Grade 8 Music Theory, Unit 8, Lesson 4 of 9
Brainlag Music

Whole-tone and pentatonic scales

Music theory, 20th-century techniques, 12 minutes

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Six whole tones, and five-note scales with no semitones.

Even steps

The whole-tone scale has six notes, each a whole tone apart: no semitones at all.

The pentatonic scale has five notes, tones and minor 3rds: the major pentatonic C, D, E, G, A; the minor pentatonic A, C, D, E, G.

The whole-tone scale on C

The rest of this lesson and its 4 practice questions are in Brainlag Music Theory.

Screen 1 of 2, free to read.

  • 4 exam-style questions, marked as you go, each with a worked solution
  • Anything you get wrong is saved to your flashcards