Major Pentatonic Scale

The Major Pentatonic Scale has a Major quality due to its Major Third E. The Major Pentatonic Scale, like Major Pentatonic, is similar to the Major Scale but without the Fourth and Seventh degrees. This produces a simpler melodic flow that is commonly heard in blues and country music among others. The Major Pentatonic Scale has five notes, C, D, E, G, A.

Below you will find the Major Pentatonic Scale notes, notation, patterns, degrees, intervals and more. You can also opt to see the Major Pentatonic Scale on your preferred instrument.

Notes Ascending

C, D, E, G, A, C

Notes Descending

C, A, G, E, D, C

Notation Ascending

Notation Descending

Pattern Ascending

T, T, TS, T, TS

S = Semitone, T = Tone (2 Semitones)

Pattern Descending

TS, T, TS, T, T

S = Semitone, T = Tone (2 Semitones)

Degrees Ascending

NoteNumberName
C1Tonic
D2Supertonic
E3Mediant
G5Dominant
A6Submediant
C8Tonic (Octave)

Degrees Descending

NoteNumberName
C8Tonic (Octave)
A6Submediant
G5Dominant
E3Mediant
D2Supertonic
C1Tonic

Intervals Ascending

NotesSemitonesInterval
C > C0Perfect Unison (P1)
C > D2Major 2nd (M2)
C > E4Major 3rd (M3)
C > G7Perfect 5th (P5)
C > A9Major 6th (M6)
C > C12Perfect Octave (P8)

Intervals Descending

NotesSemitonesInterval
C > C0Perfect Unison (P1)
C > A3minor 3rd (m3)
C > G5Perfect 4th (P4)
C > E8minor 6th (m6)
C > D10minor 7th (m7)
C > C12Perfect Octave (P8)

Scales related to C Major Pentatonic Scale

Enharmonic Equivalent Scale

Scale with the same root and notes as the C Major Pentatonic Scale but different spelling.

B♯ Major Pentatonic Scale

Relative Minor Scale

Minor scale with the same notes as C Major Pentatonic Scale but in a different order.

A Minor Pentatonic Scale

Chords related to C Major Pentatonic Scale

Related Triads

The related chords cannot be built using the notes of C Major Pentatonic Scale alone so they have been substituted with the chords of the C Major Scale. The chords are in degree order and shown in Roman numerals (lowercase = minor/diminished, uppercase = Major/Augmented).

I Chord - C Major

ii Chord - D Minor

iii Chord - E Minor

IV Chord - F Major

V Chord - G Major

vi Chord - A Minor

viio Chord - B Diminished

Learn to Play Major Pentatonic Scale

Instrument View

See C Major Pentatonic Scale on

If you want to learn what scales and modes are and much more, check out our free Fundamentals of Music Theory course. If you already know some of the basics, you can jump straight into the scales lesson.

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