Lesson Goal: To quickly internalize the Major Pentatonic Scale in all keys… by ear, intellect, eye, and muscle…
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Prerequisites
Basic music reading skills… the LOVE of music… and the discipline to study and practice.
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Why Learn the Major Pentatonic Scale?
Because the Major Pentatonic Scale is used in a wide variety of music all around the world: classical, folk, pop, rock, bluegrass, country, and modal jazz.
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Major Pentatonic Scale Theory
- Scale Structure (Scale Degrees): 1-2-3-5-6-1.
- Scale Structure (Solfege): Do-Re-Mi-So-La-Do.
C Major Pentatonic
As the name says, this special scale is a collection of five notes with a major quality (and is yet another existence proof that scales are not made up of “half-steps” and “whole-steps”)…
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The C Major Pentatonic & C Major Scale Compared
Notice that the C Major Pentatonic is a subset of the C Major Scale. This is no accident…
The thing that makes this scale tick is the absence of the two most harmonically active notes (Fa & Ti), which gives it a relaxed and dreamy quality.
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Solfege Ear Training
Reading, playing, and singing the Solfege Syllables out loud is an extremely effective way to tune up your ears and to internalize the unique sound-feeling of each note in the scale with respect to the key center Do. Make sure to do this slowly enough for the unique sound-feeling of each Solfege Syllable to make a meaningful impression on your mind’s ear.
C Major Pentatonic: Linear, Ascending…
C Major Pentatonic: Linear, Descending…
C Major Pentatonic: Do-X-Do, Ascending…
C Major Pentatonic: Do-X-Do, Descending…
Note: We could sing lots more musical patterns, but a more effective and efficient approach (the 80-20 Principle) is to get your ear training material directly from the music that YOU want to play!
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Theory & Ear Training, All Keys
Showing the notation, key signature, letter names, scale degrees, solfege syllables, and keyboard layouts in 12 keys… arranged chromatically ascending (C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Ab, A, Bb, B)…
C Major
Say this aloud as you read and play: “The C Major Pentatonic Scale is spelled C-D-E-G-A-C.”
Sidebar: The goal here is learn how to read and where they are on the keyboard. Don’t worry about fingerings right now. In fact, it’s perfectly fine and maybe even preferrable to play these with one finger for now so that you don’t instill poor technical habits.
D Flat Major
Say this aloud as you read and play: “The Db Major Pentatonic Scale is spelled Db-Eb-F-Ab-Bb-Db.”
D Major
Say this aloud as you read and play: “The D Major Pentatonic Scale is spelled D-E-F#-A-B-D.”
E Flat Major
Say this aloud as you read and play: “The Eb Major Pentatonic Scale is spelled Eb-F-G-Bb-C-Eb.”
E Major
Say this aloud as you read and play: “The E Major Pentatonic Scale is E-F#-G#-B-C#-E.”
F Major
Say this aloud as you read and play: “The F Major Pentatonic Scale is spelled F-G-A-C-D-F.”
G Flat Major
Say this aloud as you read and play: “The Gb Major Pentatonic Scale is spelled Gb-Ab-Bb-Db-Eb-Gb.”
G Major
Say this aloud as you read and play: “The G Major Pentatonic Scale is spelled G-A-B-D-E-G.”
A Flat Major
Say this aloud as you read and play: “The Ab Major Pentatonic Scale is spelled Ab-Bb-C-Eb-F-Ab.”
A Major
Say this aloud as you read and play: “The A Major Pentatonic Scale is spelled A-B-C#-E-F#-A.”
B Flat Major
Say this aloud as you read and play: “The Bb Major Pentatonic Scale is spelled Bb-C-D-F-G-Bb.”
B Major
Say this aloud as you read and play: “The B Major Pentatonic Scale is spelled B-C#-D#-F#-G#-B.”
Buy Frank a cup of coffee (Donations Page) and he’d be happy to send you a high-res pdf of the scores and keyboard layouts.
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learn more… Scales
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