Chord Colors

G♯ Ionian Pentatonic scale

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About the G sharp Ionian Pentatonic scale

G sharp Ionian Pentatonic is used for pop, folk and melodic writing. Think of it as five bright notes drawn from the major scale. It is G Melodic Minor Pentatonic with the third raised.

Its notes are G, B, C, D, and G. The formula is 4 semitones H W 4 semitones H.

Also called Ryukyu Scale and Okinawan.

This scale shares G with the guitar's open strings. The lowest G on a standard-tuned guitar sits at the 4th fret of the low E string. Capo the first fret to play G Ionian Pentatonic with G-shape fingerings.

Positions

Playable shapes for this scale up the neck. Tap any note to hear it.

Pentatonic boxes

The five shapes blues and rock are built on, the first scale most guitarists ever solo with, one box per note up the neck.

Box 1fr 3
Box 2fr 4
Box 3fr 8
Box 4fr 9
Box 5fr 11

Notes and intervals

1G#G♯Root
2B#B♯Major 3rd
3C#C♯Perfect 4th
4D#D♯Perfect 5th
5GGMajor 7th
Steps4 semitones H W 4 semitones H
Semitones4-1-2-4-1
Degrees1 3 4 5 7

Shapes

Chromatic

CC♯D♭DD♯E♭EFF♯G♭GG♯A♭AA♯B♭B

Circle of Fifths

CGDAEBF♯G♭C♯D♭G♯A♭D♯E♭A♯B♭F

Related scales

Ionian Pentatonic in other keys

Modes

The same notes, starting on a different note.

Embed this scale

Paste the snippet into a lesson page, a blog or a forum post. The card links back here.

Ab Ionian Pentatonic scale on guitar shown as colored note dots
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