22.1 · The Pentatonic Scale
Five safe notes
Take the major scale and remove exactly two notes: the 4th and the 7th, the ones that sit a half step from their neighbors. What's left is the major pentatonic: five notes with no half steps anywhere, which means no clashes anywhere. It's the closest thing music has to a scale you cannot play wrong.
Seven minus two
C major, then C major pentatonic. Listen for what disappears: the two leaning notes, F and B.
On the guitar neck
Guitarists don't think in letters; they think in shapes. Here is C major pentatonic across the whole neck, root C ringed. Tap any dot.
No wrong notes
The proof: eight dice-rolled notes over a C drone. Roll as many solos as you like. None of them will clash.
Quiz
1 / 3The major pentatonic drops which two degrees?