CAGED Major Pentatonic

You can build upon the CAGED System by integrating the Major Pentatonic scale. There are five notes in the scale, which produce five modes. Each mode starts on a different interval of the scale. The image above shows the five patterns/modes of the Major Pentatonic scale.

The Major chord is derived from the Major scale. It consists of the root, major third, and perfect fifth of the Major scale. The Major Pentatonic is also derived from the Major scale. It consists of the root, major second, major third, perfect fifth, and major sixth of the Major scale. So, the notes that make up the Major chord are contained within the Major Pentatonic scale.

If you inspect the image above, you can see the CAGED chord shapes within the scale patterns (e.g. within the C PATTERN you can see the notes for the C chord shape from the CAGED System).

Here is one way to apply this. If you are playing a C Major chord in the open position (using the C chord shape) you can use the C PATTERN in the image above to play a melody over that chord in the open position.

Fret numbers are included in the diagram above to indicate the position where you would play these patterns for the C Major Pentatonic scale. The positions will be different when you apply these patterns to other Major scales. Memorize the patterns and associate them with their respective letter.

Please write a comment to share your thoughts about the Major Pentatonic CAGED System.

Regards,

Jeremy Driscoll