The Pentatonic Scale

May 17, 2021 | Welcome Column

Most bluegrass fans are familiar with Lester Flatt’s classic G run on the guitar.  We hear that run over and over from guitarists at every bluegrass festival and it never gets stale.  Most people play the G run by starting with the root G note and then sliding up from A sharp to B followed by D, E, G.  But another acceptable version might simply be G, A, B, D, E, G.

Now you have the pentatonic scale, known to the ancients and basic to many styles of music from all over the world.  Play a major scale in any key omitting the fourth and seventh tones and you have the pentatonic scale.  Importantly for bluegrass fans the pentatonic scale is a useful reference point when you are playing with others.

One of the greatest joys of being at a bluegrass festival is picking and singing with others.  Usually these others are friends who are very forgiving of inaccuracies in your rendition of favorite tunes but sometimes you might be called to play with brand new friends and you have no idea where to go as you struggle with THEIR favorite tune which you might never have heard at all.

Most long time jammers know to take refuge in certain basic notes.  If the tune is in A, the root note A is never a bad note for example.  It turns out that for most tunes any note on the pentatonic scale of that key is also not a sour note.  Knowing those sweet notes doesn’t give you a good solo but it might help you stay out of trouble.

The pentatonic scale has been used by educators to help children enjoy improvising music.  The kids play instruments tuned to the pentatonic scale and they play whatever they feel like.

The pentatonic scale applies to minor keys as well.  In fact the standard six string guitar tuning E,A,D,G,B,E is a minor key pentatonic.  As a mostly mandolinist, I get a bit confused by that quirky B string but both the minor and major scales are rooted in the interval of the perfect fifth.  The one and the five chord.  Add a fourth and you have not only the truth but most of what makes bluegrass music.

So my advice to all would be jammers (if you want to avoid some of the embarrassment I have had by flubbing many a jam solo): learn the pentatonic scale.  My favorite source on the subject is a book called The Pentatonic Mandolin by Niles Hokkanen.  It was published in 1980 but you might still be able to find it and even if your instrument is not the mandolin, it’s worth reading.  I am sure there are other books and videos on the same topic.

I still wish I could find that book which would open the door to playing my instrument like Norman Blake but I don’t hold my breath.  In the meantime I can enjoy playing as best I can and sitting near the stage enthralled by our bluegrass maestros who will be out there again very soon to entertain us!

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