All scales
What is the minor pentatonic scale?
Coming soon
The minor is a five-note scale — counted from the , 1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7. Every note sits at least two keys from the next, so nothing clashes, which makes it the first solo scale most players learn. Add one more key, the , and it becomes the blues scale.
The five-note column is older than the blues — a West African pentatonic sense of pitch that traveled into work songs, field hollers, and spirituals. In the southern United States it became the skeleton of blues and rock solos; pin a flattened fifth onto it and you have the blues scale.
Quick reference
- Formula
- 1 – ♭3 – 4 – 5 – ♭7
- In A
- A – C – D – E – G
Related
A playable keyboard that lights up these notes — and an A/B comparison with related scales — is being built, so you can hear the scale, not just read its formula.