Ukulele Exploration 2 - Pentatonic Scales

Pentatonic scales – five notes - are in everywhere. The combinations are infinite - Indonesian gamelan for example uses equa-toned intervals. Hard to sing that I imagine.

I am particularly interested in major and minor pentatonic scales – they are two of the string instrument player’s greatest allies for creating solos over chord charts. I took a bit of time to analyze how what they are and how they unfold on the fretboard.

This theory to application and back relationship is proving very symbiotic ...

The major pentatonic has as its origin the circle of fifths – specifically any consecutive five circle of fifth pitches transposed into one octave give us the major pentatonic scale which is 1 2 3 5 6 1. Note that the intervals - all major 2nds and minor 3rds – are 2,3,3,2,3

The minor pentatonic scale comes –like the relative minor seven tone scale – from the major pentatonic. Starting down a minor third the pitches are 1 b3 4 5 b7 1. The intervals – again all major 2nds and minor 3rds - ,3,3,2,3,2

The minor scale gets it tonality from the consecutive minor third major second major second of the 1 b3 4 5 and minor third major second of the 5 b7 1 – that is the scale progressions from both the tonic () and the dominant (5) begin with a minor third and end with a major second. The major is just the opposite – from the tonic we have major second major second minor third and from the dominant we have major second minor third.

So now I am off to explore

1.Jammin – I mean just adding a little more discipline to the stabs and bursts that I like to take between tunes or sometimes when a dog barks and I wanna be part of the ruckus. Pick and tonic and go.

2. Soloing over some simple songs. Franklins Tower (1-5-4) and Fire on the Mountain (5-4 – see note at the end) have been popping out frequently as contexts in which to harmonic progression using double stops

3. Moving between the major and minor scales - noting that, except for the common tonic and dominant notes, the minor pentatonic scale is a semitone above the major.

Note at the end ... a 5-4 progression? ... no tonic? well Fire on the Mountain is indeed just two major chords a major second apart so it seems pretty 5-4 but ... hmmm what does Google say ...”you may have more fun exploring the sensitive female chord progression (6-4-1-5)”