| The Pentatonic Major Scale -- Five Notes You Need
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Pentatonic Major Scales are the bread and butter of
any player who wants to be able to "take it," when somebody looks at you in a
jam and speaks those frightening words.
What's the Pentatonic Major Scale?
Remember that the plain vanilla major scale consists of just 7 notes from any chromatic
scale strung together in order. "Penta" means "five," so
the pentatonic major scale is just 5 of those original 7 tones, plus the octave note of
the root, which is usually referred to as part of the scale, although it really is the
beginning of the scale repeated.
What Does It Sound Like? Remember
"Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do?" Well, make it "Do, Re, Mi, So, La,
Do," removing the 4th and 7th notes of the scale, and you get the pentatonic major.
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Compare the Scales. Here are the C
chromatic, C major and C major pentatonic scales, stacked on top of each other, so you can
compare them.
| Chromatic |
C |
C# |
D |
D# |
E |
F |
F# |
G |
G# |
A |
Bb |
B |
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| Major |
C |
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D |
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E |
F |
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G |
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A |
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B |
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| Major
Pentatonic |
C |
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D |
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E |
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G |
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A |
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The Formula. So the formula for
making any major pentatonic scale from a regular major scale
is to apply these intervals, after picking the starting note of the
scale.
W
W W+H
W W+H
However, I think it's a lot easier to just remember to drop
the 4th and 7th notes of the major scale, which leaves you with the five
notes of the pentatonic major scale.
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Every Key Has a Major Pentatonic Scale.
To get it in your head, apply the formula to any chromatic scale, eliminating the skipped
notes. The result is a major scale of that same key.
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Why Should I Learn About Pentatonics?
Look at the first line of this section. There are thousands of ways to play lead
lines, and you can try to learn all of them if you want to, but if all you learn is a few
pentatonic patterns, you can do a lot of tricks, and the stuff will sound good.
Besides, it's fun to be able to play
something which you know will work, instead of "winging it" into disaster.
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Test the Idea With a Little Practice Exercise.
Find a simple song you like, preferably in C or G, put it on the CD player in repeat mode,
and play along, using the first position pentatonic major scale to determine the notes you play.
You'll be hooked in no time. Then you can get more variety by working on Pentatonic Scale
Patterns.
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