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E flat three pentatonic Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: E, F#, G, B, C#, E at frets 0, 2, 3, 7, 9, 12

A string: B, C#, E, F#, G at frets 2, 4, 7, 9, 10

D string: E, F#, G, B, C# at frets 2, 4, 5, 9, 11

G string: G, B, C#, E, F#, G at frets 0, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12

B string: B, C#, E, F#, G, B at frets 0, 2, 5, 7, 8, 12

High E string: E, F#, G, B, C#, E at frets 0, 2, 3, 7, 9, 12

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E flat three pentatonic

The flat three pentatonic is better known as the Japanese kumoi scale: root, 2nd, flat 3rd, 5th, 6th. It reads as a major pentatonic with the 3rd darkened, or as a five note slice of dorian, and both hearings are useful. The 2nd and 6th around the minor 3rd give it a bright-dark ambiguity that works from folk melodies to fusion lines.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

E

I

F♯

II

G

bIII

B

V

C♯

VI

Same notes, different mode

E flat three pentatonic uses the same notes as the scales below. Start from a different note and you get a new mode built on the very same note set.

F# in-senC# locrian pentatonic

flat three pentatonic in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • This is the Japanese kumoi sound: major pentatonic shape with the 3rd darkened to b3 (G); play familiar boxes and move one finger.
  • The II to b3 (G) half step... use it as a hammer-on ornament; it is the scale's characteristic inflection.
  • Over a m6 chord on E, all five notes are chord tones or colors: no avoid notes, pure vocabulary.
  • Write phrases ending on the 6th (C#) over a minor chord for the bright-sad kumoi cadence.

How to play E flat three pentatonic on guitar

Both E strings deliver the root open and open B the fifth, so E flat-three pentatonic drones from the guitar's own tuning. Open G adds the minor third on top, which means root, fifth and flat three all ring before you fret anything. First box is tiny and ends at fret 4. Beyond it, roots return at fret 7 (A string) and fret 9 (G string), with the E-shape barre at fret 12.

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