The pentatonic scale: a first step into improvising

“Pentatonic” means five notes. The C major pentatonic keeps C, D, E, G and A from the C major scale, and leaves out F and B. Leaving them out removes both semitones of the scale (a semitone is the distance from one key to the very next), E–F and B–C. Without F and B, every note is at least a tone from the next.

That makes the scale forgiving under the fingers: no two of its notes are a semitone apart, the sharpest clash the keyboard can make, so you can move around freely while you look for ideas. It doesn’t mean every note sounds the same over every chord, as you’ll hear below.

To improvise, you need something underneath. This loop holds four chords in the left hand, C, F, Am and G, each struck on the first and third beats. All four come from C major, so the pentatonic notes belong to the same key.

Start it, choose a slow tempo, and simply listen to it go round once or twice before playing. Then play one note at a time with your right hand, on the orange keys, and leave plenty of silence. Silence is part of the phrase.

A blank page is hard; a rule makes it easier. Each challenge below gives you one constraint. Press play to hear one possible answer over the loop, then switch the loop on and find your own. There is no right answer, only answers you like more than others.

• Only two notes. With G and A alone, rhythm does all the work: long and short notes, repetitions, silences.
• Land on C. Use all five notes, but end your phrases on C, and notice how settled it sounds.
• Repeat a three-note motif. Play a short idea, then play it again starting on another note, keeping the same rhythm.

The five notes fit the key of the loop, but they don’t all do the same thing over each chord. A note that belongs to the chord sounds settled, a good place to stop. The others add colour or a gentle tension that asks to move on. Both are useful; the point is to choose where you land.

Start the same five notes from A and you get the A minor pentatonic: A, C, D, E, G. Nothing changes on the keyboard; what changes is the note you treat as home. Over the loop, try ending your phrases on A when the Am chord comes round, and compare with ending on C.