Learning the pentatonic scale will provide you with a quick and easy way to begin improvising. If you have already worked with the major scale and the relative minor scale in the Virtual Studio you will have an easy time learning it, since the pentatonic scale is actually the major scale (or the minor scale) with two notes missing.
You can create a major pentatonic scale by extracting scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 from the major scale. Another way to think of this is to play the major scale without scale degrees 4 and 7. You might notice that by leaving out the 4th and 7th scale degrees, the notes that are left are common in any three nearly related keys, or keys that are adjacent on the circle of fifths or on the scale chart, both found in the Virtual Studio. This can be helpful when soloing over nearly related keys!
Notice how the pentatonic scale pattern in the diagram above relates to major scale pattern #1. The black dots represent the first note in the major scale and the gray dots that are circled in black represent the starting point of the minor scale. The notes in the minor pentatonic scale are precisely the same as in the major pentatonic, but the starting point of the scale is different.
Although either the major or the minor scale might seem to work over the chords of a particular song, you will notice that they produce a different sound and feel. The minor pentatonic will give you a blues or rock sound, whereas the major will be more appropriate for songs with a country or bluegrass feel. The best way to make decisions about how to use these scales is to start experimenting with them, so jump in and have some fun!