I once played a very nice pentatonic black bamboo flute. I loved the tone. I didn't buy it because I thought, 'what tunes would I play?' A couple of years later I found myself playing this or that & realizing I was playing . . . you guessed it ~ pentatonic D!
Not very many, but enough. I love them.
The Old Leitrim Jig which I have just developed a liking for is pentatonic G. Missing is the C and the F so there's no way of knowing if it's in G major or myxolydian which is part of its charm.
Yes Mountain Road and Merry Blacksmith are not pentatonic but, missing the 7th degree as they are, are heptatonic.
There are tunes with a Major 3rd but which are pentatonic: Amazing Grace lacks the 4th and the 7th (as does Kesh Jig save for the turn at the end of the 2nd part).
There are tons of these "gap scale" tunes in ITM and hymnody.
D major pentatonic tunes
D major pentatonic tunes
Don't you just love these tunes, the B sounds so sweet when featured in a D tune.
Thinking of a couple of examples:
Merry Blacksmith's
Bobby Casey's
Mountain Road
Can anyone think of any more?
# Posted on March 13th 2009 by D.J.F.
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
The major sixth (either as an interval or added tone) nearly always has hint of the yearning, sad or nostalgic.
# Posted on March 13th 2009 by Krick Stahlschwanz
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
How are these tunes pentatonic?
# Posted on March 13th 2009 by reenactor
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
I haven't analysed the other two tunes that you mentioned, but quickly looking at Merry Blacksmith.
- Two sharps
- Resolves on D
- Contains every note in the diatonic scale of D-Major
So its a straight "D-Major" tune, is it not?
Heptatonic, if you like, but certainly not pentatonic ....
Penta=5 ..... 5-note scale (six, including the octave note)
# Posted on March 13th 2009 by Mix O'Lydian
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
Not very many tunes in ITM are pentatonic. A few polkas maybe, like Britches Full Of Stitches.
# Posted on March 13th 2009 by Henk Bos
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
I once played a very nice pentatonic black bamboo flute. I loved the tone. I didn't buy it because I thought, 'what tunes would I play?' A couple of years later I found myself playing this or that & realizing I was playing . . . you guessed it ~ pentatonic D!
Not very many, but enough. I love them.
# Posted on March 13th 2009 by Ben Steen
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
Mix, I suggested it was pentatonic coz the c sharp and the g nats are passing notes
# Posted on March 13th 2009 by D.J.F.
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
>c sharp and the g nats are passing notes
That got you sent out of the classroom in my day.
-chris
# Posted on March 13th 2009 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
@Cuilinn -
I certainly agree with your comment: "hint of the yearning, sad or nostalgic"
But might we take the Oxford Dictionary of music as being authoritive regarding the definition of "pentatonic":
"An extremely widespread scale is the 5-note or pentatonic scale ......."
Nothing about an extra two notes - passing, or otherwise.
Otherwise, we're in the realms of Lewis Carrol's Humpty Dumpty if words mean whatever we choose them to mean ...
# Posted on March 13th 2009 by Mix O'Lydian
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
Chris, that wasn't good for my keyboard.
# Posted on March 13th 2009 by reenactor
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
Not D major, but a good G major pentatonic tune is "Tabhair dom do lamh/Give me your hand." Pentatonic until the very end at least!
# Posted on March 15th 2009 by samiam590
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
Johnny McIljohn's No.1 http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1491
Bill Collins http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/2217
# Posted on March 15th 2009 by nigelg
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
Lovely tune samiam. Thanks for mentioning it. I hadn't known the story behind the tune (although I have heard some elaborate fictions);
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/GIB_GIV.htm#GIVE_ME_YOUR_HAND
# Posted on March 15th 2009 by Ben Steen
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
The Old Leitrim Jig which I have just developed a liking for is pentatonic G. Missing is the C and the F so there's no way of knowing if it's in G major or myxolydian which is part of its charm.
# Posted on March 16th 2009 by Bredna
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
Interesting - the Old Leitrim as written here does have a F (sharp) as a passing note, but I like the version I do better (of course).
# Posted on March 16th 2009 by Bredna
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
Thanks for that Bredna. I was trying to think of a Vincent Broderick tune which is pentatonic.
# Posted on March 16th 2009 by Ben Steen
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
Yes Mountain Road and Merry Blacksmith are not pentatonic but, missing the 7th degree as they are, are heptatonic.
There are tunes with a Major 3rd but which are pentatonic: Amazing Grace lacks the 4th and the 7th (as does Kesh Jig save for the turn at the end of the 2nd part).
There are tons of these "gap scale" tunes in ITM and hymnody.
# Posted on March 18th 2009 by Richard D Cook
Re: D major pentatonic tunes
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/39 ...
# Posted on March 18th 2009 by David50