G Minor Pentatonic Guitar Scale

G Minor Pentatonic in Double Drop D — Notes and Intervals

The G Minor Pentatonic scale is the most influential scale in the history of rock and guitar music. On Guitar, its notes are G, Bb, C, D, F. It offers a gritty, powerful, and bluesy sound that is highly versatile, serving as the primary tool for improvising solos in rock, blues, and metal and providing a safe but expressive framework for beginners and pros alike. Commonly used in Blues, Rock, Metal, R&B, Funk. Notable players include Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, B.B. King, Slash, Angus Young. Use over minor chords, dominant 7th chords (in blues), and power chords. The backbone of rock and blues guitar for 70+ years.

Notes: G, Bb, C, D, F

Intervals: 1P, 3m, 4P, 5P, 7m

Degrees: 1 b2 3 4 b5

Formula: WH-W-W-WH-W

Number of notes: 5

Tuning: Double Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-D)

Also known as: vietnamese 2

About Double Drop D Tuning

Double Drop D tuning (D-A-D-G-B-D) lowers both the 6th and 1st strings from E to D, creating a symmetrical frame of D notes around the standard middle four strings. This gives a distinctly resonant, jangly character that has been beloved in folk-rock and acoustic music since the late 1960s.

Neil Young used Double Drop D extensively — 'Cinnamon Girl' features its distinctive droning riff, and 'The Needle and the Damage Done' showcases its intimate fingerpicking potential. Jimmy Page used it on Led Zeppelin's 'Going to California'. Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain' also employs this tuning. Because only two strings change (both by just one whole step), Double Drop D is one of the easiest alternate tunings to learn — most standard chord shapes on the inner four strings remain unchanged.

Notable artists: Neil Young, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Fleetwood Mac, Crosby Stills Nash & Young

Best for: Folk-rock songwriting, D-centric acoustic arrangements, droning fingerpicking patterns, and any song that benefits from rich D-string resonance on both outer strings

Musical Character

The most played scale in guitar history. Its 5 notes (1, b3, 4, 5, b7) outline a minor chord with a dominant 7th feel, which is why it works over both minor AND dominant chords in blues.

Chord Progressions Using This Scale

• bVI – bVII – I (Mario Cadence)World / Game Music — Triumph & Victory
• I – I – I – I – IV – IV – I – I – V – IV – I – V (12 Bar Blues)Blues — Grit & Soul
• i – iv – i – V (Minor Blues)Blues — Melancholy
• I – bVI – bIII – bVII (Epic Borrowed Chords)Contemporary / Film — Epic & Heroic
• i – VI – III – VII (Cinematic Minor)Contemporary / Film — Dramatic & Dark

Explore This Scale in Other Tunings

• G Minor Pentatonic in Standard Tuning
• G Minor Pentatonic in Drop D
• G Minor Pentatonic in DADGAD
• G Minor Pentatonic in Open G
• G Minor Pentatonic in Baritone (B Standard)
• G Minor Pentatonic in 7-string
• G Minor Pentatonic in 8-string
• G Minor Pentatonic in Drop C
• G Minor Pentatonic in Drop B
• G Minor Pentatonic in Open D
• G Minor Pentatonic in Half Step Down
• G Minor Pentatonic in Open E
• G Minor Pentatonic in Open A
• G Minor Pentatonic in Open C

← All Guitar scales in Double Drop D tuning