Making Music with a Pentatonic Scale

A Pentatonic scale is a really neat way to create impromptu songs. It is a series of 5 notes. Here is one way they are chosen:

The first note is called the tonic.
Next is a whole step* up from the tonic, called the 2nd.
Go up one more whole step up to get the 3rd.
Go 1 1/2 steps to skip to the 5th.
And one more whole step to the 6th.
Finally, you can complete the scale with the tonic -- this time, it's the higher one.

If you start with the note C, the scale is C, D, E, G, A, C.

A Pentatonic Scale:

C Pentatonic Scale:

Go ahead and play the notes of a pentatonic scale in any order or pattern you choose!
Click on the song generator button for a new random song you can play in the key of C.
Just click on the buttons for the notes in the order they are given.

*A half step is probably best seen on a piano keyboard. Start on a key and then go to the key that it bumps up against. For example, you could start on C and go to the black key above it, which is called C sharp. A whole step is 2 half notes. For example, you could start on C and go to D.