What is the first box in major and in minor?

The reason for my question is that my friend got this pattern from his guitar teacher: And said it was in e but I think its in G major. what is right?

-------------------------------0--3------------------------------
------------------------0--3-------------------------------------
-----------------0--2--------------------------------------------
----------0--2--------------------------------------------------
--0--3-----------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------3--5--------------------------
------------------------------3--5--------------------------------------
-----------------------2--4---------------------------------------------
----------------2--5----------------------------------------------------
--------2--5-----------------------------------------------------------
-3--5--------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope you don't mind Kris I answered this before I realized I was in your personal forum.

Hey Meshuggah,
GMC is loaded with info but also check this site out to review your scales at a glance. I use it as a reference myself sometimes. There are other topics in the heading that might interest you too
http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_scales.php

This is Eminor pentatonic 1st position
-------------------------------0--3------------------------------
------------------------0--3-------------------------------------
-----------------0--2--------------------------------------------
----------0--2--------------------------------------------------
--0--3-----------------------------------------------------------

This is Eminor pentatonic 2nd position
-------------------------------------3--5--------------------------
------------------------------3--5--------------------------------------
-----------------------2--4---------------------------------------------
----------------2--5----------------------------------------------------
--------2--5-----------------------------------------------------------
-3--5--------------------------------------------------------------------

If you go to the site I left and fill the fields out left to right

FULL-E-Pentatonic minor-then click Get

you should see the whole scale laid out.
Hope this helps if not send me a PM and I'll try to help further explain it

hey, thanks for answering.

But if i start from the second pattern its exatly like the gmajor ... why is this?

Sorry should have explained that the E pentatonic minor and the G pentatonic major are the same pattern just different root notes. The same as if you were in D pentatonic minor F pentatonic major would be the same. Check out some of Andrew's theory lessons they should further explain this topic I believe.

So they sound the same then? and how many of the major equals to minor? This thing has been buggin me all day

You have five PATTERNS to play the pentatonic scale.

Major pentatonic and minor pentatonic are modes of this scale.

You use the same five patterns, but different root notes.

It is the INTERVALS which decide on whether it is minor or major.

Check out Andrew's Theory Lessons.

Thanks for the great help!

Meshuggah I know understanding this in the beginning can be very confusing - the good part is that once you understand how this works for the pentatonic scale you won't have any problems applying the same kind of box/pattern thinking to any other scale!

if you get a copy of the circle of fifths you can easily see the parallell scales. Like A minor, C major. B minor, D major etc.

This is the coolest tool EVER. Thanks Henry! I was trying to figure out more than one scale pattern for Cmin13 arp. and found it right away on that link.

In the minor scale( not penta) is it the same patterns as in major? because i know the major scale

Indeed.
You only need to learn seven (7) patterns, the same patterns you use for the Ionian mode.
Those patterns lets you play all 7 modes in the major scale.

I thought I'd just chip in 'cause this confused me for ages, and I'm confused again now I'm trying to understand modes!
Like the other guys said, the minor pentatonic has 5 'boxes' that people usually use, and there are 5 notes (penta-) in the scale. The boxes you showed were 1st and 2nd, and the notes are EGABD (from the E natural minor scale - E F# G A B C D E). I think some confusion arises because the notes of E minor's relative scale is G major, which contains exactly the same notes, but starting from G (G A B C D E F# G). The major scale has the interval pattern TTSTTTS, and the minor scale has the interval pattern TSTTSTT.
Another tip is that if you play E minor pentatonic starting at the 12th fret, and play the same pattern starting 3 frets lower, at the 9th fret, you're playing E major pentatonic, which has a differnt sound, but can be mixed with the minor scale, eg the solo from 'Highway to Hell'-ACDC. (E major pentatonic is the same as C# minor pentatonic - in that they share the same notes, the same way as A minor is C major's relative minor - they share the same notes, but obviuosly have a different 'feel' based on the chords being used with them - which is where I came in with being confused about modes, although the mist is clearing. It does, as long as you stick at it!!!!!).
If I've made any mistakes here, someone please put me right!

KG