Guitar scale · pentatonic & blues
D Man Gong Scale
Pentatonic scale 1 ♭3 4 ♭6 ♭7. It is the third mode of the major pentatonic, a minor pentatonic with the 5th replaced by a ♭6.
Tap any note to hear it.
D Man Gong Scale tab: all 5 positions
Each tab climbs from the low E string to the high e string. Play it up, then back down.
e|-------------------------------10-13-| B|-------------------------11-13-------| G|-------------------10-12-------------| D|-------------10-12-------------------| A|-------10-13-------------------------| E|-10-13-------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------13-15-| B|-------------------------13-15-------| G|-------------------12-15-------------| D|-------------12-15-------------------| A|-------13-15-------------------------| E|-13-15-------------------------------|
e|-------------------------15-| B|----------------------15----| G|----------------15-17-------| D|----------15-17-------------| A|----15-17-------------------| E|-15-------------------------|
e|-------------------------------18-20-| B|-------------------------18-20-------| G|-------------------17-19-------------| D|-------------17-20-------------------| A|-------17-20-------------------------| E|-18-20-------------------------------|
e|----------------------------20-22-| B|-------------------------20-------| G|-------------------19-22----------| D|-------------20-22----------------| A|-------20-22----------------------| E|-20-22----------------------------|
How to play D Man Gong 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 (♭3, ♭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
| Degree | Note |
|---|---|
| 1 | D |
| ♭3 | F |
| 4 | G |
| ♭6 | Bb |
| ♭7 | C |
Fretwise · Free on iPhone & Android
Practise D Man Gong anywhere, even offline.
This page is a small slice of Fretwise. The app adds practice: exercises that play as tab, a new routine every day, and the tools to tune and keep time. On iPhone, iPad and Android, no sign-up.
Free
- 65 scales and 56 chord types in every key, with CAGED shapes
- A tuner with 10 tunings and a metronome from 30 to 260 BPM
- A new Daily 15 routine every day, plus free exercises
- Maqam & makam between the frets, and the Name the Note quiz
One purchase
- 282 exercises that play as tab, and routines with a speed trainer
- Chord & Scale Finder: tap the neck, get the name
- Theory Lab and the Progression Builder with 51 genre loops
- No subscription, ads removed
Questions
- What notes are in the D Man Gong Scale?
- The D Man Gong Scale has 5 notes: D, F, G, Bb, C.
- What is the formula of the man gong scale?
- 1 ♭3 4 ♭6 ♭7, which is the step pattern W+H W W+H W W (W = whole step, H = half step).
- Where do I play D Man Gong 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.