Scale Detail
C Major Pentatonic — C C Major Pentatonic
The C major pentatonic scale is a five-note scale containing the most consonant intervals of the major scale. Universal and immediately pleasant, it is used in folk, country, rock, pop, and countless world music traditions.
Formula: W – W – m3 – W – m3
Open, simple, universal, and immediately pleasant. Works over almost anything — the most accessible scale.
The major pentatonic scale takes the major scale and removes the fourth and seventh scale degrees — the two notes most prone to creating dissonance. Starting on C, this gives C, D, E, G, A. The result is five notes: root, major second, major third, perfect fifth, and major sixth. Without the fourth and seventh, there are no half-step intervals in the scale, which is why pentatonic melodies sound smooth and universally pleasing — the ear never encounters the tension of a half-step pull. Major pentatonic is related to minor pentatonic: C major pentatonic shares all the same notes as its relative minor pentatonic (starting on the sixth degree). The scale appears in virtually every musical culture on earth, from Chinese classical music to West African folk music to American country music.
The Major Pentatonic removes the two 'tension' intervals from the major scale, leaving five notes that are universally pleasing. It's nearly impossible to play a wrong note — which is why it appears in music from every culture on earth.
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Chords that naturally occur in the C Major Pentatonic Scale:
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