Major and minor pentatonic scales are five-note scales used in many styles, including blues, rock, pop, folk, jazz, and world music. This cheat sheet helps students quickly build the scales, compare their sounds, and apply them to melody writing or improvisation. Because pentatonic scales avoid some of the strongest dissonances in seven-note scales, they are useful for creating clear and flexible musical ideas.
Key Facts
- A major pentatonic scale uses scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 from the major scale.
- A minor pentatonic scale uses scale degrees 1, b3, 4, 5, and b7 from the natural minor scale.
- The major pentatonic interval pattern is whole, whole, minor 3rd, whole, minor 3rd.
- The minor pentatonic interval pattern is minor 3rd, whole, whole, minor 3rd, whole.
- C major pentatonic is C, D, E, G, A.
- A minor pentatonic is A, C, D, E, G.
- Relative pentatonic scales share the same notes, so C major pentatonic and A minor pentatonic contain the same five pitches.
- The relative minor pentatonic starts on scale degree 6 of the major pentatonic, and the relative major pentatonic starts on scale degree b3 of the minor pentatonic.
Vocabulary
- Pentatonic scale
- A five-note scale commonly used for melodies, riffs, and improvisation.
- Major pentatonic
- A bright-sounding five-note scale built from scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 of a major scale.
- Minor pentatonic
- A darker-sounding five-note scale built from scale degrees 1, b3, 4, 5, and b7 of a minor scale.
- Scale degree
- The numbered position of a note within a scale, such as 1 for the tonic or 5 for the dominant.
- Relative scales
- Scales that use the same notes but begin on different tonics, such as C major pentatonic and A minor pentatonic.
- Tonic
- The main home note of a scale, key, or melody.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Adding the 4th or 7th to a major pentatonic scale, which is wrong because major pentatonic uses only 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6.
- Using a major 3rd in a minor pentatonic scale, which changes the sound because minor pentatonic requires b3.
- Confusing parallel and relative pentatonic scales, which is wrong because parallel scales share a tonic while relative scales share the same notes.
- Starting on the correct notes but treating the wrong note as the tonic, which can make the melody sound like a different scale or key.
- Forgetting accidentals when transposing, which is wrong because the interval pattern must stay the same in every key.
Practice Questions
- 1 Write the notes of a G major pentatonic scale using the formula 1, 2, 3, 5, 6.
- 2 Write the notes of an E minor pentatonic scale using the formula 1, b3, 4, 5, b7.
- 3 C major pentatonic is C, D, E, G, A. What is its relative minor pentatonic scale, and what note does it start on?
- 4 Explain why pentatonic scales are often useful for improvisation over simple chord progressions.