← All lessonsModule 5 · Melody
Pentatonic and Blue Notes
Five notes that fit almost anywhere... and three notes that don't belong, yet sound like the blues.
In this lesson you'll
- Build the pentatonic scale.
- Write melodies that fit the chords of a key.
- Add the blue notes.
Music in this lesson
- Amazing GraceTraditional
- Auld Lang SyneTraditional
- Smoke on the WaterDeep Purple · 1972
Remember
The pentatonic is the major scale without four and seven. No half steps, no tritone, nothing clashes.
It fits over the chords of the key. End your phrases on chord tones.
The blue notes, flat three, five and seven, clash on purpose. That friction is the blues.