The Pentatonic Scale in Jazz (and when to use it in Your Solos)

Today’s question is from Luciano:

“Hi Julian, I would like you to explain pentatonics on the triad alteration extensions…”

Hi Luciano! Let me explain the pentatonic scale and all the jazz chords you can play it on…

First - here are the notes of the pentatonic scale:

• C major pentatonic scale = C D E G A

There’s also a ‘minor pentatonic scale’ - which is the same 5 notes, just starting from A instead of C:

• A minor pentatonic scale = A C D E G A (same notes as C major pentatonic).

When playing jazz piano I find it easiest to think of the major pentatonic scale - rather than the minor version…

Make sure you learn the pentatonic scale by its interval pattern and not its notes:

The major pentatonic scale is mostly whole-steps: 1 - 2 - 3 (C - D - E) and 5 - 6 (G - A)…

And there’s two minor 3rd gaps - between 3 - 5 (E - G), and between 6 - 1 (A - C).

Now let’s go through each chord:

Over C major 7 - there’s 3 pentatonic scales you can play:

• C major pentatonic is the simplest option - C D E G A

• G major pentatonic scale is more colorful - G A B D E

• D major pentatonic scale is even more colorful - D E F# A B

So the more chord extensions you play (9 11 13), the more colorful your melodic lines will sound when played over the chord…

G pentatonic and D pentatonic scales have a nice balance of chord tones (1 3 5 7) as well as color (9 11 13).

Over C minor 7 - there’s also 3 pentatonic scales you can play:

• Eb major pentatonic is the simplest option - Eb F G Bb C

• Bb major pentatonic scale is more colorful - Bb C D F G

• F major pentatonic scale is even more colorful - F G A C D

To remember these - just remember the scale degrees that each scale is built from: minor 3rd (Eb), minor 7th (Bb) and 4th (F).

And over C7 - there’s also 3 pentatonic scales you can play:

• C major pentatonic has a simple sound - C D E G A (no altered extensions)

• Bb major pentatonic scale is more colorful - Bb C D F G (creates a V7 sus 4 sound - playing F instead of E)

• Gb major pentatonic scale is the most sophisticated option - Gb Ab Bb Db Eb (full of altered extensions - #11, b13, b9 and #9)…

Simplified Thinking:

When you play a pentatonic scale over a chord - you’re still playing from a larger 7 note scale…

The chord’s notes in your left hand combined with the 5 notes in your right hand will reveal the full scale…

So when I play D pentatonic scale (D E F# A B) over C maj 7 (C E G B) - if you add those notes together you’ll see that I’m playing from C lydian scale:

• C lydian scale = C D E F# A B

Or when I play F pentatonic scale (F G A C D) over C min 7 (C Eb G Bb) - if you add those notes together you’ll see that I’m playing from C dorian scale:

• C dorian scale = C D Eb F A Bb

And one last example - when I play Gb pentatonic scale (Gb Ab Bb Db Eb) over C7 (C E Bb) - which scale am I really playing?

That’s right - those notes add up to C altered scale (you just have to remove the 5th from the C7 chord in this case):

• C altered scale = C Db Eb E Gb Ab Bb

So you can use pentatonic scales to simplify your thinking and also to direct your melody to 5 colorful notes…

The pentatonic scale is also a very memorable and singable interval pattern (90%+ of popular tunes are pentatonic) - so whatever you play, it will sound strong and melodic.

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