Editing Pentatonic scale (section)

== Use of pentatonic scales ==
Pentatonic scales occur in many musical traditions:
{{div col}}
* [[Indian classical music]], both Hindustani and Carnatic traditions
* [[Ancient Tamil music]], see the Section "Evolution of panns".
* [[Peruvian cumbia|Peruvian Chicha cumbia]]
* [[Music of Assam|Indigenous ethnic folk music of Assam]]
* [[Music of Sudan|Sudanese Music]]
* [[Celtic music|Celtic folk music]]<ref name="Sawyers2001">{{cite book |author=June Skinner Sawyers |title=Celtic Music: A Complete Guide |year=2000 |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=United States |isbn=978-0-306-81007-7 |page=25 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* [[English folk music]]<ref>Ernst H. Meyer, ''Early English Chamber Music: From the Middle Ages to Purcell'', second edition, edited by [[Diana Poulton]] (Boston: Marion Boyars Publishers, Incorporated, 1982): p.&nbsp;48. {{ISBN|9780714527772}}.</ref>
* German folk music<ref>Judit Frigyesi (2013). [https://books.google.com/books?id=pjzNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA129 "Is there such a thing as Hungarian-Jewish music?"] in Pál Hatos & Attila Novák (eds.) (2013). ''Between Minority and Majority: Hungarian and Jewish/Israeli ethnical and cultural experiences in recent centuries''. Budapest: Balassi Institute. p. 129. {{ISBN|978-963-89583-8-9}}.</ref>
* [[Nordic folk music]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blacking |first1=John |title="A commonsense view of all music" : reflections on Percy Grainger's contribution to ethnomusicology and music education |date=November 1987 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-26500-3 |page=161 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Awo4AAAAIAAJ&q=nordic+folk+music+five+tone&pg=PA161 |access-date=21 November 2019}}</ref>
* [[Hungarian folk music]]<ref name="Bartók1997">{{cite book |editor=Benjamin Suchoff |title=Béla Bartók Studies in Ethnomusicology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LKQuRowyjPcC&pg=PA198 |year=1997 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |location=Lincoln |isbn=0-8032-4247-6 |page=198}}</ref>
* [[Croatian folk music]]<ref name="Bartók1997" />
* [[Berber music]]<ref name="Berber Music of Morocco and the Middle Atlas">{{cite book |title=Alwan For The Arts |url=http://www.alwanforthearts.org/event/282 |access-date=2021-01-23 |archive-date=2013-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521030929/http://www.alwanforthearts.org/event/282 |url-status=dead}}{{self-published source|date=October 2008}}</ref>
* [[West African music]]<ref name="RichardHenry" />
* African-American [[spirituals]]<ref>{{cite book |author=Erik Halbig |title=Pentatonic Improvisation: Modern Pentatonic Ideas for Guitarists of All Styles|type=Book & CD|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XalDz4xM6wEC&pg=PA4 |year=2005 |publisher=Alfred Music|location=Van Nuys, California|isbn=978-0-7390-3765-2 |page=4}}</ref>
* [[Gospel music]]<ref name="DMA2012">{{cite book |author=Lenard C. Bowie, DMA |title=African American Musical Heritage: An Appreciation, Historical Summary, and Guide to Music Fundamentals |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMeLfBO0kPsC&pg=PA259 |year=2012 |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |location=Philadelphia |isbn=978-1-4653-0575-6 |page=259}}{{self-published source|date=December 2017}}</ref>
* [[Bluegrass music]]<ref>{{cite book |author=Jesper Rübner-Petersen |title=The Mandolin Picker's Guide to Bluegrass Improvisation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAKpyaL45uYC&pg=PA17 |year=2011 |publisher=Mel Bay Publications |location=Pacific, Missouri|isbn=978-1-61065-413-5 |page=17}}</ref>
* [[American folk music]]<ref>{{cite book|author=[[William Duckworth (composer)|William Duckworth]]|title=A Creative Approach to Music Fundamentals |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SYsEAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA203 |year=2009 |publisher=Schirmer / Cengage Learning |location=Boston |isbn=978-1-111-78406-5 |page=203}}</ref>
* [[Music of Ethiopia]]<ref name="RichardHenry" />
* [[Jazz]]<ref>{{cite book |author=Kurt Johann Ellenberger |title=Materials and Concepts in Jazz Improvisation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H_o0aZFP93AC&pg=PA65 |year=2005 |publisher=Keystone Publication / Assayer Publishing |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|isbn=978-0-9709811-3-4 |page=65}}</ref>
* [[Blues]]<ref>{{cite book |editor=Edward Komara |title=Encyclopedia of the Blues |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-w-uGwm_LhcC&pg=PA863 |year=2006 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-92699-7 |page=863}}</ref>
* [[Rock music]]<ref name="Walker">{{cite web |last1=Joe Walker |title=The World's Most-Used Guitar Scale: A Minor Pentatonic |url=https://deftdigits.com/2012/01/06/the-worlds-most-used-guitar-scale-a-minor-pentatonic/ |website=DeftDigits Guitar Lessons |date=6 January 2012}}</ref>
* Sami [[joik]] singing<ref name="Burke">{{cite web |last1=Kathryn Burke |title=The Sami Yoik |url=http://www.laits.utexas.edu/sami/diehtu/giella/music/yoiksunna.htm |website=Sami Culture}}</ref>
* [[Children's song]]<ref name="Day-O'Connell2007">{{cite book |author=Jeremy Day-O'Connell |title=Pentatonicism from the Eighteenth Century to Debussy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2FSTvnnJWS0C&pg=PA54 |year=2007 |publisher=University Rochester Press |location=Rochester |isbn=978-1-58046-248-8 |page=54}}</ref>
* The [[music of ancient Greece]]<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Martin Litchfield West|M. L. West]]|title=Ancient Greek Music |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=So-Qpz6WDS4C&pg=PA163 |year=1992 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-814975-1 |pages=163–164}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=A.-F. Christidis |author2=Maria Arapopoulou |author3=Maria Christi |title=A History of Ancient Greek: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WJbd0m6YaFkC&pg=PA1432 |year=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-83307-3 |page=1432}}</ref>
** [[Music of Greece|Greek traditional music]] and [[Polyphonic song of Epirus|polyphonic songs]] from [[Music of Epirus|Epirus]] in northwest Greece<ref>Meri-Sofia Lakopoulos (2015). [http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/108625253/traditional-iso-polyphonic-song-epirus The Traditional Iso-polyphonic song of Epirus] {{dead link|date=November 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. The International Research Center for Traditional Polyphony. June 2015, issue 18. p. 10.</ref>
* [[music of Albania#Southern Albania|Music of southern Albania]]<ref>{{cite book |author=Spiro J. Shetuni |title=Albanian Traditional Music: An Introduction, with Sheet Music and Lyrics for 48 Songs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SjasqxAeHXAC&pg=PA38 |year=2011 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=978-0-7864-8630-4 |page=38}}</ref>
* Folk songs of peoples of the [[Volga region|Middle Volga region]] (such as the [[Mari people|Mari]], the [[Chuvash people|Chuvash]] and [[Tatars#Volga Tatars|Tatars]])<ref name="BroughtonEllingham1999">{{cite book |author1=Simon Broughton |author2=Mark Ellingham |author3=Richard Trillo |title=World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ViwKAQAAMAAJ&q=middle+volga+pentatonic |year=1999 |publisher=Rough Guides |location=London |isbn=978-1-85828-635-8 |page=160}}</ref>
* The tuning of the Ethiopian [[krar]]<ref name="RichardHenry">{{cite book |author=Richard Henry |title=Culture and the Pentatonic Scale: Exciting Information On Pentatonic Scales |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uz1QYwA9t-oC&pg=PP4 |date=n.d. |publisher=World Wide Jazz |location=n.p. |page=4}}</ref> and the Indonesian [[gamelan]]<ref name="Phillips2002">{{cite book |author=Mark Phillips |title=GCSE Music |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BDFb82vmI8AC&pg=PT104 |year=2002 |publisher=Heinemann |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-435-81318-5 |page=97}}</ref>
* Philippine [[kulintang]]<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Willi Apel]]|title=Harvard Dictionary of Music |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMdf1SioFk4C&pg=PA665 |year=1969 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-674-37501-7 |page=665}}</ref>
* [[Native American music]], especially in highland [[South America]] (the Quechua and Aymara),<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1794-58872009000200006 |title=Musiques métisses, musiques populaires, musiques latines: genèse coloniale, identités républicaines et globalisation |author=Carmen Bernand |date=19 August 2009 |journal=[[Co-herencia]] |volume=6 |issue=11 |pages=87–106 |issn=1794-5887 |location=France}}</ref> as well as among the North American Indians of the [[Pacific Northwest]]{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}
* Most [[Turkic languages|Turkic]],<ref>{{Cite news |title=A Common Denominator Music Links Ethnic Chinese with Hungarians |last=Qian |first=Gong |date=19 June 1995 |work=[[China Daily]]|via=ProQuest}}</ref> [[Mongolic languages|Mongolic]] and [[Tungusic languages|Tungusic]] music of [[Siberia]] and the Asiatic steppe is written in the pentatonic scale<ref name="jstor.org">Van Khe, Tran. "Is the Pentatonic Universal? A Few Reflections on Pentatonism." The World of Music 19, no. 1/2 (1977): 76–84. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43560446.</ref>
* Melodies of Eastern Asia: [[China]], [[Korea]], [[Lao Music|Laos]], [[Music of Thailand|Thailand]], [[Music of Cambodia|Cambodia]], [[Malaysia]], [[Japan]], and [[Vietnam]] (including the [[folk music]] of these countries)<ref name="jstor.org"/>
** [[gagaku|Traditional Japanese court music]]
** [[Shōmyō]] chanting
* [[Andean music]]<ref>{{cite book |editor1=Dale A. Olsen |editor2=Daniel E. Sheehy |title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 2: South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xb2ibVAXO9sC&pg=PA217 |year=1998 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=New York |isbn=0-8240-6040-7 |page=217}} (Thomas Turino (2004) points out that the pentatonic scale, although widespread, cannot be considered to be predominant in the Andes: [https://books.google.com/books?id=SYuKB29_7qUC&pg=PA141 Local practices among the Aymara and Kechua in Conima and Canas, Southern Peru] '''in''' {{cite book |editor=Malena Kuss |title=Music in Latin America and the Caribbean: an encyclopedic history |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SYuKB29_7qUC&pg=PA141 |year=2004 |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=0-292-70298-1 |page=141}})</ref>
* [[Afro-Caribbean music]]<ref name="Peretti2009">{{cite book |author=Burton William Peretti |title=Lift Every Voice: The History of African American Music |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-1uasSvAnE4C&pg=PA39 |year=2009 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7425-5811-3 |page=39}}</ref>
* Polish highlanders from the [[Tatra Mountains]]<ref name="CzekanowskaBlacking2006">{{cite book |author1=Anna Czekanowska |author2=John Blacking |title=Polish Folk Music: Slavonic Heritage – Polish Tradition – Contemporary Trends |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=czVkawHfw_UC&pg=PA189 |year=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-02797-7 |page=189}}</ref>
{{div col end}}

=== In classical music ===
Examples of its use include:

[[Beethoven]], [[String Quartet No. 16 (Beethoven)|Quartet in F major, Op. 135]], finale: [[File:Beethoven Quartet Op 135, finale bars 250-7.wav|thumb|Beethoven Quartet Op 135, finale bars 250-7]] [[File:Beethoven Quartet Op 135, finale bars 250-8.png|thumb|centre|500px|Beethoven Quartet Op 135, finale bars 250-7]]

[[Frédéric Chopin|Chopin]]'s [[Étude Op. 10, No. 5 (Chopin)|Etude in G-flat major, Op. 10, No. 5]], the "Black Key" etude,<ref name="B&S" /> in the major pentatonic.[[File:Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 5.wav|thumb|Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 5]] [[File:Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 5.png|thumb|center|500px|Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 5]]

Western Impressionistic composers such as French composer [[Claude Debussy]]<ref name="O'Connell">{{cite journal |last1=Jeremy Day-O'Connell |title=Debussy, Pentatonicism, and the Tonal Tradition |journal=Music Theory Spectrum |date=2009 |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=225–261 |url=https://www.skidmore.edu/music/documents/Day-OConnell_Debussy_Pentatonicism.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.skidmore.edu/music/documents/Day-OConnell_Debussy_Pentatonicism.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |doi=10.1525/mts.2009.31.2.225 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and [[Maurice Ravel]] used the pentatonic scale extensively in their works.

[[File:Debussy Voiles, Preludes, Book I, no. 2, mm.43-45.png|500px|thumb|center|Pentatonic scale in [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]]'s ''[[Voiles]]'', Preludes, Book I, no. 2, mm.&nbsp;43–45.<ref>Bruce Benward and Marilyn Nadine Saker, ''Music in Theory and Practice'', eighth edition (Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009): vol. II, p.&nbsp;245. {{ISBN|978-0-07-310188-0}}.</ref>[[File:Debussy Voiles, Preludes, Book I, no. 2, mm.43-45.mid]]]] [[File:Ravel Ma Mere l'Oye Laideronnette Imperatricedes Pagodes m.9-13.png|500px|thumb|center|Pentatonic scale in [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]]'s ''[[Ma mère l'Oye]]'' III. "Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes", mm.&nbsp;9–13.<ref name="B&S" />[[File:Ravel Ma Mere l'Oye Laideronnette Imperatricedes Pagodes m.9-13.mid]]]]

[[Giacomo Puccini]] used pentatonic scales in his operas ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'' and ''[[Turandot]]'' to imitate east Asian musical styles. Puccini also used [[Whole tone scale|whole-tone scales]] in the former to evoke similar ideas.

=== Indian ragas ===
{{Main|Raga}}

Indian classical music has hundreds of ragas, of which many are pentatonic. Examples include [[Abhogi|Raag Abhogi Kanada]] (C, D, E-flat, F, A),<ref name="Chaudhuri 2021 p. 52">{{cite book |last=Chaudhuri |first=A. |title=Finding the Raga: An Improvisation on Indian Music |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-571-37076-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N3oeEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT52 |access-date=26 May 2021 |page=52}}</ref> [[Bhoopali|Raag Bhupali]] (C, D, E, G, A),<ref name="Menon 1973 p. 50">{{cite book |last=Menon |first=R.R. |title=Discovering Indian Music |publisher=Somaiya Publications |year=1973 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AuUXAQAAIAAJ |access-date=26 May 2021 |page=50 |quote=Some prefer the first Raga to be pentatonic in scale. Let us take for an example, the pentatonic Bhoopali. Its notes are: SA RI GA PA DHA SA up and down the scale.}}</ref> [[Bairagi (raga)|Raag Bairagi]] (C, D-flat, F, G, B-flat),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chib |first1=S. K. S.|last2=Khan |first2=A. A.|title=Companion to North Indian Classical Music |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=978-81-215-1090-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ag4KAQAAMAAJ |access-date=26 May 2021 |page=337}}</ref> [[Chandrakauns|Raag Chandrakauns]] (C, E-flat, F, A-flat, B),<ref>{{cite book |last=Qureshi |first=R. B.|title=Master Musicians of India: Hereditary Sarangi Players Speak |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-135-87396-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SxYfDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT385 |access-date=26 May 2021 |page=385}}</ref> [[Dhani (raga)|Raag Dhani]] (C, E-flat, F, G, B-flat),<ref name="Chaudhuri 2021 p. 52"/> [[Durga (raga)|Raag Durga]] (C, D, F, G, A),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thatte |first1=A.|last2=Sabanīsa|first2=M. P.|title=Vande Mataram, Down the Memory Lane |publisher=Jayanti Samaroha Samitee Vande Mataram |year=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KsBjAAAAMAAJ |access-date=26 May 2021 |page=77 |quote=Named after the powerful Hindu goddess, Raga Durga is pentatonic, omitting the third and the seventh degrees, while emphasising the sixth and the second.}}</ref> [[Gunakri|Raag Gunakari]] (C, D-flat, F, G, A-flat),<ref name="The Historical Development of Indian Music: A Critical Study 1973 p. 175">{{cite book |title=The Historical Development of Indian Music: A Critical Study |publisher=Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-88386-344-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kowHAQAAMAAJ |access-date=26 May 2021 |page=175}}</ref> [[Hamsadhvani|Raag Hamsadhwani]] (C, D, E, G, B),<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Brien|first=J. P.|title=Non-western Music and the Western Listener |publisher=Kendall/Hunt Publishing|year=1977 |isbn=978-0-8403-1755-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mr8ZAQAAIAAJ |access-date=26 May 2021 |page=37}}</ref> [[Hindol|Raag Hindol]] (C, E, F#, A, B),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nizami |first1=F. |last2=Arshad |first2=S. |last3=Lakhvīrā |first3=N. Ḥ.|title=ABC of Music |publisher=Punjab Council of the Arts |year=1988 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Guu5AAAAIAAJ |access-date=27 May 2021 |page=54}}</ref> [[Kalavati|Raag Kalavati]] (C, E, G, A, B-flat),<ref name="Chaudhuri 2021 p. 52" /> Raag Katyayani (C, D, E-flat, G, A-flat),<ref name="Krsna Kirtana Songs 2009">{{cite web |title=Katyayani |website=Krsna Kirtana Songs |date=13 June 2009 |url=http://kksongs.org/raga/list/katyayani.html |access-date=27 May 2021}}</ref> [[Malkauns|Raag Malkauns]] (C, E-flat, F, A-flat, B-flat),<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[The Musical Quarterly]]|volume=71|number=2|year=1985|pages=157–171 (160)|author=Thom Lipiczky|title=Tihai Formulas and the Fusion of 'Composition' and 'Improvisation' in North Indian Music|quote=They are set to one of the most widely performed ragas in North India, the pentatonic midnight raga Malkauns. The most important notes of Malkauns are Sa (the tonic) and Ma (the fourth). Both the gats and the tihais "cadence" on one of ...}}</ref> Raag Megh (C, D, F, G, B-flat),<ref name="Chaudhuri 2021 p. 52" /> [[Shivaranjani|Raag Shivaranjani]] (C, D, E-flat, G, A),<ref name="Chakraborty Mazzola Tewari Patra 2014 p. 3">{{cite book |last1=Chakraborty |first1=S. |last2=Mazzola |first2=G. |last3=Tewari |first3=S. |last4=Patra |first4=M. |title=Computational Musicology in Hindustani Music |publisher=Springer International Publishing |series=Computational Music Science |year=2014 |isbn=978-3-319-11472-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0o2eBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 |access-date=27 May 2021 |page=3}}</ref> [[Sarang (family of ragas)|Raag Shuddha Sarang]] (C, D, F#, G, B),<ref name="Karnani 2005 p. 81">{{cite book |last=Karnani |first=C. |title=Form in Indian Music: A Study in Gharanas |publisher=Rawat Publications |year=2005 |isbn=978-81-7033-921-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dGIJAQAAMAAJ |access-date=27 May 2021 |page=81 |quote=Ghulam Ali showed unusual fondness for pentatonic modes like Gunkali, Malkauns, Kausi Dhani and Bhopali. Even Shudh Sarang and Megh Malhar are largely pentatonic.}}</ref> [[Tilang|Raag Tilang]] (C, E, F, G, B),<ref>{{cite book |last=Katz |first=J. |title=The Traditional Indian Theory and Practice of Music and Dance |publisher=E. J. Brill |series=Panels of the VIIth World Sanskrit Conference / World Sanskrit Conference 7, 1987, Leiden: Panels of the VIIth World Sanskrit Conference |year=1992 |isbn=978-90-04-09715-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HVjyfWPCO1wC&pg=PA19 |access-date=27 May 2021 |page=19}}</ref> [[Bibhas|Raag Vibhas]] (C, D-flat, E, G, A-flat),{{sfn|Chib|Khan|2004|page=39}} Raag Vrindavani Sarang (C, D, F, G, B), and others.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.swarganga.org/raagabase.php|title=Raagabase – A collection of Indian Classical Music Raags (Aka Ragas)}}</ref>

(For Tamil Music System, See here - [[Ancient Tamil music#Evolution of panns]] )

=== Further pentatonic musical traditions ===
[[File:D Yo scale.svg|thumb|400px|D Yo scale[[File:Yo scale on D.mid]]]]
The major pentatonic scale is the basic scale of the [[music of China]] and the [[music of Mongolia]] as well as many Southeast Asian musical traditions such as that of the Karen people as well as the indigenous Assamese ethnic groups.{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}} The pentatonic scale predominates most Eastern countries as opposed to Western countries where the [[heptatonic scale]] is more commonly used.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Graue |first1=Jerald |title=Scale |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/scale-music |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=3 May 2021}}</ref> The fundamental tones (without ''meri'' or ''kari'' techniques) rendered by the five holes of the [[Japan]]ese [[shakuhachi]] flute play a minor pentatonic scale. The [[yo scale]] used in Japanese [[shomyo]] Buddhist chants and [[gagaku]] imperial court music is an anhemitonic pentatonic scale<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080313144427/http://www.uwgb.edu/ogradyt/world/japan.htm ''Japanese Music'', ''Cross-Cultural Communication: World Music'', University of Wisconsin – Green Bay].</ref> shown below, which is the fourth mode of the major pentatonic scale.

=== Javanese ===
[[File:Gamelan slendro.mid|right|Temperated pentatoncs]]
In [[Java]]nese [[gamelan]] music, the [[slendro]] scale has five tones, of which four are emphasized in classical music. Another scale, [[pelog]], has seven tones, and is generally played using one of three five-tone subsets known as [[pathet]], in which certain notes are avoided while others are emphasized.<ref>Sumarsam (1988) [http://sumarsam.web.wesleyan.edu/Intro.gamelan.pdf Introduction to Javanese Gamelan].</ref>

===Somali===
[[Somali music]] uses a distinct [[Musical mode|modal system]] that is pentatonic, with characteristically long intervals between some notes. As with many other aspects of Somali culture and tradition, tastes in music and lyrics are strongly linked with those in nearby [[Ethiopia]], [[Eritrea]], [[Djibouti]] and [[Sudan]].<ref name="Abdullahi">{{cite book |author=Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi |title=Culture and Customs of Somalia |year=2001 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=0-313-31333-4 |page=170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Nu918tYMB8C&pg=PA170 |quote=Somali music, a unique kind of music that might be mistaken at first for music from nearby countries such as Ethiopia, the Sudan, or even Arabia, can be recognized by its own tunes and styles.}}</ref><ref name="Tekle">{{cite book |last=Tekle |first=Amare |title=Eritrea and Ethiopia: from conflict to cooperation |year=1994 |publisher=The Red Sea Press |isbn=0-932415-97-0 |page=197 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xbQTEF0rd7wC&pg=PA197 |quote=Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan have significant similarities emanating not only from culture, religion, traditions, history and aspirations ... They appreciate similar foods and spices, beverages and sweets, fabrics and tapestry, lyrics and music, and jewelry and fragrances.}}</ref>

=== Scottish ===
In [[Scottish music]], the pentatonic scale is very common. Seumas MacNeill suggests that the Great Highland bagpipe scale with its augmented fourth and diminished seventh is "a device to produce as many pentatonic scales as possible from its nine notes" (although these two features are not in the same scale){{Clarify|date=January 2020}}.<ref>Seumas MacNeil and Frank Richardson ''Piobaireachd and its Interpretation'' (Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers, 1996): p.&nbsp;36. {{ISBN|0-85976-440-0}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=January 2020|reason=Source neither confirms nor denies that one and the same scale may contain both an augmented fourth and a diminished seventh.}} Roderick Cannon explains these pentatonic scales and their use in more detail, both in [[Piobaireachd]] and light music.<ref>Roderick D. Cannon ''The Highland Bagpipe and its Music'' (Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers, 1995): pp.&nbsp;36–45. {{ISBN|0-85976-416-8}}</ref> It also features in [[Irish traditional music]], either purely or almost so. The minor pentatonic is used in [[Appalachian folk music]]. [[Blackfoot music]] most often uses anhemitonic tetratonic or pentatonic scales.<ref>Bruno Nettl, ''Blackfoot Musical Thought: Comparative Perspectives'' (Ohio: The Kent State University Press, 1989): p.&nbsp;43. {{ISBN|0-87338-370-2}}.</ref>

=== Andean ===
[[File:Antara.mid|thumb|Pacha Siku]]
In [[Andean music]], the pentatonic scale is used substantially minor, sometimes major, and seldom ''in'' scale. In the most ancient genres of Andean music being performed without string instruments (only with [[Wind instrument|winds]] and [[percussion]]), pentatonic melody is often led with parallel [[Perfect fifth|fifths]] and [[Perfect fourth|fourths]], so formally this music is hexatonic.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}}

=== Jazz ===
[[File:Slow solo 20110108.ogg|thumb|Rock guitar solo almost all over B minor pentatonic]]
[[Jazz]] music commonly uses both the major and the minor pentatonic scales. Pentatonic scales are useful for [[Musical improvisation|improvisers]] in modern jazz, pop, and rock contexts because they work well over several chords [[diatonic]] to the same key, often better than the parent scale. For example, the [[blues scale]] is predominantly derived from the minor pentatonic scale, a very popular scale for [[Musical improvisation|improvisation]] in the realms of blues and rock alike.<ref name="The Pentatonic and Blues Scale">{{cite web |title=The Pentatonic and Blues Scale |publisher=How To Play Blues Guitar |date=2008-07-09 |access-date=2008-07-11 |url=http://how-to-play-blues-guitar.com/blues-concepts/the-pentatonic-and-blues-scale/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080714070421/http://how-to-play-blues-guitar.com/blues-concepts/the-pentatonic-and-blues-scale/ |archive-date=2008-07-14 |url-status=dead}}</ref> For instance, over a C major triad (C, E, G) in the key of C major, the note F can be perceived as dissonant as it is a half step above the major third (E) of the chord. It is for this reason commonly avoided. Using the major pentatonic scale is an easy way out of this problem. The scale tones 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 (from the major pentatonic) are either major triad tones (1, 3, 5) or common consonant extensions (2, 6) of major triads. For the corresponding relative minor pentatonic, scale tones 1, {{music|b}}3, 4, 5, {{music|b}}7 work the same way, either as minor triad tones (1, {{music|b}}3, 5) or as common extensions (4, {{music|b}}7), as they all avoid being a half step from a chord tone.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}}

=== Other ===
[[Military cadence|U.S. military cadences]], or ''jodies'', which keep soldiers in step while marching or running, also typically use pentatonic scales.<ref name="NROTC Cadences">{{cite web |title=NROTC Cadences |access-date=2010-09-22 |url=http://www.lukeswartz.com/nrotc/cadences.html}}</ref>

[[Hymns]] and other religious music sometimes use the pentatonic scale; for example, the melody of the hymn "[[Amazing Grace]]."<ref>[[Steve Turner (writer)|Steve Turner]], ''Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Song'' (New York: HarperCollins, 2002): p.&nbsp;122. {{ISBN|0-06-000219-0}}1</ref>

The common pentatonic major and minor scales (C-D-E-G-A and C-E{{music|b}}-F-G-B{{music|b}}, respectively) are useful in modal composing, as both scales allow a melody to be modally ambiguous between their respective major ([[Ionian mode|Ionian]], [[Lydian mode|Lydian]], [[Mixolydian mode|Mixolydian]]) and minor ([[Aeolian mode|Aeolian]], [[Phrygian mode|Phrygian]], [[Dorian mode|Dorian]]) modes ([[Locrian mode|Locrian]] excluded). With either modal or non-modal writing, however, the ''harmonization'' of a pentatonic melody does not necessarily have to be derived from only the pentatonic pitches.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}}

Most [[Tuareg]] songs are pentatonic, as is most other music from the [[Sahel]] and [[Sudan]] regions.