Minor Pentatonic Scale

The Minor Pentatonic Scale has a minor quality due to its minor Third E. The Minor Pentatonic Scale, like Minor Pentatonic, is similar to the Natural Minor Scale but without the Second and Sixth degrees. This produces a simpler melodic flow that is most commonly heard in blues music, especially when improvising solos. The Minor Pentatonic Scale has five notes, C, E, F, G, B.

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

Notes Ascending

C, E, F, G, B, C

Notes Descending

C, B, G, F, E, C

Notation Ascending

Notation Descending

Pattern Ascending

TS, T, T, TS, T

S = Semitone, T = Tone (2 Semitones)

Pattern Descending

T, TS, T, T, TS

S = Semitone, T = Tone (2 Semitones)

Degrees Ascending

NoteNumberName
C1Tonic
E3Mediant
F4Subdominant
G5Dominant
B7Subtonic
C8Tonic (Octave)

Degrees Descending

NoteNumberName
C8Tonic (Octave)
B7Subtonic
G5Dominant
F4Subdominant
E3Mediant
C1Tonic

Intervals Ascending

NotesSemitonesInterval
C > C0Perfect Unison (P1)
C > E3minor 3rd (m3)
C > F5Perfect 4th (P4)
C > G7Perfect 5th (P5)
C > B10minor 7th (m7)
C > C12Perfect Octave (P8)

Intervals Descending

NotesSemitonesInterval
C > C0Perfect Unison (P1)
C > B2Major 2nd (M2)
C > G5Perfect 4th (P4)
C > F7Perfect 5th (P5)
C > E9Major 6th (M6)
C > C12Perfect Octave (P8)

Scales related to C Minor Pentatonic Scale

Enharmonic Equivalent Scale

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

B♯ Minor Pentatonic Scale

Relative Major Scale

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

E Major Pentatonic Scale

Chords related to C Minor Pentatonic Scale

Related Triads

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

i Chord - C Minor

iio Chord - D Diminished

III Chord - E Major

iv Chord - F Minor

v Chord - G Minor

VI Chord - A Major

VII Chord - B Major

Learn to Play Minor Pentatonic Scale

Instrument View

See C Minor 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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