In this guide I want to discuss minor pentatonic scales for the saxophone.
If you were looking for just the minor scales, here is the saxophone minor scales guide. And if you were looking for just the major scales instead, here is the saxophone major scales guide.
As the name suggests, a pentatonic scale only has five notes. There are both major and minor pentatonic scales. If you were looking for major pentatonics, here is the saxophone major pentatonic scales guide.
As with all other guides in these series, we will focus in playing the scales on saxophone, specifically, how to finger the minor pentatonic scale on the saxophone.
Let's dive right in.
All Minor Pentatonic Scales on the Saxophone
Just like these are relative major and relative minor scales, a minor pentatonic scale, if we use the relative minor, uses exactly the same notes as the relative major pentatonic scale starting on the relative minor note.
It really simple, actually, once you get the hang of it.
Simply put, every major pentatonic scale has a relative minor pentatonic scale and they have the same exact set of notes except their root is different.
Major Pentatonic Scale | Relative Minor Pentatonic Scale |
---|---|
D Major | B Minor |
D-sharp / E-flat Major | C Minor |
E Major | C-sharp Minor |
F Major | D Minor |
F-sharp Major | D-sharp Minor |
G Major | E Minor |
G-sharp / A-flat Major | F Minor |
A Major | F-sharp Minor |
A-sharp / B-flat Major | G Minor |
B Major | G-sharp Minor |
C Major | A Minor |
C-sharp Major | A-sharp Minor |
They are the same set of notes with the the same key signature.
Just as with the major and minor scales, you'll see that many songs bounce back between the major pentatonic key and its relative minor pentatonic key or vice versa.
How to Find the Minor Pentatonic from a Minor Scale
The notes in a minor pentatonic scale are i, iii, iv, v and vii of the minor scale.
How to Find the Relative Minor Pentatonic from a Major Pentatonic Scale
The minor and relative major pentatonic scales have exactly the same notes but the root note of the minor pentatonic scale is always the fifth note of the relative major pentatonic scale.
This works for all major pentatonic scales.
How to Find the Relative Major Pentatonic from a Minor Pentatonic Scale
The root note of the relative major pentatonic scale is always the second note of the minor scale.
Again, this works for all minor pentatonic scales.
Here is a list of all minor pentatonic scales and their fingerings charts on saxophone:
- B Minor Pentatonic Scale
- C Minor Pentatonic Scale
- C-sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
- D Minor Pentatonic Scale
- D-sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
- E Minor Pentatonic Scale
- F Minor Pentatonic Scale
- F-sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
- G Minor Pentatonic Scale
- G-sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
- A Minor Pentatonic Scale
- A-sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
Let's get started.
The B Minor Pentatonic Scale
The relative major of B minor pentatonic scale is D major pentatonic. This scale has one sharps—F-sharp because C-sharp is the II note on the minor scale.
The notes of B minor pentatonic are:
- Low B
- Low D
- E
- F-sharp
- A
- B
Here are the fingering charts of the B minor pentatonic scale:
Note i — Low B
Note iii — Low D
Note iv — Low E
Note v — F-sharp
There are two fingerings for F-sharp, the main (most common) fingering and the F-sharp side key alternate fingering.
Note vii — A
Note i — B
The fingering for this note is similar with the Low B but with the octave key. It is an octave above Low B.
The C Minor Pentatonic Scale
The relative major of C minor is E-flat major. This scale has two flats: E-flat and B-flat because A-flat is the vii note.
The notes of C minor pentatonic scale are:
- C
- E-flat
- F
- G
- B-flat
- C
Here are the fingering charts of the B minor pentatonic scale:
Note i — Low C
Note iii — E-flat
Note iv — F
Note v — G
Note vii — B-flat
B-flat has a lot of options. There are three main fingerings:
And then, there are two alternate fingerings:
Note i — C
This note is one an octave higher than root C note.
And there is one alternate fingering:
The C-sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
The relative major of C-sharp minor is E major. This scale has three sharps: C-sharp, F-sharp and G-sharp.
Here are the notes of the C-sharp minor pentatonic scale:
- Low C-sharp
- E
- F-sharp
- G-sharp
- B
- C-sharp
Here are the fingering charts of the C-sharp minor pentatonic scale:
Note i — Low C-sharp
Note iii — E
Note iv — F-sharp
F-sharp has one main fingering:
And one alternate fingering:
Note v — G-sharp
G-sharp has one main fingering:
And three alternate fingerings:
So you have a lot of options with the table keys here.
Note vii — B
Note i — C-sharp
The D Minor Pentatonic Scale
The relative major of D minor is F major. This scale has no flat because B-flat is the vii note.
Here are the notes of the D minor pentatonic scale:
- Low D
- F
- G
- A
- C
- D
Here are the fingering charts of the D Minor minor pentatonic scale:
Note i — Low D
Note ii — F
Note iv — G
Note v — A
Note vii — C
The main fingering:
The alternate fingering:
Note viii — D
The D-sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
The relative major of D-sharp minor is F-sharp major. The F sharp major scale contains all 5 sharps because B is the vii note.
Here are the notes of the D-sharp minor pentatonic scale:
- D-sharp
- F-sharp
- G-sharp
- A-sharp
- C-sharp
- D-sharp
Here are the fingering charts of the D Minor minor pentatonic scale:
Note i — D-sharp / E-flat
Note iii — F-sharp
Note iv — G-sharp
Note v — A-sharp
Note vii — C-sharp
Note i — D-sharp
The E Minor Pentatonic Scale
The relative major of E minor is G major. This scale has no sharps because F-sharp is the ii note.
Here are the notes of the D-sharp minor pentatonic scale:
- E
- G
- A
- B
- D
- E
Here are the fingering charts of the D Minor minor pentatonic scale:
Note i — E
Note iii — G
Note iv — A
Note v — B
Note vii — D
Note i — E
This note is an octave higher than the root E note.
The F Minor Pentatonic Scale
The relative major of F minor is A-flat major. This scale has three flats: A-flat, B-flat, E-flat.
Here are the notes of the F minor pentatonic scale:
- F
- A-flat
- B-flat
- C
- E-flat
- F
Here are the fingering charts of the D Minor minor pentatonic scale:
Note i — F
Note iii — A-flat
Note iv — B-flat
Note v — C
Note vii — E-flat
Note i — F
This note is an octave higher than the root F note.
The F-sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
The relative major of F-sharp minor is A major. This scale has two sharps: C-sharp and F-sharp.
Here are the notes of the F-sharp minor pentatonic scale:
- F-sharp
- A
- B
- C-sharp
- E
- F-sharp
Here are the fingering charts of the D Minor minor pentatonic scale:
Note i — F-sharp
And there is one alternate fingering:
Note iii — A
Note iv — B
Note v — C-sharp
Note vii — E
Note i — F-sharp
This note is an octave higher than the root F-sharp note.
The G Minor Pentatonic Scale
The relative major of G minor is B-flat major. This scale has one flat because E-flat is the vi note.
Here are the notes of the G minor pentatonic scale:
- G
- B-flat
- C
- D
- F
- G
Here are the fingering charts of the G minor pentatonic scale:
Note i — G
Note iii — B-flat
Note iv — C
Note v — D
Note vii — F
Note i — G
This note is an octave higher than the root G note.
The G-sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
The relative major of G-sharp minor is B major. This scale has four sharps: G-sharp, C-sharp, D-sharp and F-sharp because A-sharp is the ii note.
Here are the notes of the G-sharp minor pentatonic scale:
- G-sharp
- B
- C-sharp
- D-sharp
- F-sharp
- G-sharp
Here are the fingering charts of the G-sharp minor pentatonic scale:
Note i — G-sharp
And there are three alternate fingerings:
Note iii — B
Note iv — C-sharp
Note v — D-sharp
Note vii — F-sharp
Note i — G-sharp
This note is an octave higher than the root G-sharp note.
The A Minor Pentatonic Scale
The relative major of A minor is C major. This scale has no flat or sharp.
Here are the notes of the A minor pentatonic scale:
- A
- C
- D
- E
- G
- A
Here are the fingering charts of the A minor pentatonic scale:
Note i — A
Note iii — C
Note iv — D
Note v — E
Note vii — G
Note i — A
The A-sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale
The relative major of A-sharp minor is C-sharp major. All the notes in this scale are sharps.
Here are the notes of the A-sharp minor pentatonic scale:
- A-sharp
- C-sharp
- D-sharp
- E-sharp
- G-sharp
- A-sharp
Here are the fingering charts of the A-sharp minor pentatonic scale:
Note i — A-sharp / B-flat
Note iii — C-sharp
Note iv — D-sharp
Note v — E-sharp
Note vii — G-sharp
Note i — A-sharp