Six Strings
In this section: Scales

F major pentatonic

A five-note scale built on F: root, second, major third, fifth and sixth. A bright, happy sound you’ll hear all over country, folk and pop.

Notes:
F, G, A, C, D.
Formula:
1, 2, 3, 5, 6.
Style:
Country, folk, pop, rock.
Difficulty:
Beginner.

On the neck

Every note of the scale on the neck (choose 12, 15 or 19 frets). Click to listen.

Number of frets shown
FGACDFGAACDFGACDDFGACDFGAGACDFGACDCDFGACDFFGACDFGA
FGACDACDFGADFGACDGACDFGCDFGAFGACD

High E at the top, just like in tab.Neck seen from the front, headstock at the top: low E on the left, just like a chord diagram.

F (root note)

Play the scale notes over it. Open in the Studio

Chords that go with it

The chords built on the notes of the scale: improvise with this scale over any progression that uses them.

F majorI
G minorii
A minoriii
B♭ majorIV
C majorV
D minorvi

Progressions to use it on

I, V, vi, IV: the pop progression
I, IV, V: the backbone of folk and rock
I, vi, IV, V: the ’50s progression

▶ Play it in the Studio

Loop the first one and improvise over it:

The pop strumF · C · Dm · B♭

Learn the pop strum step by step →

All 5 positions

Each position covers all six strings, with two notes per string. Position 1 starts on the root, on the 6th string.

Position 1: frets 0 to 3

It also works an octave higher, frets 12 to 15.

FGACDFGACDFG

High E at the top, just like in tab; the numbers under the neck are fret numbers.

e|---------------------1-3-|
B|-----------------1-3-----|
G|-------------0-2---------|
D|---------0-3-------------|
A|-----0-3-----------------|
E|-1-3---------------------|

Position 2: frets 2 to 6

FGACDFGAACDCDFFGA

High E at the top, just like in tab; the numbers under the neck are fret numbers.

e|---------------------3-5-|
B|-----------------3-6-----|
G|-------------2-5---------|
D|---------3-5-------------|
A|-----3-5-----------------|
E|-3-5---------------------|

Position 3: frets 5 to 8

ACDFGACDFGAC

High E at the top, just like in tab; the numbers under the neck are fret numbers.

e|---------------------5-8-|
B|-----------------6-8-----|
G|-------------5-7---------|
D|---------5-7-------------|
A|-----5-8-----------------|
E|-5-8---------------------|

Position 4: frets 7 to 10

CDFGACDFFGACD

High E at the top, just like in tab; the numbers under the neck are fret numbers.

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

Position 5: frets 10 to 13

DFGACDFGAACDF

High E at the top, just like in tab; the numbers under the neck are fret numbers.

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