Scales › major pentatonic

major pentatonic scale

open major pentatonic

What color?

Major stripped of its half steps (3, 5, 13, 9): five fully consonant notes, with no avoid note, of an open, singable clarity. A universal tool for safe, melodic lines over any major context.

Origin & history

The "bright" five-note scale, omnipresent in the folk musics of the world (Celtic, Chinese, African, gospel). Without a half step, it contains no dissonance.

Listen

• "Amazing Grace"
• "My Girl" — The Temptations

Which chords to play it on?

The jazz consensus (Aebersold) recommends it on:

Try it in a real chart

Paste a chord chart into the tool: Pentania tells you, chord by chord, when this scale fits — and what other colors are open to you. Open the tool →