PENTATONIC SCALES

The pentatonic minor is a scale of only five notes that is often used in Blues, Pop, and Rock. After learning your major and minor scales, the pentatonic minor scale is the next scale to explore. It is composed of all the same notes of the minor scale (relative to it's major scale), except without the 2nd and 6th notes...

So if we were to take the RELATIVE MINOR scale from the C Major scale, which we call the A Minor scale, this is the order the notes would follow: 

As mentioned above, the pentatonic scale removes the notes on position 2 & 6 of the minor scale, now leaving us with just 5 notes (plus the octave in 6th position) as follows:

So all we need to do now is re-order them chronologically like this:

Tabbed out it would look like this: 

And this is what it sounds like played on a ukulele with a high G string:

So there you have it. The notes of A Minor Pentatonic Scale. Practice playing this scale up an down on your ukulele. Of course, this is just one of the many positions to play this scale. There are many more ways to play the same 5 notes all over the fretboard so check out the fret map below to see how else you can play it and try playing from alternative starting notes. You don't always have to start on A:

​Now you might well wonder - why on earth would I need to know this scale? Well the answer is simply that the pentatonic scale was developed by ancient civilisations, and is still today, used in both Eastern music as well as Western music, from Japanese folk to pop and rock.

It is a great way to develop melodies and harmonies for songs and some of the most recognisable solos and melodies have been written using just these 5 notes. Here are just a few:

• Amazing Grace – John Newton.
• Cotton Eyed Joe – Rednex.
• Swing Low Sweet Chariot.
• My Girl – The Temptations.
• Sunshine Of Your Love – Cream.
• Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin*
• Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2 – Pink Floyd.
• Auld Lang Syne – Robert Burns.

It's lack of the half steps that contribute to its distinct sound and to give you a more insightful view, so if you think you can't comprehend this little scale, I promise you already have this information inherently stored deep in your psyche from a young age, and to prove my point, take a look at this video by Bobby McFerrin, who wrote the riff (or whistling part) to "Don't Worry, Be Happy" using the pentatonic scale ...

Another great fact to know about the song 'Don't Worry, Be Happy" is that there are absolutely no instruments used to create the song, as it is an a cappella song that uses only the voice to create each track. Have another listen and try to pick out each part independently.