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pentatonic

A five-note scale with no semitones, so nothing in it clashes or demands resolution.

A five-note scale with no semitones, so nothing in it clashes hard or begs to resolve. That safety is why it is the improviser's sandbox and the first scale handed to beginners: you can barely hit a wrong note, so all your attention goes to phrasing. The minor pentatonic is the sound of the blues, rock, and countless solos.

Learn it: Pentatonic and blues

The one-sentence definition at the top is the same one the Theory Aide extension shows as a tooltip inside Ableton Live. Hover any dotted term for its own.