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Guitar scale · suspended pentatonic

D Egyptian Pentatonic Scale

Pentatonic scale 1 2 4 5 ♭7, also called the suspended pentatonic. It has no 3rd and no half steps.

Notes DEGAC
Formula 1 2 4 5 ♭7
Steps W W+H W W+H W
Mood Open, Suspended, Floating
Heard in Modal Improvisation, Folk-inspired Melodies

Interactive scale diagram

D Egyptian Pentatonic Scale · Standard tuning

STR OP 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 E A D G B E

Tap any note to hear it.

D Egyptian Pentatonic Scale tab: all 5 positions

Each tab climbs from the low E string to the high e string. Play it up, then back down.

Position 1 · E shape frets 10–13
e|----------------------------10-12-|
B|----------------------10-13-------|
G|-------------------12-------------|
D|-------------10-12----------------|
A|-------10-12----------------------|
E|-10-12----------------------------|
Position 2 · D shape frets 12–15
e|-------------------------------12-15-|
B|-------------------------13-15-------|
G|-------------------12-14-------------|
D|-------------12-14-------------------|
A|-------12-15-------------------------|
E|-12-15-------------------------------|
Position 3 · C shape frets 14–17
e|-------------------------------15-17-|
B|-------------------------15-17-------|
G|-------------------14-17-------------|
D|-------------14-17-------------------|
A|-------15-17-------------------------|
E|-15-17-------------------------------|
Position 4 · A shape frets 17–20
e|-------------------------------17-20-|
B|-------------------------17-20-------|
G|-------------------17-19-------------|
D|-------------17-19-------------------|
A|-------17-19-------------------------|
E|-17-20-------------------------------|
Position 5 · G shape frets 19–22
e|-------------------------------20-22-|
B|-------------------------20-22-------|
G|-------------------19-21-------------|
D|-------------19-22-------------------|
A|-------19-22-------------------------|
E|-20-22-------------------------------|

How to play D Egyptian Pentatonic on guitar

Find the root first: D is at fret 10 on the low E string and fret 5 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every D on the neck; the gold ones are the rest of the scale's home chord (4, 5, ♭7), the safest notes to land on at the end of a phrase.

Learn it one box at a time. Position 1, the E shape, sits at frets 10–13. Once it's under your fingers, move to position 2 (the D shape) and play the notes the two boxes share, then keep going up the neck. After all five, the scale joins up into one pattern across the whole fretboard.

Degrees

DegreeNote
1 D
2 E
4 G
5 A
♭7 C

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Questions

What notes are in the D Egyptian Pentatonic Scale?
The D Egyptian Pentatonic Scale has 5 notes: D, E, G, A, C.
What is the formula of the egyptian pentatonic scale?
1 2 4 5 ♭7, which is the step pattern W W+H W W+H W (W = whole step, H = half step).
Where do I play D Egyptian Pentatonic on the guitar?
The root D is at fret 10 on the low E string and fret 5 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 10–13, and four more positions connect it up the neck.

Egyptian Pentatonic Scale in every key

More scales in D