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Compiling global examples of music in the Major Pentatonic Scale

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1-2-3-5-6

(C-D-E-G-A)

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• Major Pentatonic: Sounds •

Real-world examples of the scale in action:

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• General: The scale’s simplicity has made it a favourite choice for participative, community-focused singalongs such as hymns (Amazing Grace, Swing Low Sweet Chariot) and nursery rhymes (Row Your Boat, Old MacDonald Had a Farm). Consequently, it underlies many popular styles including blues (Allman Brothers’ Blue Sky), gospel (Sam Cooke’s Bring It On Home to Me), jazz (Branford Marsalis’ Mo’ Betta Blues), rock’n’roll (Duane Eddy’s Cannonball), pop (Beatles’ Let It Be), psychedelic rock (Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here), singer-songwriting (Jack Johnson’s Better Together), EDM (Avicii’s Wake Me Up), and beyond. Also see a fantastic demonstration of its intuitive properties by vocalist Bobby McFerrin, live at the World Science Festival (below).

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• Classical: Used by many composers over the years – including Maurice Ravel (Jeux d’Eau), Edvard Grieg (Morning Mood), and Frédéric Chopin (Black Key Étude, La Fille Aux Cheveux De Lin),

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• Europe: 
• Albania (Moj Maro Moj Marine)
• Scotland (Skye Boat Song, Scotland the Brave)
• Ireland (The Battering Ram)
• as well as assorted folk tunes (Auld Lang Syne, Cotton Eye Joe).

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• India: Famous in Hindustani music as Raag Bhupali, often the first scale taught to students (along with the Lydian-congruent Raag Yaman: also see Shuddha Kalyan, which, roughly speaking, ascends like Bhupali and descends like Yaman). Also matches the scale shapes of Deshkar and Jait Kalyan, both of which take a markedly different path through the same tones. The Carnatic equivalent, known as Ragam Mohanam, is also widely performed (as per Anuradha Mahesh: “Mohanam is present where beauty and love coexist, filtering out the ill-effects of kamam, krodham, and moham [lust, anger, & greed], and bestowing immense benefits on the seeker…”).

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• Global: Often used as a familiar ‘meeting point’ for cross-cultural collaborations (e.g. cellists Saskia Rao & Ruth Philips: From Bach to Bhupali) – with sarodiya Debasmita Bhattacharya telling me in an interview that “When I collaborated with a Chinese pipa [4-string lute] player…it can sound like Bhupali is there”.
• For a haphazard shuffling of more Major Pentatonic music from across the globe, sample sounds from
• China (Zi Zhu Diao)
• Japan (Tsuki)
• Hawaii (Henehene Kou’Aka)
• Thai nationa anthem?

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—Ragam Mohanam (South India)—

T.M. Krishna (Carnatic vocal)

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“Mohanam is a raga of veera rasa [heroic character], but a wide range of emotions can be portrayed, including shringara and karuna [love and compassion] – while a well-treated Mohanam reveals its folkish melodies too. Heavy as well as light classical compositions sound beautiful in this raga. Historically speaking, Mohanam is perhaps the oldest ragam known to mankind: this pentatonic scale is found in the music of China, Japan, Hungary, Sweden, as well as gypsy music…The raga claims to possess international melody.” (Anuradha Mahesh)

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• Major Pentatonic: More •

Features, classifiers, quirks, etc…

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[analysis: coming soon]

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As discussed, Bhupali’s ‘Major Pentatonic‘ shape is fundamental to global music. While the ultimate roots of humanity’s shared scales will forever remain uncertain, it is notable that Bhupali can be ‘generated‘ by ‘stacking four perfect 5ths starting at Sa‘, i.e. S>P>R>D>G (below: and jumping twice more generates Kalyan, Bhupali’s sampurna ally: N>M). Some thus speculate that the scale may have been formed by tuning a sequence of strings by the perfect-5th overtone of the string before, thus ‘generating’ the scale after four jumps:

 

 

The real roots of the Major Pentatonic are likely much more complex than this (…I feel that scales are probably derived more from the somatics of singing than from geometric sequencing). Whatever its origins, it has undoubtedly been a foundational element of multiple global traditions for many millennia – although, despite countless sweeping claims to the contrary, it is not in fact a ‘human universal’ (from Ancient Greece onwards, many cultures have disfavoured pentatonic frameworks entirely, and others – from Balinese gamelan to Central African Banda polyphony – set their music to radically different tuning systems). Still, it may well be the world’s most popular scale…

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—Classifiers & Quirks—

• Modes: Pentatonic set (Major Pent.; Suspended Pent.; Phrygian Pent.; Scottish Pent.; Minor Pent.)
• Quirks: Anhemitonic; Atritonal; Maximal; Reflectional symmetry (imperfect: ♮3; detached: none)
• Names: Major Pentatonic (Western); Bhupali (Hindustani); Mohanam (Carnatic); Raghupati (archaic Indian)

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n.b. For more detailed geometric and mathematical analysis, refer to this scale’s entry in Ian Ring’s fantastic Exciting Universe of Music Theory project (for which I am an occasional ‘raga consultant’)

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