Q’n’A: Pentatonic Scale

Well, I have plenty of stuff to write about. But aku jawap dulu soalan-soalan ni real quick.

Q: bro ape beza pentatonic scale ngan major scale??? then mcm mane nak apply kedua-dua scale itu?

A: Aku tak sure sejauh mana ko tau pasal Pentatonic scale. But just in case, let’s start from the basic. I’m not gonna go over the fingering pattern.

Katakan ko ade C Major scale. Tau tak note-note dia apa? Tengok row C Major kat table bawah ni kalau tak tau (you really should know this).

	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII
C Major	C	D	E	F	G	A	B
C Major Pentatonic	C	D	E		G	A

C Major Pentatonic scale plak diambil dari 5 notes dalam Major scale. The I, II, III, V, and VI degree of the major scale. So Major Pentatonic ni cuma sebahagian dari Major Scale.

Ape relative minor of C Major? A minor.

	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII
A Minor	A	B	C	D	E	F	G
A Minor Pentatonic	A		C	D	E		G

Minor Pentatonic pulak dibuat dari I, III, IV, V and VII degree of the minor scale. So Minor Pentatonic ni pon cuma sebahagian dari Minor Scale. Note-note A minor pentatonic pon sama ngan note-note C Major pentatonic, just like A minor punya note sama ngan note-note dalam C Major scale.

So, bila nak pakai Major/minor scale, bila nak pakai major/minor pentatonic? Honestly, I’ve never really thought about it. Maybe because I don’t compose, or improvise enough. So semalam aku tanye instructor aku.

Dia cakap, there’s no rule saying that kena pakai major kat satu lagu tu, tak boleh pakai pentatonic, or vice versa. That answer didn’t surprise me. Cuba tengok note-note dia dah boleh agak. For example, Major pentatonic note dia bukan lain dari note Major scale. Same notes, cuma pentatonic ni kurang sket note dia jek.

So dia kate it depends on the music. It depends on what kind of feel you want to express. Dia kate usually pentatonic ni dalam music blues or rock n roll. Pada aku pentatonic ni, especially minor pentatonic rasa bluesy. Well, sebab aku amik class blues dulu, pentatonic ngan blues scale yg cikgu aku selalu tekankan(blues scale is just minor pentatonic plus one “blue note”).

And instructor aku cakap, you have to trust your ears. Ape yg aku faham dari situ ialah just try it. If it sounds good, it’s good (provided you have good hearing).

So kalau ko ade chord progression in A minor for example, nak pakai A minor scale pon boleh, nak pakai A minor pentatonic scale pon boleh. Sometimes, depending on context music tu, maybe ko akan rasa lebih sedap kalau focus on the 5 notes of the pentatonic scale daripada pakai the whole minor scale. Maybe ko akan goreng in E minor pentatonic scale, and selitkan here and there note outside pentatonic scale taken from the entire minor scale.

Cuba main Major, Major Pentatonic, Minor, Minor Pentatonic. Cuba dapatkan feel setiap scale tu. Maybe bile nak pakai nanti, you’ll have some idea on which one gives you the “right” feel for the song.