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Guitar scale · suspended pentatonic

C# Egyptian Pentatonic Scale

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

Notes C#D#F#G#B
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

C# 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.

C# 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 9–12
e|------------------------9-11-|
B|-------------------9-12------|
G|----------------11-----------|
D|-----------9-11--------------|
A|------9-11-------------------|
E|-9-11------------------------|
Position 2 · D shape frets 11–14
e|-------------------------------11-14-|
B|-------------------------12-14-------|
G|-------------------11-13-------------|
D|-------------11-13-------------------|
A|-------11-14-------------------------|
E|-11-14-------------------------------|
Position 3 · C shape frets 13–16
e|-------------------------------14-16-|
B|-------------------------14-16-------|
G|-------------------13-16-------------|
D|-------------13-16-------------------|
A|-------14-16-------------------------|
E|-14-16-------------------------------|
Position 4 · A shape frets 16–19
e|-------------------------------16-19-|
B|-------------------------16-19-------|
G|-------------------16-18-------------|
D|-------------16-18-------------------|
A|-------16-18-------------------------|
E|-16-19-------------------------------|
Position 5 · G shape frets 18–21
e|-------------------------------19-21-|
B|-------------------------19-21-------|
G|-------------------18-20-------------|
D|-------------18-21-------------------|
A|-------18-21-------------------------|
E|-19-21-------------------------------|

How to play C# Egyptian Pentatonic on guitar

Find the root first: C# is at fret 9 on the low E string and fret 4 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every C# 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 9–12. 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 C#
2 D#
4 F#
5 G#
♭7 B

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Questions

What notes are in the C# Egyptian Pentatonic Scale?
The C# Egyptian Pentatonic Scale has 5 notes: C#, D#, F#, G#, B.
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 C# Egyptian Pentatonic on the guitar?
The root C# is at fret 9 on the low E string and fret 4 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 9–12, and four more positions connect it up the neck.

Egyptian Pentatonic Scale in every key

More scales in C#