There are many pentatonic but the most common in
western music are the Major Pentatonic & Minor Pentatonic
Penta means 5, tonic means tone
so it's a 5 tone scale.
The Major Pentatonic is the same as the Major Scale but you remove the 4th & the 7th degrees:
- C (Tonic/Root note)
- D (W)
- E (W)
- F (H)
- G (W)
- A (W)
- B (W)
- C (H)
Major Pentatonic Formula: 1-2-3-5-6
The Minor Pentatonic is the same as the Minor Scale except it has the 2nd & the 6th degree removed.
- C (Tonic /Root note)
- D (W)
- Eb (H)
- F (W)
- G (W)
- Ab (H)
- Bb (W)
- C (W)
Minor Pentatonic Formula: 1-b3-4-5-b7