Beginner Guitar Scales – Open E Pentatonic Minor Scale

The open E pentatonic minor scale with an extension is one of the most important scales for beginner guitarists to learn. You’ve probably seen this scale played before—it’s an open scale, which means you play open notes (unfretted strings) along with fretted notes.

This scale is harmonically friendly to the key of E, which means you can play it over Em, E pentatonic minor, or E7 chords and it will work beautifully. Even better, once you learn where all the notes are, your riffs and licks become much easier because so many of them come right out of this scale pattern.

Why Start with Open E Pentatonic Minor?

If you’re just getting into guitar scales, the open E pentatonic minor is the perfect place to start for a few reasons:

First, you’re using open strings, which means you don’t have to press down on every note. This makes it easier on your fingers when you’re just starting out, and it gives you a reference point—those open strings are always going to sound right.

Second, E is a very common key in rock, blues, and country music. Learn this scale, and you’ll immediately have something you can use in real songs. It’s not just an exercise—it’s a practical tool.

Third, the pentatonic scale only has five notes (that’s what “penta” means). Compared to a full major or minor scale with seven notes, this is much easier to remember and play. You get a lot of musical value without overwhelming complexity.

The Basic Open E Pentatonic Minor Scale

The scale pattern goes from the 6th string (thickest, low E) to the 1st string (thinnest, high E). Here’s the pattern string by string:

• 6th string: open, 3rd fret (E, G)
• 5th string: open, 2nd fret (A, B)
• 4th string: open, 2nd fret (D, E)
• 3rd string: open, 2nd fret (G, A)
• 2nd string: open, 3rd fret (B, D)
• 1st string: open, 3rd fret (E, G)

That’s the easiest way to remember this scale. Don’t worry about learning all the note names right away—just focus on the root note, which is the open E (6th string). Once you can play through the pattern smoothly, you’ll start recognizing the notes by ear.

The fingering uses 0 for open strings, 2 for your middle finger, and 3 for your ring finger. This keeps your hand in a comfortable position and makes the scale easy to play without a lot of stretching.

Basic scale fingering: 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 3

Notice the symmetry in the fingering pattern. Most of it is “0 2” (open, second fret), except on the 6th, 2nd, and 1st strings where you use the 3rd fret instead of the 2nd. This pattern makes it easier to remember.

How to Practice the Basic Scale

Start slow. Really slow. Play each note clearly and make sure it rings out before you move to the next one. Don’t worry about speed—that’ll come naturally once your fingers know where to go.

Play up the scale (low to high), then back down (high to low). Do this several times in a row until it feels smooth and automatic. You want your fingers to learn the movement so well that you don’t have to think about it.

Use a metronome if you have one. Start at 60 BPM (beats per minute) and play one note per click. As you get comfortable, you can gradually increase the tempo, but don’t rush it. Clean and steady is always better than fast and sloppy.

Try playing along with a backing track in the key of E minor. There are tons of free ones on YouTube. This will help you hear how the scale actually sounds in a musical context, which is way more fun than just playing it by yourself in silence.

The Extension: Taking It Further

There’s an extension to this scale that comes out of the relative major scale (G major, if you’re curious about the theory). This extension allows you to reach higher notes and play more complex licks without shifting your hand position dramatically. It basically gives you more range to work with.

To play the extension, start by going through the scale like you normally would. When you get to the 3rd string, 2nd fret (the A note), here’s where things change:

Instead of continuing to the open B string next, you’re going to jump up to the 4th fret on the 3rd string with your ring finger. Then play the 3rd fret of the 3rd string (instead of the open B string). This brings you into the upper range of the scale.

From there, use your second finger on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string, then your pinkie on the 5th fret of the 2nd string. Cross over to the 3rd fret of the 1st string with your second finger, and finally hit the 5th fret of the 1st string with your pinkie.

It sounds complicated written out, but once you try it a few times, the movement starts to make sense. You’re basically extending the scale up into a higher register without having to shift your entire hand position.

Fingering Patterns for the Extension

The fingering on the way up is different from the way down, and that’s intentional. It’s designed to make the movement as smooth as possible in both directions. When writing this out, we use 0 for open fingering, P for pinkie, and the numbers 1-3 for your index, middle, and ring fingers.

Fingering going UP: 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 2 3 2 P 2 P

Fingering going DOWN: P 2 P 2 3 1 0 2 0 2 0 3 0

Notice that coming down, you use your index finger (1) on the 3rd string, 3rd fret, whereas going up you use your middle finger (2) on that same note. This fingering switch makes the transition smoother in each direction.

If you follow these finger patterns, you’ll have a much easier time with this scale. The different fingerings for ascending and descending help you maintain smooth, efficient movement across the fretboard. Don’t fight it—use the suggested fingering even if it feels weird at first. There’s a reason it’s set up this way.

Why This Scale Matters

Scales are really important because all of your riffs and licks will come out of scales. They’re not just exercises—they’re the building blocks of music. The E pentatonic minor scale is especially valuable because it appears in countless rock, blues, and country songs.

Think about classic rock guitar solos. A huge percentage of them use the E pentatonic minor scale or closely related patterns. Once you master this pattern, you’ll start recognizing it everywhere—in Hendrix solos, CCR riffs, Led Zeppelin licks, you name it.

More importantly, when you know the scale inside and out, you’re not just copying someone else’s licks anymore. You start to understand where notes come from and why they work. You can start creating your own riffs instead of just playing what someone else told you to play.

Common Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

Rushing the tempo. Everyone wants to play fast, but fast and sloppy doesn’t sound good. Slow and clean always beats fast and messy. Speed comes naturally with practice—you don’t have to force it.

Not muting unused strings. When you’re playing, make sure the strings you’re not using aren’t ringing out. Use the side of your fretting hand to lightly touch the strings you’re not playing. This keeps everything clean.

Ignoring the rhythm. Scales aren’t just about hitting the right notes—they’re about rhythm too. Practice with a metronome or backing track so you develop a sense of timing along with the fingering.

Only playing it one way. Don’t just go up and down the scale robotically. Skip notes, play it backwards, change the rhythm, start from different notes. The more you vary your practice, the more flexible you’ll become.

What to Practice Next

Once you’ve got the basic pattern down, try these exercises:

Skip patterns: Instead of playing every note in order, skip every other note. This creates intervals of thirds, which sound much more musical than just running up and down the scale.

Rhythm variations: Play the same notes but change the rhythm. Try eighth notes, then sixteenth notes, then triplets. This builds rhythmic flexibility.

Directional changes: Play three notes up, two notes down, then repeat. This breaks the “up and down” pattern and starts to sound more like actual music.

Combine it with licks: Take a simple blues or rock lick you know and see if you can figure out which notes from the E pentatonic minor scale it’s using. This connects theory to real music.

Real Songs Using This Scale

Want to see this scale in action? Check out our lessons on Cool Country Guitar Licks in E Pentatonic Minor and Green River Intro Riff—both use this exact scale pattern.

For a more in-depth look at blues scales and how they relate to this pentatonic scale, check out Ultimate Blues Stage 2: Scales where we break down the relationship between pentatonic and blues scales.

Back to Guitar Scales.