Study Guides

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils listen to improvisation in jazz ensembles. Using the minor pentatonic scale on pitched percussion, they learn a minor pentatonic melody and practise tools to guide successful improvisation including repetition and sequencing.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to play the minor pentatonic scale and know this scale can be used as the basis for jazz improvisation.

Key Notes

• The minor pentatonic scale is a scale often used in musical genres such as jazz and Blues.
• The minor pentatonic scale is made up of five notes and has a different tonality to the major pentatonic scale.
• The minor pentatonic scale uses la, do, re, mi, so. In the D minor pentatonic scale this is D, F, G, A, C.
• Improvisation is creative, in-the-moment musical composition.

Vocabulary To Learn

• minor pentatonic scale: the five tones, la, do, re, mi and so arranged in an ascending or descending order
• jazz: a musical genre that emerged from African-American communities in New Orleans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, characterised by improvisation
• improvisation: creative, in-the-moment musical composition
• genre: music belonging to a shared tradition or style

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• All music is worked out beforehand and can't be made up on the spot.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• Creating and performing an improvised jazz piece Study Guide
• Improvising a phrase using the D minor pentatonic scale Study Guide
• Improvising longer phrases using the D minor pentatonic scale Study Guide
• Playing a minor pentatonic jazz melody Study Guide
• Playing the D minor pentatonic scale Study Guide