3.5 Other Commonly Used Scales
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
1. Introduction to other commonly used scales.
2. Pentatonic, Whole Tone, “Augmented,” Octatonic, Lydian-Mixolydian
and “Nearly” Whole Tone.
The
fin de siécle
period, the crossover period between the 19th- and 20th Centuries,
witnessed monumental changes as to how music was composed. By this point in the
evolution of Western music, Tonal music had not exhausted itself, but had
developed as fully as it could in terms of compositional resources.
Pentatonic Scale
Composers began to explore alternate scalar resources to Major and Minor. Modes
were employed as was the
Pentatonic scale
24
. The absence of a
Leading Tone
in the
Pentatonic scale, as well as its folk music associations, made it an attractive,
naturalistic alternative to Major and Minor scales.
In Jazz pedagogy, two distinct forms of the Pentatonic scale are recognized, called
Major Pentatonic
and
Minor Pentatonic
. They are so-called due to their inherently
Major or Minor sounding qualities.
Figure 3.23
Pentatonic Scale Rotation
Audio 15
Pentatonic Scale
24. Properly, a scale that divides
the octave into five equal
portions. In equal
temperament, this is most
closely approximated aurally
by playing the black keys at the
piano.
Chapter 3 The Foundations Scale-Steps and Scales
113