So far in this series we've been working on one of the biggest traps of the guitar — being stuck in a position. In the case of pentatonic scales, it's that A minor 5th fret box that most guitarists get stuck in. However, there are plenty more traps on this instrument — like how so many guitarists never learn any chords outside of the open position, or never bother to learn the names of the notes.

Another area we find ourselves stuck in is certain guitar-friendly keys. For example: E minor, C major, A minor, and G major. Those keys sit so well on the guitar because of the tuning of the open strings.

To be clear, I have no problem with friendly keys, the open position, or the 5th fret pentatonic box. All of those things are fantastic — which is exactly why they're so popular. I just always want to learn how to do more, and that curiosity naturally leads to moving outside those comfort zones.

In this lesson, I'm going to show you how to easily move your pentatonic scales to any key you like, so you can shed your A minor shackles and allow your solos to navigate the farthest corners of the entire fretboard.

The Common Approach

Let's start with the most common approach to changing the key of the pentatonic scale. We'll take our classic 5th fret A minor pentatonic position from the previous lesson and start there.

The first thing you need to do to change the key is find the root note in that position. The root note is an A, sitting on the 5th fret of the 6th string. So as long as you know all the other notes along that 6th string, you can transfer this scale position into any other key.

Today we'll focus on 4 of the most common minor keys on the guitar: A minor, E minor, D minor, and B minor. For E minor — the open string is an E, so the 12th fret is also an E (one octave higher). Move the position up to the 12th fret. For D minor, take the E on the 12th fret and go back 2 frets to the 10th. For B minor, A is on the 5th fret and B is 2 frets higher — so move the shape up to the 7th fret.

EADGBe 56789 A D G C E A E A D C G C
Fig. 1a — A minor pentatonic (5th fret)
EADGBe 1213141516 E A D G B E B E A G D G
Fig. 1b — E minor pentatonic (12th fret)
EADGBe 1011121314 D G C F A D A D G F C F
Fig. 1c — D minor pentatonic (10th fret)
EADGBe 7891011 B E A D F# B F# B E D A D
Fig. 1d — B minor pentatonic (7th fret)

That's pretty much it for that approach — as long as you know where all of the notes are on the 6th string, you can move that shape to any key you like.

A New Approach: Mini Positions

While the approach above is great, it's also limiting. You're still stuck in a position, only now in multiple keys. You need another method if your goal is to become truly unstuck.

This time, we'll take the same A minor pentatonic position and play just one octave of it — up and then down. Remember that the pentatonic scale only has 5 different notes: A C D E G. This one-octave pattern uses 2 notes on each string across 3 strings: A C / D E / G A.

The aim is to find this pattern in other areas of the fretboard, keeping to the 2 notes per string formula. To find another position, you simply find another A to start from. There are 11 or 12 A notes on the fretboard (depending on how many frets your guitar has), but we won't use all of them — our pattern spans 3 strings, so you can't start on the B or high E strings.

Key Point
Due to the tuning difference of the B string, any pattern that crosses the B string needs its B-string notes shifted up by one fret. Any pattern crossing both the B and high E strings shifts both of those strings up by one fret.

String Set 1: E–A–D (6th, 5th, 4th strings)

We start from A on the 5th fret of the 6th string, then find the same pattern 12 frets higher on the same string set at the 17th fret.

E A D 56789 A D G E A C
Fig. 2a — E–A–D strings, lower octave (fret 5)
E A D 1718192021 A D G E A C
Fig. 2b — E–A–D strings, upper octave (fret 17)

String Set 2: A–D–G (5th, 4th, 3rd strings)

Move to A on the 12th fret of the 5th string for the upper octave, and the open position for the lower. The shape is identical — same intervals, same feel.

A D G 1213141516 A D G E A C
Fig. 2c — A–D–G strings, upper octave (fret 12)
A D G 1234 A D G E A C
Fig. 2d — A–D–G strings, lower octave (open)

String Set 3: D–G–B (4th, 3rd, 2nd strings)

Now we cross the B string. Notice that the notes on the B string are shifted up by one fret compared to what you'd expect if all strings were tuned in perfect 4ths. This shift affects any pattern that includes the B string.

D G B 7891011 A D G E C A
Fig. 2e — D–G–B strings (fret 7) — B string shifted +1
D G B 1920212223 A D G E C A
Fig. 2f — D–G–B strings (fret 19) — requires 22+ frets

String Set 4: G–B–e (3rd, 2nd, 1st strings)

The final string set starts from A on the 2nd fret of the G string. Because both the B and high E strings are affected by the B string's tuning difference, notes on both of those strings are shifted up one fret.

G B e 23456 A D G C E A
Fig. 2g — G–B–e strings (fret 2) — B and e shifted +1
G B e 1415161718 A D G C E A
Fig. 2h — G–B–e strings (fret 14) — B and e shifted +1

Before moving on, play through all 8 patterns as a sequence in the order presented above — Figs. 2a through 2h.

Transposing the Mini Positions

If your pattern starts on the 5th or 6th strings, all the shapes look the same — you just need to know where the root note is. Move the pattern to E minor, D minor, B minor, or any other key simply by starting from the right root on the right string. The fingering shape itself doesn't change.

For patterns starting on the 4th or 3rd strings, remember the B string adjustment. The shifted notes are part of the shape — once you've memorised the pattern, the shift becomes automatic.

Improvising with These Mini Positions

In the video above, there's an entire section dedicated to improvising with these patterns over a D minor backing track. I demonstrate an example so you can hear how you might approach using them in a musical context.

I can't recommend improvising enough in terms of getting new language into your playing. Get these patterns off the page as quickly as possible — that's when the real learning happens.

Final Thoughts

You don't have to learn all 8 patterns at once. You could pick one or two string sets and practise transposing them into different keys, making sure to improvise with each one. A huge benefit of this approach is that you keep having to locate root notes across the fretboard in different keys. Knowing where those notes are all over the neck is key to developing fluency and independence in any key, anywhere on the fretboard.