Linkage Part III
Unfortunately Major Scale Position 4 doesn’t have a minor pentatonic scale that can be placed over the top of it. However, it is exactly the same scale as the Major Scale Position 1, but the root note is on the A string instead of the E string. This makes it a little bit different, because you have to account for the “Evil B string” at a different part in the scale. The fingering pattern on the B string is the same as the pattern on G string, but you have to
slide the position up one fret.
Here are both patterns 1 and 4 side by side, so you can see the similarities.
Major Scale – Root Position 1
E|-O-|-O-|---|-O-|---|
B|---|-O-|---|-O-|---|
G|-O-|---|-O-|-O-|---|
D|-O-|---|-O-|-O-|---|
A|-O-|-O-|---|-O-|---|
E|-O-|-O-|---|-O-|---|
Major Scale – Root Position 4
E|---|-O-|---|-O-|---|
B|---|-O-|---|-O-|-O-|
G|-O-|---|-O-|-O-|---|
D|-O-|-O-|---|-O-|---|
A|-O-|-O-|---|-O-|---|
E|---|-O-|---|-O-|---|
This pattern starts three frets above the Major Scale Pattern 3. Where before, each pattern was separated by two frets, this one is separated by three. So in other words, when you play the pentatonic scale in Major Scale Pattern 3, your pinky will play the starting note for this pattern.