Major & Minor Pentatonic Scales
Strip a scale down to five forgiving notes and you get the pentatonic scale — the go-to sound for rock, blues, folk, and pop solos across the world.
What is a pentatonic scale?
"Penta" means five — a pentatonic scale is any five-note scale. The two you'll meet constantly are the major pentatonic and the minor pentatonic, each built by removing two notes from a full seven-note scale.
Major pentatonic formula
Take the major scale and drop the 4th and 7th degrees — the two notes most likely to clash with the underlying chord. What's left is scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 5, 6:
Minor pentatonic formula
The minor pentatonic drops the 2nd and 6th degrees of the natural minor scale, leaving scale degrees 1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7:
How major and minor pentatonic relate
Just like major and natural minor scales, major and minor pentatonic scales come in relative pairs. C major pentatonic (C D E G A) uses the exact same notes as A minor pentatonic (A C D E G) — just starting from a different tonic. Learn one shape, and you already know its relative.
Common questions
What is a pentatonic scale?
Any 5-note scale. The two most common are major pentatonic (1, 2, 3, 5, 6) and minor pentatonic (1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7).
What notes are in C major pentatonic?
C, D, E, G, A — the major scale with the 4th and 7th removed.
Are major and minor pentatonic related?
Yes, they're relatives — A minor pentatonic uses the same notes as C major pentatonic, just starting on A.
Why is the pentatonic scale so popular for solos?
With only 5 notes and no adjacent half-steps, nearly any combination sounds musical over the matching chord, making it very forgiving for improvising.
Solo with confidence on your instrument
Melody Monkey visualizes pentatonic scales on a live guitar, bass, ukulele, or piano — in any key, instantly.
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