Pentatonic Scales!

Heidi Johnson

Laura Simpson

 

Basic Terminology

 

Interval: The distance between two pitches. The smallest is the half step.

 

Half Steps/Semitone: In music, natural half steps occur, such as the interval between E to F and B to C. (Remember! There is no E# or B#!) Other half steps intervals are noted using # (sharp (up a half step in tone)) and the b (flat (down a half step in tone)).

 

Whole Steps: The product of two half steps. E.g. E to F# or A to B. 

 

A Scale: A traditional scale starts from the first note or the tonic and ascends to the octave or the note six whole steps above the tonic.

 

Major Scale:  A Major Scale follows the interval pattern of

                                                   The pattern of Whole step, Whole step,

                                                   Half step, is repeated, with a whole step       

            W     W      H -   W –    W    W     H                    connecting the two halves.

               

 

 

 

Minor Scale: A Minor Scale follows the interval pattern of:

Whole step Half step Whole step –Whole step – Whole step Half step Whole step.

 

Like the Major Scale the two repeating patterns are joined by a Whole step interval.

 

Now that you understand the basics, let’s learn about Pentatonic Scales!

 

Pentatonic Scale:  A scale of five different tones, each separated by a Whole step or a whole step and a half step, which is one and a half steps or a minor third. (Notation m3)

In your average pentatonic scale, there are no half steps, and the fourth and seventh interval are both omitted! (Very different from a Major and Minor Scale!) This scale is also without the seven different tones that most scales would possess, and instead there are only five tones. (Excluding the octave of course)

Instead of the patterns that were present in the Major and Minor scales, the Major and Minor Pentatonic scales have different intervals.

 

 

Major Pentatonic Scale

              W        W       m3      W       m3

 

Minor Pentatonic Scale

             m3       W          W       m3        W

 

Special Pentatonic Scales! 

Now is where things get a bit tricky. The rules that we established for Pentatonic Scales get slightly bent or just broken for these special cases.

 

Pentatonic scales with diminished intervals.

6th

              W         W       m3        H          m3

 

 

2nd

             H          m3      m3       W       m3

 

 

3rd

               W         H       M3        W          m3

 

5th

               W         W       W         m3        m3                                        

 

Of the four scales, the diminished fifth pentatonic scale was the closest to the Major and Minor scale in interval composition.  The other three had Half steps in the interval between the note before and the diminished note. The diminished third had a Half Step before the diminished note and a Major third after.

 

More Scales that you can apply to a pentatonic scale.

 

 

 

Mixolydian Pentatonic

              W          W      m3      m3          W          

Mixolydian scales typically have a diminished seventh and usually has half steps between the fourth and fourth and the sixth and seventh.  (You will notice that there is no fourth or sixth present in this scale and surprisingly a seventh)

 

Phrygian Pentatonic

              H          W        m3       H         m3

Phrygian scales usually have a diminished second and half steps between the tonic and the second, and the fifth and the sixth. This is much more noticeable that the Mixolydian because the scale had to be changed more for the Mixolydian Pentatonic.

 

Diminished Pentatonic

            W        H          m3         H          m3

This Diminished scale has a diminished third and fifth.

 

Whole Tone Pentatonic

              W         W        W         W        m3

Although this scale is a whole tone scale, it is not entirely made of whole steps.

 

Applications for Pentatonic Scales:

The sound that comes from a pentatonic scale gives a distinctly non-Western sound and is used mostly for the composition of Eastern and Western folk songs and more recently in Jazz improvisation.

Now that you know the intervals for several pentatonic scales, you can compose your own music, using the intervals and the key signatures below for Major and Minor Keys.

Key Signatures Major: See image at left. (Note: Cb is a B)

 Minor: look inside the circle below.