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Showing results for pentatonic. Search instead for pentaarsenic.

pentatonic

American  
[pen-tuh-tahn-ik] / ˌpɛn təˈtɑn ɪk /

adjective

  1. Music. (of a scale) having five tones to an octave, such as the black keys on a piano.


Other Word Forms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

“In Walked Bud” emerges from a series of ostinatos, with a nearly dreamy focus on its pentatonic core.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

"It reminds me a lot of music from South Asia, melded with the pentatonic scale which reminds me more of Arab music, along with the African percussion sounds that come through," said concert-goer Joseph Badawi-Crook.

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2025

Astronomers at the European Southern Observatory created what they call “music of the spheres” for the TOI 178 system by associating a sound on a pentatonic scale to each of the five planets.

From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2024

Asked several times about the similarities between the "Oh Why" and "Oh I" hooks, Sheeran repeatedly told the High Court in London: "They're both pentatonic scales and they both use vowels."

From Reuters ● Mar. 8, 2022

It is a pentatonic raga, which means that only 5 pitches are used, Sa, Re, Ga, Pa and Dha.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

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