The term pentatonic stems from the Greek word, ‘pent’, meaning five, since a pentatonic scale is made up of just five notes, while the natural scales are made up of seven notes. Many children’s songs are also based on pentatonic scales. Western classical music can also be pentatonic or use pentatonic elements – the piece, Morgenstimmung by Norwegian composer, Edvard Grieg is a great example of this. In fact, Irish Celtic, Scottish, Indian, African, and Blues music use pentatonic (five-note) scales. Maybe you find that the scale sounds like a piece written in the East, and you’re not far off, since Chinese music uses the pentatonic scales.

If you play the black keys of a piano, then you already have the major pentatonic scale down. These scales are also easy to learn and can be quickly used for improvising. Just like the natural major and minor scales, there are major pentatonic scales and minor pentatonic scales. What you might not be so aware of, is the dominance of the pentatonic scales which have helped shaped pretty much any popular contemporary music ever made. We’ve already covered the most used scales – the major and minor scales, and found out that the major scales have been solidly ingrained in Western musical heads for centuries already.

Notes in b flat minor pentatonic scale