# what exactly is a pentatonic scale? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2005, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-pentatonic-scale/324856 "2005-10-05T09:27:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-pentatonic-scale/324856/1 "2005-10-05T09:27:13Z")
I know - five tones. But what makes a pentatonic scale different from the octave scales we learned on the piano? Is a pentatonic scale just a sub-set of an octave scale, or is the tone spacing different? (i.e. - not “tone, tone, semi-tone, etc.” like the major octave scales?) the reason I ask is that I’ve often heard that the pipes have a pentatonic scale, but I’m not really sure what that means. ---
**Author:** ![Fromage\_A\_Trois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fromage\_A\_Trois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fromage_A_Trois)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-pentatonic-scale/324856/2 "2005-10-05T10:15:43Z")
Well, you don’t want to hear this, but _any_ five notes of different pitch are a pentatonic scale. In western music, when someone refers to a pentatonic scale, they mean they have selected 5 notes from the 12 used in a full scale. The notes in the scale aren’t separated by a specific number of tones or semitones, because it doesn’t have to be the same ones each time you create a scale. Unfortunately, it’s been so long since I learned all of this, and I’m not a musician, I can’t give an example of a popular pentatonic scale that’s good, and one that’s patently rubbish. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-pentatonic-scale/324856/3 "2005-10-05T10:18:13Z")
A common example is do-re-mi-so-la, such as you can play on the black notes of a piano, and it’s used in, f’rinstance, _The Skye Boat Song_ or _Amazing Grace_. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-pentatonic-scale/324856/4 "2005-10-05T10:37:25Z")
Malacandra: Speaking of _Amazing Grace_, would you happen to know for which instrument it was originally written? I ask because I feel the bagpipes are the perfect instrument for that piece. (I’m biased in favor of bagpipes.) ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-pentatonic-scale/324856/5 "2005-10-05T11:00:34Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Malacandra: Speaking of _Amazing Grace_, would you happen to know for which instrument it was originally written? I ask because I feel the bagpipes are the perfect instrument for that piece. (I’m biased in favor of bagpipes.) John Newton was english and wrote his hymns to be sung in church, possibly unaccompanied or with a church organ. The original tune may well have been scottish in origin and thus may have originated from the bagpipes, though according to Wiki [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing\_Grace](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace) the association with bagpipes is fairly recent. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-pentatonic-scale/324856/6 "2005-10-05T11:20:18Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Malacandra: Speaking of _Amazing Grace_, would you happen to know for which instrument it was originally written? I ask because I feel the bagpipes are the perfect instrument for that piece. (I’m biased in favor of bagpipes.) The band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards agreed with you, as did a sizeable portion of the country for many weeks back in the 1970s. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-pentatonic-scale/324856/7 "2005-10-05T11:26:25Z")
\*\*Fromage A Trois \*\* is correct; any set of five distinct notes is a pentatonic scale. In western music, there are two standard pentatonic scales which are most commonly used. Both are subsets of standard, seven note major and minor scales. The major pentatonic scale is made up of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd. 5th and 6th notes of the major scale, so the C major pentatonic scale is C, D, E, G and A. The minor pentatonic scale is made up of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th notes of the minor scale, so the A minor pentatonic scale is A, C, D, E and G. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-pentatonic-scale/324856/8 "2005-10-05T19:21:45Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Malacandra: Speaking of _Amazing Grace_, would you happen to know for which instrument it was originally written? I ask because I feel the bagpipes are the perfect instrument for that piece. (I’m biased in favor of bagpipes.) “Amazing Grace” has only been played on the pipes for about 30 - 35 years. The band of the Scots Greys are usually credited with having transposed the hymn to the pipes in the 70s. There’s a lot of debate about where the tune came from originally. Some argue it’s a Scottish tune, but others have argued that it was a black spiritual that made its way over to Britain from North America. “Amazing Grace” on the pipes have only been associated with funerals since the Greys popularized it. The classic pipe tune for funerals is “The Flowers of the Forest”, which commemorates the Scottish defeat at Flodden, where the flower of Scottish noblity was decimated. There’s a lot of superstition about the “Flowers” - some pipers say you should never play it all the way through except at a funeral, since playing it complete means someone you know will die. I’ve heard that some pipers are reluctant to record it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-pentatonic-scale/324856/9 "2005-10-05T19:23:23Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > A common example is do-re-mi-so-la, such as you can play on the black notes of a piano, and it’s used in, f’rinstance, _The Skye Boat Song_ or _Amazing Grace_. I think that’s what I’m thinking of. I’ve frequently heard that any pipe tune can be played solely on the black notes. Skye Boat is another example of a pipe tune. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-pentatonic-scale/324856/10 "2005-10-05T19:46:01Z")
Just a quick post to note that the most basic Blues songs are typically in a minor pentatonic scale…that is typically the scale a guitarist learns when first trying to play electric leads… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-pentatonic-scale/324856/11 "2005-10-05T19:56:42Z")
> [@Northern Piper](#): > > I think that’s what I’m thinking of. I’ve frequently heard that any pipe tune can be played solely on the black notes. Skye Boat is another example of a pipe tune. What kind of pipes are we talking? As far as I know–although I am not a piper, nor have I ever played the bagpipes–Scottish Bagpipes play a seven-note scale, most closely associated with a mode known as the mixolydian. However, the tunings of the notes (particularly the fourth and the seventh) vary quite a bit from standard Western tunings. “Scotland the Brave,” perhaps the most quintessential pipe tune–at least in terms of Scottish pipes–cannot be played on just the black keys of a piano, as it contains all the notes of the mixolydian. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-pentatonic-scale/324856/12 "2005-10-06T06:14:13Z")
Traditional Japanese music used a ditinctive pentatonic scale. Think “Sakura” :o