Pentatonic scale facts for kids
In music, a pentatonic scale is a special set of five musical notes within one octave. Think of an octave as the distance between two notes that have the same name, like from one C to the next C higher up. Pentatonic scales are super common! You can find them in folk music from all over the world.
The word "pentatonic" comes from Greek: "penta" means five. So, any scale with five notes is pentatonic. The most common pentatonic scale in Western music is special because it doesn't use any semitones. A semitone is the smallest step between two notes, like from C to C-sharp.
If you start a pentatonic scale on the note C, it uses the notes C, D, E, G, and A. These are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th notes of a major scale. A major scale is one of the most used musical scales, especially in Western music. It has seven notes, with the eighth note being the same as the first, just higher. An easy way to play this pentatonic scale on a piano or keyboard is to use only the black keys!
Using the pentatonic scale is a fun way for kids to create their own tunes. It doesn't really matter which note you start or end on. This is because there isn't a strong feeling of being in a specific musical key. The notes always sound good when played together, which makes it easy to experiment!
Many well-known folk songs use pentatonic scales, or are very close to them. Songs like "Land of the Silver Birch" or "Auld Lang Syne" are great examples of pentatonic tunes. Folk music includes traditional songs and music that became popular in the 20th century.
Even famous classical composers have used pentatonic scales. Claude Debussy, for example, used them often. His piano piece La fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair) has a tune that is mostly pentatonic. Maurice Ravel used this scale to make music that sounded like it came from China. He also used it in his Mother Goose suite (Ma Mère l'Oye) to create a magical, fairy tale sound.
In Indonesia, the traditional gamelan music uses its own types of pentatonic scales. These are called slendro and pelog.
pentatonic song: sing out your melody sing out your song sing a petatonic scale starting on lah lah doh ray meh soh lah!
See also
In Spanish: Escala pentatónica para niños
