F major pentatonic scale

5 notes · the two notes it leaves out

The major scale with the 4th and 7th removed -- which are exactly the two notes that can clash with the chords under it. What is left has no semitones at all, so nothing in it can sound wrong, and it is the first scale most players learn to solo with.

Heard in: Country, pop, gospel and rock leads; the black keys of a piano.

Key
CC♯DE♭EFF♯GA♭AB♭B
majornatural minordorianmixolydianlydianphrygianlocrianharmonic minormelodic minorlydian dominantlydian augmentedalteredmajor pentatonicminor pentatonicblueswhole tonediminishedhalf-whole diminished

The notes of F major pentatonic

The whole scale, with each note’s degree underneath it.

F
1
G
2
A
3
C
5
D
6
357912151, E string fret 112, E string fret 323, E string fret 535, E string fret 856, E string fret 1061, E string fret 1312, E string fret 1523, A string fret 035, A string fret 356, A string fret 561, A string fret 812, A string fret 1023, A string fret 1235, A string fret 1556, D string fret 061, D string fret 312, D string fret 523, D string fret 735, D string fret 1056, D string fret 1261, D string fret 1512, G string fret 023, G string fret 235, G string fret 556, G string fret 761, G string fret 1012, G string fret 1223, G string fret 1435, B string fret 156, B string fret 361, B string fret 612, B string fret 823, B string fret 1035, B string fret 1356, B string fret 1561, e string fret 112, e string fret 323, e string fret 535, e string fret 856, e string fret 1061, e string fret 1312, e string fret 152
15 frets in standard tuning, high E at the top. Each dot is labelled with its degree rather than its note, because that is the part that moves with you when you play the shape somewhere else. The green dot is the root of whatever is being shown — the scale, or the chord chosen out of it.

Chords from F major pentatonic

Stacking thirds through this scale does not give chords: the gaps in it are not thirds. It is a scale to play over chords rather than one to build them from, so what matters here is which chords it fits, below.

What to play F major pentatonic over

The chords on F whose every note this scale contains, biggest first. The largest of them is the one that pins the scale down: over F69 there is nothing in F major pentatonic that can sound wrong.

F69Fadd9F6FFsus2F5

Modes of this scale

Same notes, different home. Which one you are in is decided by the chord underneath, not by the notes.

F minor pentatonic

Every scale on every root is on the scale index, and every chord on the chord index. Where the shapes and the theory come from is on the about page.

Midi Settings

7.5
Play Style
One pass of the pick from the lowest string up, everything left ringing.
Instrument
350
150

Style

Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.

Layout

Left Handed Mode