What is a pentatonic scale?

Question

This is one of the scales on a piano

Answer 1

A pentatonic scale is a scale consisting of 5 notes (the prefix penta- meaning 5). While any scale with only 5 notes is technically a pentatonic scale, the traditional scale starts with a major scale and omits the 4th and 7th notes of the scale (F and B-natural if using a C-major scale). These two notes create a tritone, or a dissonance with a strong sense of resolution to a C-major chord (in a G7 chord, the F resolves down to E and the B resolves upwards to C). Without this dissonance the pentatonic scale has fewer tones 'pulling' it into certain traditional harmonic patterns, meaning it can be used much more freely. It is commonly used is jazz, blues, funk, and many other genres with improvisation as a main feature.

A shortcut is that relative major and minor scales omit the same two notes. So, F and B natural are omitted in both the C-major and A-minor scales. You can also use other types of scales, such as the melodic or harmonic minor or modes, in the same way described above.