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I’ve been teaching guitar for 15 years and I’ve certainly taught the pentatonic scale to students. I’ve wondered about the origin of the pentatonic scale and I’ve tried to figure out the origin myself as well as doing online research which gives a lot of different answers. I usually get the best answers here at this forum so I wanted to ask if anybody knows the actual origin of the pentatonic scale?
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10-01-2020 11:29 PM
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The answer to this question is lost in time. There's only speculation at this point.
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I believe that the pentatonic scales are understood to be extremely ancient, possibly predating civilisation itself.
scale | Definition, Music Theory, & Types | Britannica
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We have five fingers on each hand.
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Originally Posted by Litterick
The pentatonic scale has no half steps and therefore works with, or rather as the base of, a lot of different music systems. Otherwise, what Christian said - its origins are shrouded in the mist of time.
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Probably has to do with its inclusion of the important steps of the harmonic series ( 4th, 5th, octave) and with the "bluing" of the third, it's able to fit in the major and minor contexts in western harmony ? It must have started with the first string instruments.
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I thought I invented it? I've bought the copyright from a guy in the pub who said he was a legit lawyer, and expect the royalties to flood in any day now....
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Originally Posted by docsteve
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This isn't a woo-woo site. It's written by a music teacher and author.
'The Pentatonic scale we now know predates Pythagoras, the Babylonians and virtually every other culture all the way back to these early bird bone flutes that have been discovered in various parts of the world'
Pentatonic scale | Ancient Origins
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And a pentatonic flute would need only four fingers. (Still I have a feeling that people might have sung before they invented melody instruments.)
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Originally Posted by docsteve
listen to early church chants.. and while not "bending" notes they do stretch them a bit..a natural progression to vocal call and response and blue notes ..
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Originally Posted by docsteve
Autumn Leaves (Fingerstyle Chord Melody)
Yesterday, 11:56 PM in Improvisation