Major Pentatonic Scale: Theory & Ear Training

As the name suggests, the Major Pentatonic Scale has five notes and a major quality…

… and is yet another existence proof that scales are not made up of “half-steps” and “whole-steps”.

Theory

Here, for example, are the notes in the C Major Pentatonic identified by letter name, scale degree (numbers), and Solfege syllable…

The scale structure of the Major Pentatonic Scale is always 1-2-3-5-6-1, no matter what key you are in.
The Solfege syllables of the Major Pentatonic Scale are always Do-Re-Mi-So-La-Do, no matter what key you are in.
The only thing that changes when you change keys are the letter names.

Notice that the Major Pentatonic Scale is a subset of the Major Scale...

The absence of the two most harmonically active notes (Fa and Ti) give the Major Pentatonic Scale a relaxed and dreamy quality.