The pentatonic was the first scale my teacher taught to me to use while improvising. But it is just about the most common scale used for improvising, mainly because the different patterns are relatively easy to learn, and its only 2 notes per string, instead of 3 if you're playing modes, major, or minor scales. Also, its easier to learn and teach than the modes because your left hand (if you're right-handed) doesn't have to shift during the scale, only if you change the pattern. I'm pretty sure all the scale patterns are on this site somewhere.

[Edited by joshldoherty on 03-05-2003 at 08:24 PM]