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SCALE · ON PIANO

E Pentatonic Minor

Five notes — 1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7. The starting vocabulary of blues, rock, jazz solos. Works over almost any chord.

MEIMIDIHumdrum
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Tempo120 bpm

Audio source: tonejs-instruments by Nick Brosowsky (MIT)

Engraved by Verovio 6.2.0-43f8060 5 title E Pentatonic Minor Verovio
Keyboard
EGABDEGABDEGABDE
Related scales
Same scale, other instruments
Same scale, other tonics
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Theory reference
Questions
What notes are in the E Pentatonic Minor scale?

The E Pentatonic Minor scale uses the notes E, G, A, B, D (one octave; the pattern repeats at higher registers).

What's the Pentatonic Minor scale formula?

The Pentatonic Minor scale follows the interval pattern W+H W W W+H W, where W = whole step (2 semitones) and H = half step (1 semitone). Apply that pattern starting on E to get the E Pentatonic Minor scale.

What chords work over E Pentatonic Minor?

Minor pentatonic works over minor triads, m7, the I / IV / V of minor blues, and many dominant-7 vamps. The starting blues-rock vocabulary.

How do I finger E Pentatonic Minor on Piano?

On piano, scales typically use a 1-2-3 / 1-2-3-4 thumb-under pattern for white-key scales. Black-key scales (F♯, G♭, etc.) shift the thumb-under positions onto white keys for ergonomic clearance. Hanon Exercise No. 1 and Czerny Op. 599 No. 1 work through the canonical pattern.

When would I use the Pentatonic Minor scale?

Five notes — 1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7. The starting vocabulary of blues, rock, jazz solos. Works over almost any chord.