Pentatonic Scales
Senior 2 · Music
Pentatonic Scales
Lesson 2 of 4
20 min
The same five notes can sound bright or dark depending on which note is "home". Singers, guitarists and keyboard players use this every day: a major pentatonic melody sounds open and cheerful, while a minor pentatonic melody sounds more serious. Knowing both lets you choose the mood of a melody and recognise it when you hear it.
The notes of C major pentatonic are C D E G A. Start the same five notes on A and you get A C D E G, the A minor pentatonic scale. A major pentatonic scale and the minor pentatonic scale that shares its notes are called relative pentatonic scales, just like relative major and minor keys.
The minor pentatonic uses degrees 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the natural minor scale; in sol-fa, l, d r m s. Its steps are T+S, T, T, T+S, T, and it has no semitones either. The major pentatonic sounds bright because of its major third (d up to m, four semitones). The minor pentatonic sounds darker because of its minor third (l, up to d, three semitones).
Start with a natural minor scale and leave out the 2nd and 6th degrees.
Worked example 1
E minor pentatonic. E natural minor is E F♯ G A B C D E. Leave out the 2nd degree (F♯) and the 6th (C): E G A B D. Guitarists know these notes well: the six open strings of a guitar in standard tuning, E A D G B E, all belong to E minor pentatonic.
Worked example 2
D minor pentatonic. D natural minor is D E F G A B♭ C D. Leave out the 2nd (E) and the 6th (B♭): D F G A C.
| Major pentatonic | Minor pentatonic | |
|---|---|---|
| Degrees used | 1 2 3 5 6 of the major scale | 1 3 4 5 7 of the natural minor |
| Sol-fa | d r m s l | l, d r m s |
| Steps | T, T, T+S, T, T+S | T+S, T, T, T+S, T |
| Example | C D E G A | A C D E G |
To decide whether a pentatonic melody is major or minor, look at where it rests. A melody on C D E G A that returns to C and ends there is in C major pentatonic; the same notes circling around A and ending on A are in A minor pentatonic.
Tip
Same five notes, two homes. Doh as home gives the major pentatonic (d r m s l); lah as home gives the minor pentatonic (l, d r m s). From a natural minor scale, drop degrees 2 and 6.
Try each question first, then check the worked solution underneath.
Build the B minor pentatonic scale.
Solution: B D E F♯ A. B natural minor is B C♯ D E F♯ G A B; leave out the 2nd (C♯) and the 6th (G).
Build the G minor pentatonic scale.
Solution: G B♭ C D F. G natural minor is G A B♭ C D E♭ F G; leave out the 2nd (A) and the 6th (E♭).
Which minor pentatonic scale uses the same notes as G major pentatonic?
Solution: E minor pentatonic (E G A B D). E is the 6th degree (lah) of G major.
A melody uses only the notes A C D E G. It keeps returning to A and ends on A. Which scale is it in?
Solution: A minor pentatonic: the notes are shared with C major pentatonic, but the home note is A.
Give the steps of the minor pentatonic scale, starting from its tonic.
Solution: T+S, T, T, T+S, T. For example A–C is three semitones, C–D a tone, D–E a tone, E–G three semitones and G–A a tone.
Remember
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
