Scale Degrees
With any scale you learn, it is important to know how each note of the scale relates to the root note or key note. Each note of a scale is therefore given a number which shows its relation to the major scale.
These numbers are called scale degrees. It is worth comparing the notes of the minor pentatonic scale with those of the major scale. The following diagram shows the note names and the scale degrees of both scales in the key of C.
Notice that the minor pentatonic scale does not contain the degrees 2 or 6, and that the 3rd and 7th degrees are flattened. Play through the C minor pentatonic scale several times, naming the scale degrees as you play each one. When you can do this from memory, transpose it to other keys by moving it up or down the fretboard and notice that the scale degrees remain the same regardless of what key you are playing in.
