Major Pentatonic
Five notes, no semitones — the go-to major melodic scale
The major pentatonic is a five-note scale formed by adding the 2nd and 6th to the major triad. Built from five steps along the circle of 5ths and free of dissonant semitone steps, it sounds good in a wide range of contexts. It is the innate scale — hummed naturally, independently across cultures.
It is a mode of the minor pentatonic (the same notes from a different root), and is contained by ionian, lydian, and mixolydian — the three major major modes, which therefore differ only in their 4th and 7th degrees.
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Practised in
Major Pentatonic AnchoredPentatonic AnchoredPentatonic Full RangeExplore a Pentatonic ChordPentatonics over Two InversionsPentatonics over Two ChordsRepeat Pattern (Pentatonics)Major Pentatonic Melodies (Range Shifting)Major Pentatonic Melodies (Root Shuffling)Major Pentatonic Melodies (Untimed)Sing Major Pentatonic MelodiesSing Major Pentatonic Intervals (Untimed)