Pentatonic scale

For the record label, see Pentatone (record label). For the a cappella group, see Pentatonix.

The first two phrases of the melody from Stephen Foster's "Oh! Susanna" are based on the major
pentatonic scale[1]  Play (help·info).

Pentatonic scale in Ravel's Ma Mère l'Oye III. "Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes", mm. 9–13.[1] 
Play (help·info) Presumably D♯ minor pentatonic.

Pentatonic scale in Debussy's Voiles, Preludes, Book I, no. 2, mm. 43–45.[2]  Play (help·info)

A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to

the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major
scale and minor scale).
Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancient civilizations [3] and
are still used in various musical styles to this day. There are two types of pentatonic
scales: those with semitones (hemitonic) and those without (anhemitonic).

Contents

 1Types
o 1.1Hemitonic and anhemitonic
o 1.2Major pentatonic scale
o 1.3Minor pentatonic scale
o 1.4Japanese scale
o 1.5The pentatonic scales found by running up the keys C, D, E, G and A
 2Pythagorean tuning
 3Use of pentatonic scales
o 3.1In classical music
o 3.2Further pentatonic musical traditions
o 3.3Javanese
o 3.4Ethiopian
o 3.5Scottish
o 3.6Andean
o 3.7Jazz
o 3.8Other
 4Role in education
 5See also
 6References
 7Further reading
 8External links

Types[edit]
Hemitonic and anhemitonic[edit]
Main article: Anhemitonic scale

Minyō scale on D,[4] equivalent to yo scale on D,[5] with brackets on fourths  Play (help·info).

Miyako-bushi scale on D, equivalent to in scale on D, with brackets on fourths[6]  Play (help·info).

Musicology commonly classifies pentatonic scales as

either hemitonic or anhemitonic. Hemitonic scales contain one or
more semitones and anhemitonic scales do not contain semitones. (For example, in
Japanese music the anhemitonic yo scale is contrasted with the hemitonic in scale.)
Hemitonic pentatonic scales are also called "ditonic scales", because the largest
interval in them is the ditone (e.g., in the scale C–E–F–G–B–C, the interval found
between C–E and G–B).[7] This should not be confused with the identical term also
used by musicologists to describe a scale including only two notes.
Major pentatonic scale[edit]
Anhemitonic pentatonic scales can be constructed in many ways. The major
pentatonic scale may be thought of as a gapped or incomplete major scale.
[8]
 However, the pentatonic scale has a unique character and is complete in terms of
tonality. One construction takes five consecutive pitches from the circle of fifths;
[9]
 starting on C, these are C, G, D, A, and E. Transposing the pitches to fit into
one octave rearranges the pitches into the major pentatonic scale: C, D, E, G, A.
Another construction works backward: It omits two pitches from a diatonic scale.
If one were to begin with a C major scale, for example, one might omit the fourth
and the seventh scale degrees, F and B. The remaining notes then makes up the
major pentatonic scale: C, D, E, G, and A.
Omitting the third and seventh degrees of the C major scale obtains the notes for
another transpositionally equivalent anhemitonic pentatonic scale: F, G, A, C, D.
Omitting the first and fourth degrees of the C major scale gives a third
anhemitonic pentatonic scale: G, A, B, D, E.
The black keys on a piano keyboard comprise a G-flat major (or equivalently, F-
sharp major) pentatonic scale: G-flat, A-flat, B-flat, D-flat, and E-flat, which is
exploited in Chopin's black key étude.
Minor pentatonic scale[edit]
Although various hemitonic pentatonic scales might be called minor, the term
is most commonly applied to the relative minor pentatonic derived from the
major pentatonic, using scale tones 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 of the natural minor
scale.[1] It may also be considered a gapped blues scale.[10] The C minor
pentatonic is C, E-flat, F, G, B-flat. The A minor pentatonic, the relative minor
of C pentatonic, comprises the same tones as the C major pentatonic,
starting on A, giving A, C, D, E, G. This minor pentatonic contains all three
tones of an A minor triad.
.
Japanese scale[edit]
Main article: Japanese mode

Japanese mode is based on Phrygian mode, but use scale tones 1, 2, 4,

5, and 6 instead of scale tones 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7.
The pentatonic scales found by running up the keys C, D,
E, G and A[edit]

Each pentatonic scale found by running up the keys C, D, E, G and A can be thought of
as the five notes shared by seven different heptatonic modes.

The five pentatonic scales found by running up the keys C, D, E, G

and A are:

To Name Based Base Chine O Keys Black Ratios White-

nic (s) on scale se n on C- keys (just) key
mode degrees penta major (the transpo
 sitions
(the
keys keys on
on C-
(Diato penta G♭- major,
(modific tonic
nic C tonic major F-major
ations) scale
scale) scale penta and G-
tonic major
scale) pentato
nic
scale)

Major
C CDEG
heptato G♭-
宮 D AC
Major nic A♭-
1 Ionian (gong, E CDE 24:27:30: FGAC
penta I-II-III-V- B♭-
(C) mode C) G GAC 36:40:48 D F or
tonic VI D♭-
mode A GABD
(Omit 4 E♭-G♭
C EG
7)

C
Natural DEGA
D A♭-
Egypti minor 商 CD
Doria F B♭-
2 an, I-II-IV-V- (shan DEG 24:27:32: GACD
n G D♭-
(D) suspe VII g, D) ACD 36:42:48 F G or
mode B E♭-
nded (Omit 3 mode ABDE
♭  G♭-A♭
6) GA
C

C
E
Blues Natural EGAC
♭  B♭-
minor minor 角 DE
Phrygi F D♭-
3 , Man I-III-IV- (jue, EGA 15:18:20: ACDF
an A E♭-
(E) Gong VI-VII E) CDE 24:27:30 G A or
mode ♭  G♭-
(慢宮 (Omit 2 mode BDEG
B A♭-B♭
調) 5) AB
♭ 
C

5 Blues Mixol Major 徵 C GAC D♭- 24:27:32: GACD

(G) major ydian heptato (zhi, D DEG E♭- 36:40:48 EG
, mode nic G) F G♭- CDFG
Ritsus I-II-IV-V- mode G A♭- A C or
en (律 VI A B♭-D♭ DEGA
旋), y (Omit 3 C BD
o
 scale 7)

C
Natural E ACDE
E♭-
minor 羽 ♭  GA
Minor Aeolia G♭-
6 I-III-IV-V- (yu, F ACD 30:36:40: DFGA
penta n A♭-
(A) VII A) G EGA 45:54:60 C D or
tonic mode B♭-
(Omit 2 mode B EGAB
D♭-E♭
6) ♭  DE
C

Blues scale
The term blues scale refers to several different scales with differing numbers
of pitches and related characteristics.

Contents
 1 Types
o 1.1Hexatonic
o 1.2Heptatonic

Types[edit]
Hexatonic[edit]
The hexatonic, or six-note, blues scale consists of the minor pentatonic scale plus
the ♭5th degree of the original heptatonic scale.[1][2][3] This added note can be spelled
as either a ♭5 or a ♯4.

A major feature of the blues scale is the use of blue notes—notes that are played
or sung slightly at a slightly higher or lower pitch than standard. [4] However, since
blue notes are considered alternative inflections, a blues scale may be
considered to not fit the traditional definition of a scale. [5] At its most basic, a
single version of this blues scale is commonly used over all changes (or chords)
in a twelve bar blues progression.[6] Likewise, in contemporary jazz theory, its use
is commonly based upon the key rather than the individual chord.[2] The evolution
of this scale may be traced back to Asia (pentatonic major) through native North
America (pentatonic minor) with the addition of the flat-5 blue note (slave
trade/Africa).
Greenblatt defines two blues scales, the major and the minor. The major blues
scale is 1, 2,♭3, 3, 5, 6 and the minor is 1, ♭3, 4, ♭5, 5, ♭7.[7] The latter is the same
as the hexatonic scale described above.
Heptatonic[edit]
The heptatonic, or seven-note, conception of the blues scale is as a diatonic
scale (a major scale) with lowered third, fifth, and seventh degrees, [8] which is
equivalent to the dorian ♭5 scale, the second mode of the harmonic major scale.
Blues practice is derived from the "conjunction of 'African scales' and the diatonic
western scales".[9]