pentatonic
Scale missing two
Pentatonic describes a musical scale with five notes per octave, as opposed to the seven notes of major and minor scales.
Pentatonic scales appear across world music traditions—from Chinese classical music to Celtic folk to blues.
The scale's simplicity makes it intuitive; the black keys on a piano form a pentatonic scale.
The guitarist improvised over a pentatonic pattern.
Indonesian percussive ensemble
- kotoJapanese plucked string instrument
- erhuChinese bowed string instrument
- shamisenJapanese three-stringed plucked instrument
- ragaIndian melodic framework
Chinese · Japanese · Korean · Indonesian · Okinawan · Vietnamese · Thai · traditional
Pleasing sequence of notes
- phraseWords forming partial meaning
- motifRecurring thematic element
- hookCurved catching device
- ostinatoRepeating musical figure
riff · theme · variation · ornamentation · simplicity · singable · memorable · accessible
Eastern U.S. mountain region
- CelticOf Irish-Welsh descent
- balladNarrative poem or song
- fiddleAdjust restlessly; folk violin
- banjoFretted drum-stringed instrument
dulcimer · traditional · modal · drone · roots · acoustic · world-music · indigenous
Symbol denoting variation
- ChicagoMajor Illinois metropolis
- B.B. KingBlues guitarist icon
- Muddy WatersChicago blues founding figure
- guitarFretted stringed instrument
harmonica · slide · riff · lick · bend · shuffle · groove · soulful
Of chief importance
- minorScale with lowered third
- intervalDuration between two points
- octaveEight-note interval
- modeWay or method
tuning · pitch · key · gapped · stepwise · transposition · root · degree
Thumb-plucked tine instrument
- koraAfrican bridge-harp with twenty-one strings
- djembeHand-struck goblet drum
- polyrhythmOverlapping musical beat patterns
- call-and-responseAlternating musical exchange
griot · highlife · Afrobeat · sub-Saharan · tribal · ceremonial · communal · percussion
gamelan
Indonesian percussive ensemble
- kotoJapanese plucked string instrument
- erhuChinese bowed string instrument
- shamisenJapanese three-stringed plucked instrument
raga · Chinese · Japanese · Korean · Indonesian · Okinawan · Vietnamese · Thai · traditional · meditation
melody
Pleasing sequence of notes
ostinato · riff · theme · variation · ornamentation · simplicity · singable · memorable · accessible · universal
Appalachian
Eastern U.S. mountain region
banjo · dulcimer · traditional · modal · drone · roots · acoustic · world-music · indigenous · ethnic
delta
Symbol denoting variation
- ChicagoMajor Illinois metropolis
- B.B. KingBlues guitarist icon
- Muddy WatersChicago blues founding figure
guitar · harmonica · slide · riff · lick · bend · shuffle · groove · soulful · call-and-response
major
Of chief importance
mode · tuning · pitch · key · gapped · stepwise · transposition · root · degree · pattern
kalimba
Thumb-plucked tine instrument
- koraAfrican bridge-harp with twenty-one strings
- djembeHand-struck goblet drum
- polyrhythmOverlapping musical beat patterns
call-and-response · griot · highlife · Afrobeat · sub-Saharan · tribal · ceremonial · communal · percussion · rhythmic
- musicmusic, song, songs, singing, singer
- pitchfastball, curveball, slider, changeup, sinker
- scalesweight, measure, balance, balance scale, digital scale
- kids musicsinging, songs, lullabies, nursery rhymes, alphabet songs
- penta- wordspentagram, Pentecost, pentarchy, pentad, pentaprism
- jazz techniquesbebop, blue notes, comping, improvisation, licks
pentatonicchromatic
Relating to color
twelve-tone · chromatic scale · microtonal · atonal · serial
- pentatonic scaleMusical ladder with five steps
tone, tonic, pentagon, pentameter, pentathlon, diatonic, monotonic