You don't need to know many guitar scales to play guitar solos – but you do need to know this one. The minor pentatonic is good enough for players including Angus Young, Slash, Eric Clapton ...

For example, in bar 3 I’ve deviated from the pentatonic pattern because I’m thinking about how I might embellish a G chord, rather than playing notes from a scale. I’ve chosen the D shape in ...

Major pentatonic scales are used a lot in folk music and Chinese music. They usually have a joyful feeling. They are also very good for solos and melodies played on the guitar.