uses the same notes as the F major scale, but starting on a different note. So, it also has modes. 5 of them starting at each of the degrees of the tones. If you learn these, you will have a very good way to jam all the way up and down the neck. To transpose, just shift your fingers to the new root and follow the same pattern you use in the original key. Good luck, I'm sure there are tons of videos out there so you can see and play along.

 

[BradSpliff]

Transposing is as simple as reciting the alphabet. If you want to transpose from A to D, you add the letters of the first scale until you reach the next one. Am has no flats or sharps. So the Am pentatonic scale starts on A, then goes to C, D, E, and G. Count up to the D note to get to the Dm scale. The notes will be a perfect 4th above where it was in the Am pent. scale. That's 5 half steps sharp. You will end up with D, F, G, A, C. then back to D. Just as in the diatonic scale ( the normal scale you use with 7 different notes and ends on the octave), the Dm pentatonic scale uses the same notes as the F major scale, but starting on a different note. So, it also has modes. 5 of them, hence the term pentatonic. If you learn these, you will have a very good way to jam all the way up and down the neck. To transpose, just shift your fingers to the new root and follow the same pattern you use in the original key. Good luck, I'm sure there are tons of videos out there so you can see and play along.

great info, thanks!

 

[Mike $]

Here are the patterns of the Cmaj pent. scale up the neck. If you want the Dmaj pent shift everything up two frets, and so on for the other keys. The 5th degree is the notes for the Am pentatonic scale/position.


C Pent. 1st degree,..2nd degree,..3rd degree,..4th degree,.....5th degree
-------------0--3----------------3--5-------------5--7------------7--10---------------10--12--
-------0--3-----------------3--5------------5--8-----------8--10--------------10--12----------
-0--2------------------2--4------------4--7-----------7--9--------------9--12------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[SurferJay]

I’ve just started learning the pentatonic scale in Am and now I need help understanding how to transpose it to different keys. I also wonder why different videos or diagrams have the patterns labeled differently like position 1 is position 3 in a different chart / video. I also need someone to shed some light on where the fretboard ends and how it continues back at the top..

the way I learned it is:

position 1: 020303
position 2: 243535
etc.

how do I transpose it to say dm? any info is greatly appreciated!!

Often the position changes because the scales start/end on the route notes. But they are always the same patterns just starting from different notes.

 

[BradSpliff]

u guys are awesome thank u

 

[don_b]

Check this out too

C Major pentatonic Ukulele Scale

C Major pentatonic Uke scale (W,W,WH,W,WH) on the soprano.

ukulelescales.com

 

[LorenFL]

This is good, too:

Ukulele Scales - UkeBuddy

View ukulele scales from styles around the world. The notes for each scale and key will be mapped out on the ukulele fretboard.

ukebuddy.com

 

[clear]

Don't think of where the fretboard ends. Think in terms of patterns; treating each string separately.
Here, a little music theory can go a long way. If you know the scale for one key, then you already know the scale for all keys.

A little theory (western music):
1. A scale is an arrangement of note following a particular set of intervals/distances between the notes.
2. There are only 12 notes, spaced "evenly" (equal temperament tuning).
3. If you offset all the notes on a scale by the same amount, you've just played the scale in a different key.
4. The 12 notes are: C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab, A, A#/Bb, B
5. Each fret on your uke moves you an adjacent note.

Now, to answer your question:
1. You already know how to play Am
2. The distance from Am to Dm, using #4 above, is 6 (A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D)
3. So, count 6 frets (counting from your current Am position as "1", A#/Bb being "2", etc.); i.e. you'll end up on a fret location 5 frets up from your Am location.
4. Now repeat the Am pattern and it'll get you Dm.

 

[BradSpliff]

wow best forum by far lol thanks for the knowledge, I’ll definitely be coming on here more

 

[CPG]

This is really just a book full of fretboard diagrams and not so much an instruction book but it is extremely useful reference for finding scales in different positions and seeing how they relate and connect.

Ukulele Fretboard Atlas by Joe Charupakorn - Ukulele - Sheet Music

Buy Ukulele Fretboard Atlas sheet music by Joe Charupakorn at Sheet Music Plus. Find Ukulele sheet music that you like.

www.sheetmusicplus.com

 

[ripock]

I will tell you how I think about pentatonics and the fretboard. I think of the different pentatonic shapes as modes. I personally call each shape by its scale degree name. So I have a tonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, and subtonic shapes. Or you can number them or call them whatever you want.

For for each shape I figured out how to play the notes of the pentatonic scale from the starting note to the octave. for example, for the tonic shape I play the notes in this order: 1, b3, 4, 5, b7, 1. In the dominant shape I play 5, b7, 1, b3, 4, 5.

You just figure out how to play each shape and that's it! The shapes don't change when you change keys. The only thing that changes is their order on the fretboard.

for example, In the key of A the tonic shape is played on the 2nd fret, the mediant at the 5th, the subdominant at the 7th, the dominant at the 9th, and the subtonic at the 12th. Depending on how long your fretboard is, you can squeeze in a shape or two in the next octave and sometimes you can play a shape with open strings although I never do that because I hate open strings.

if we turn to the key of F, all the shapes are the same but they're in a different order. The tonic is at the 10th fret, the mediant at the 1st, subdominant at 3rd, dominant at 5th, subtonic on the 8th.

That's my take on it all. It is actually rather simple after you invest the hour to map out your five shapes--oooh, I forgot to mention that you should map out the shapes for the linear tuning (using the G, C, and E strings) and the re-entrant (using the C, E, and A strings). They are slightly different. But once you have all the linear shapes and the re-entrant shapes mapped out you'll start to see the big picture. Because, the re-entrant dominant shape is the same bunch of notes as the linear mediant shape. It is all connected and once you practice in different keys and switching from linear to re-entrant you'll get a panoramic eagle-eye view of the fretboard

 

[BradSpliff]

why do some people in the tutorials solo with just the bottom 3 strings and some use all 4? is it because of the high vs low g string?

 

[don_b]

why do some people in the tutorials solo with just the bottom 3 strings and some use all 4? is it because of the high vs low g string?

Most likely