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pentatonic scale

American  
[pen-tuh-ton-ik, pen-] / ˈpɛn təˈtɒn ɪk, ˌpɛn- /

noun

Music.

  1. a scale having five tones to an octave, as one having intervals that correspond to the five black keys of a piano octave.

pentatonic scale British  
/ ˌpɛntəˈtɒnɪk /

noun

  1. music any of several scales consisting of five notes, the most commonly encountered one being composed of the first, second, third, fifth, and sixth degrees of the major diatonic scale

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of pentatonic scale

First recorded in 1860–65; penta- + tonic

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.