When you are improvising over a chord progression in any key, say, G major, and you are playing notes from the G major scale over it, sometimes you play a note that doesn’t sound as good as the others. Well never fear, because here is a scale that always sounds good, regardless of which note you play over which chord or what order. It’s called the pentatonic scale.

What is The Pentatonic Scale?

Pentatonic scales have five notes (penta: five; tonic: tone or note). The major and minor scales you are used to are called heptatonic scales (hepta - seven) as they have seven notes, though these scales are so common that they are the default, so they are rarely referred to as heptatonic. Scales that aren’t the heptatonic scales get called pentatonic or octatonic (octa - eight), etc., as they are far less common - though the pentatonic scales are by far the most commonly used scale other than the heptatonics.

Pentatonic scales are so common that you can find them in every kind of music from every continent and every people. As Leonard Bernstein said “the universality of this scale is so well known that I'm sure you could give me examples of it, from all corners of the earth, as from Scotland, or from China, or from Africa, and from American Indian cultures, from East Indian cultures, from Central and South America, Australia, Finland... now, that is a true musico-linguistic universal." Though different cultures sometimes have slightly different versions of these pentatonic scales, the idea of five note scales is universal. For example, the major pentatonic scale is an inherent part of both traditional Chinese music and American country music, two very different types of music, yet sharing this one commonality.

The two most common pentatonic scales used in western music are - you guessed it! - the major and minor pentatonic scales! They have the same relationship as the normal major and minor scales, meaning that the C major pentatonic is the same as the A minor pentatonic, just starting on different notes.

The Major Pentatonic Scale

The Major Pentatonic Scale is a bright and lively scale. It consists of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th note of the normal major scale. It also can be thought of as the major scale with the 4th and 7th omitted. Often, a blue note of the flat 3 and flat 6 is added in certain genres such as country, gospel, and blues. Here are a few examples of major pentatonic scales with the blues notes in parentheses (and here’s a quick review of sheet music!):

A song that includes the major pentatonic scale is “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. This scale, with the blue notes, is used in the solos for both guitar and piano, giving it that distinct country sound:

A piece that uses the major pentatonic scale in a different way is the “Fisherman’s Song at Dusk,” a piece of chinese classical music performed here on a zither by Qian Jun. Listen to how the melody is based on the pentatonic scale, but has very distinct bends (literally, watch the performer bend the string while it sounds) in it that give it that Chinese music feel:

An iconic song that uses the major pentatonic scale is “Amazing Grace,” performed here by Kaleb Brasee. The pentatonic scale is the basis of the main melody, with a couple of the blue notes added for color by the performer:

The Minor Pentatonic Scale

The minor pentatonic scale feels often pensive, though sometimes anguished, and is often used in songs about pain and misery. It can be thought of as the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th note of the regular minor scale, or alternatively, as the minor scale with the 2nd and 6th omitted. Often, the #4 and #7 are added as blue notes. When you think of the classic blues sound, the minor pentatonic (with the blues notes added in, of course) is what you’re thinking of. Other genres that liberally use the minor pentatonic include rock, soul, and R&B. Here are a few examples of major pentatonic scales (and here’s another quick review of sheet music!):

A song that uses the minor pentatonic with the blue notes is “Crossroad Blues,” performed here by one of the original inventors of blues music, the great Robert Johnson himself. It’s the basis of the melody and a lot of the guitar licks.

Another song that uses the minor pentatonic scale is “Stairway to Heaven,” by Led Zeppelin. The minor pentatonic is the scale used in the entirety of the guitar solo.

A third song that liberally uses the minor pentatonic is “All Along the Watchtower,” originally written by Bob Dylan but more famously covered by Jimi Hendrix. It is the basis of the solos and most of the guitar riffs:

Use the Pentatonic Scale in Piano!

Both the major pentatonic and minor pentatonic, with their respective added blues notes, are versatile scales that can be used to add the “correct” feel to certain genres of music, as opposed to the more commonly used major and minor (heptatonic) scales. By learning the pentatonic scales in a few common keys (for major, C, G, D, and for minor E, A and G), you can open up a whole world of genres and make your solos and improvisation much, much more sophisticated.

When teaching improvisation to my students at Boston Piano Lessons, I teach the pentatonic scales second, only after the regular major and minor scales (as those are necessary as exercises to train your fingers to play piano).

Scales are like tools to a musician - you have tools in a toolbox that are used for a variety of different tasks, and sometimes you have several tools that can accomplish one task (say, playing a keys solo in a country band). However, there are some tools that are just better at doing the task than others. It’s a lot easier to use the drill to screw something in than a screwdriver, or a hammer to hammer a nail than the side of a wrench, though either would accomplish the task. This is why it is useful to learn a lot of different scales - because then you have more than one tool in your toolbox for what you are trying to accomplish, and having these choices makes for a better player and a better musical experience overall.