As you can probably surmise, ‘penta-‘ means ‘five’.
The major and minor pentatonic scales each consist of five of the seven notes making up the major or minor scales, respectively. These five notes are:
- the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th notes of the major scale (the 4th and 7th notes are left out, removing all semitones from the scale)
- the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th notes of the minor scale (the 2nd and 6th notes are left out).
If you play only the black notes on a piano keyboard, starting on Gb/F#, they form the pentatonic scale of Gb/F# major. When (Western) kids try playing only the black notes on the piano for the first time, they are almost always excited to have found a way to mimic Oriental-sounding music. Listen here (towards the end of the video she plays without talking over it):
Pentatonic scales are very easy to learn on the guitar. In addition, humans apparently have an innate grasp of how to vocally produce pentatonic scales, and how they sound. It’s unsurprising, then, that this scale is very common in early folk melodies. Here’s a great video – if you haven’t already seen it – demonstrating this innate human understanding of the pentatonic scale:
The pentatonic scale actually forms the basis of many styles of music, from Oriental to blues to jazz, and even rock (and beyond). It’s also essential for the improvisation of guitar solos.
In the next post, we’ll learn how to play a minor pentatonic scale in the 1st position (of 5 overlapping positions). Examples of well-known songs employing the pentatonic scale include: Auld Lang Syne (happy 2017!), Amazing Grace, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Cotton-Eyed Joe, and AC/DC’s Shook Me All Night Long (which, incidentally, is also today’s song of the day).
Happy playing!
If you like Shook Me All Night Long, please consider helping to support Acoustic Notes by getting it here
Acoustic Notes 
4 thoughts on “Understanding the Pentatonic Scale”