{"id":14341,"date":"2016-10-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hearandplay.com\/main\/?p=14341"},"modified":"2024-10-07T15:27:42","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T23:27:42","slug":"learn-about-pentatonic-scales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hearplaymain.wpenginepowered.com\/learn-about-pentatonic-scales\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Else Wants To Learn About Pentatonic Scales?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’re interested in learning about pentatonic scales, this lesson is for you.<\/p>\n

Pentatonic scales are regular scales that you can hear in everyday average songs. These songs include: TV commercials, hymns and spirituals, folk music, classical music and so on.<\/p>\n

Pentatonic scales mean a whole lot to aspiring jazz and gospel pianists because they fit into various improvisational situations both in traditional and contemporary styles. For this reason, we’re dedicating this post to exploring pentatonic scales.<\/p>\n

Attention<\/strong>: If you’re just coming across the term pentatonic scale <\/em>for the first time, I’m starting this lesson with the definition of the pentatonic scale because of you.<\/p>\n

Pentatonic Scales – Defined<\/h2>\n

There are two words that make up the term pentatonic scale<\/em>, and they are pentatonic and scale. Before we proceed, let’s break down these two words. <\/em><\/p>\n

Here’s a breakdown on the term pentatonic:<\/em><\/p>\n

The term pentatonic can be divided into penta and tonic. Penta<\/em> is a Greek word that means five, while tonic <\/em>has to do with tones. If you put both terms together, you’ll literally have ‘five-tones’.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…and a definition of the term scale<\/em>:<\/p>\n

The term scale according to Jermaine Griggs “…is a regular succession of notes in ascending or descending order [based on a fixed intervallic formula.] <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Putting it together, the pentatonic scale can be defined as a regular succession of five notes in ascending and descending order [based on a fixed intervallic formula.]<\/p>\n

Now that we’re done with the definition of pentatonic scales, let’s explore various pentatonic scale types in the next segment.<\/p>\n

Pentatonic Scales Explored<\/h2>\n

Although there are various pentatonic scales in music, we’ll be exploring four known types in this lesson. However, there is something I need to show you just before we begin to explore these pentatonic scales.<\/p>\n

“Pay Attention To This…”<\/em><\/p>\n

There are 12 notes in music:
\n
\n…seven of them are white:
\n
\n…while five of them are black:
\n
\nPlaying the five black notes on the piano in a regular succession in ascending and descending order produces pentatonic scales.<\/p>\n

“Check Them Out…”<\/em><\/p>\n

Db to Bb:
\n
\nEb to Db:
\n
\nGb to Eb:
\n
\nAb to Gb:
\n
\nBb to Ab:
\n
\nAlthough all the five tone scales above are pentatonic, we’ll be exploring two main pentatonic types:<\/p>\n