Greasy Shuffle
Swaggering blues shuffle in E — open position, wide-open jam.
Jam this track with live chords →The Major Pentatonic Scale
The bright twin of the minor pentatonic: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6. It's the sound of country solos, Allman Brothers leads, and every "sweet" rock melody you can hum. In G, the notes are G, A, B, D, E.
The trick: you already know the shapes
Every major pentatonic shares its notes with a minor pentatonic — the one rooted three frets lower. G major pentatonic = E minor pentatonic (G, A, B, D, E vs E, G, A, B, D). So the box shapes you learned for the minor pentatonic are the major pentatonic too; what changes is which note is home. Play the "position 1" shape starting three frets below the major key's root, treat the major root as your landing note, and you're playing major pentatonic.
See every position on the interactive fretboard →
Notes in every key
| Key | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | A | B | C# | E | F# |
| Bb | Bb | C | D | F | G |
| B | B | C# | D# | F# | G# |
| C | C | D | E | G | A |
| C# | C# | D# | E# | G# | A# |
| D | D | E | F# | A | B |
| Eb | Eb | F | G | Bb | C |
| E | E | F# | G# | B | C# |
| F | F | G | A | C | D |
| F# | F# | G# | A# | C# | D# |
| G | G | A | B | D | E |
| Ab | Ab | Bb | C | Eb | F |
When to use it
- Major-key songs — country, classic rock, gospel, pop. Where minor pentatonic sounds tough, this sounds sweet.
- Major blues — the pro move is mixing both pentatonics: major for the "yes", minor for the "but". Listen to any B.B. King chorus.
- Over I–IV–V progressions — the 3rd and 6th land beautifully on chord tones of all three chords.
Jam it over a real track
These free tracks sit in major keys where the major pentatonic shines — play them here or open JamLab for the live fretboard:
Stadium Lights
Driving rock on an A–D–G vamp — crunchy major chords, arena energy.
Jam this track with live chords →