Practice the C major pentatonic scales with simple rhythm guitar

The video I made consists of two parts.  In the first section, I’m playing the pentatonic scales in C major starting with the position 4 scale at the 3rd fret.  Then I play the minor pentatonic scale, then the major, and so on.  There are annotations in the video telling you which scale I’m on, and I play all five of the different positions.

Then, after playing the position 3 scale at the 12th fret, I play a G major chord.  What you’re supposed to do at this point is play the position 4 scale again just like you did at the beginning of the video, but try to play it in time with me as I play the “rhythm guitar.”  I am strumming half as fast as you should be playing the scale, so you should play the first note of the scale at the same time as I do the first strum then play the second note of the scale before I do the next strum.  You’ll notice that the metronome in the background is clicking twice for every strum I do – you should play along with the metronome.

I then play the appropriate chord to accompany the minor pentatonic scale, the major scale and the other two scales in the key of C.  Playing the scales like this is more enjoyable, and it also allows you to really hear what they sound like.  When you play the minor scale by itself, it sounds kind of sad, but when you play it along with a minor chord, you really hear just how sad it sounds.  The same is true with the major scale; it sounds much happier with the major chord then it does when you play it solo.

Also, once you get really comfortable and faster with these scales, you should come back and try to play along with the rhythm guitar, but try it twice as fast (two notes for every click of the metronome).