Minor Pentatonic Scales

The Minor Pentatonic Scale has 5 pitches (when you go up, the last note is the same as the first, only it’s an octave higher). If you start with your Natural Minor Scale, the Minor Pentatonic consists of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th pitches. We skip over the 2nd and 6th pitches.

Example-

Natural Minor Scale-

C D Eb F G Ab Bb C

Minor Pentatonic Scale-

C Eb F G Bb C (The second note of the natural minor scale- the D, and the 6th note of the natural minor scale- the Ab, are not included in the minor pentatonic scale.)

Enharmonics work exactly as they do with the minor scale, so the G# scale will sound the same as the Ab scale.

In all examples, if a Low B occurs, it’s written in 7th and if Low C occurs, it’s written in 6th. If you have an F-attachment, or trigger, the B can be played in Trigger-2nd and the C can be played in Trigger-1st.

A

D

G

C

F

Bb

Eb

G#

C#

F#

B

E