Zarlino

C major pentatonic

Major with its pull removed.

Take C major and drop two notes, F and B. Those two are the key’s tritone, the unstable pair that makes major want to resolve. Without them nothing leans anywhere.

So it can’t really sound wrong. It also never quite lands.

How it sounds
Bright and uncluttered. Five notes with room between them and nothing pulling anywhere, so it floats instead of resolving. It sounds like a tune before you’ve tried to write one.
Where it lives
Country, folk, gospel, pop hooks, children’s songs, and folk music from all over the world. Few scales get used more.

On the neck

Position
Show
Position 1, frets 0 to 3
  • High E string: E at fret 0, G at fret 3
  • B string: C at fret 1, D at fret 3
  • G string: G at fret 0, A at fret 2
  • D string: D at fret 0, E at fret 2
  • A string: A at fret 0, C at fret 3
  • Low E string: E at fret 0, G at fret 3

The notes

In order, with the frets between them: C2D2E3G2A3C

Five notes, uneven in a new way: steps of two frets, then gaps of three where F and B used to be. The gaps are what make it sound open. Every note has room around it.

What each interval does

Home. A sits three frets below.

C

Perfect unison

Two frets up from C: whole step.

D

Major second

Two frets up from D: whole step.

E

Major third

Three frets up from E: minor third.

G

Perfect fifth

Two frets up from G: whole step.

A

Major sixth

Playing C major pentatonic

  • You probably already know it.

    C major pentatonic has the same five notes as A minor pentatonic, which is probably the most-learned shape on the guitar. The box at the 5th fret already has all of them. What changes is which note you treat as home. Land on C instead of A and it sounds bright, not bluesy.

  • Five of six open strings.

    Both E strings, A, D and G all belong. Only B doesn’t. Open-position C major pentatonic is one of the friendliest places on the neck to wander around in.

  • Nothing grinds.

    It leaves out F and B, the two notes that sit a single fret from a neighbour. With no half steps left, nothing clashes.

  • Where you’ll meet it.

    Country, folk, and the sweeter side of rock and blues. A major-key solo that wants to sound open and singable usually ends up here.

What to play it over

Five notes aren’t enough to build a full set of chords, so pentatonic scales don’t get a chord table. The useful question is what they sound good over.

  • Home: C major.

    Over C, every note is either part of the chord or a colour just above it. Nothing needs resolving.

  • Across the key.

    It also sits well over Am, F and Dm, so it carries straight through most major-key progressions in C without changing scale. Over G it mostly works, with one rub: C sits a fret above the chord’s B.

  • Over C7.

    Major pentatonic over a dominant chord is the sweet side of blues and country: bright notes over a chord that wants to move.

  • Avoid: C minor.

    Over Cm, its E grinds against the chord’s E♭. It’s the one place this scale sounds properly wrong.

Want the chords that work with this scale? They’re the seven chords of C major, the full scale it comes from: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am and Bdim.

The chords of C major

The family

Relative minorA Minor Pentatonic