Voice of Jazz

Pentatonic scales and shapes have become an essential part of the modern jazz vocabulary in the latter half of the 20th century and onward. What became popular by John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner in the 1960s has been passed on from generation to generation and is now an integral part of the modern jazz language.

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Before getting into any details of what pentatonics are and how they can be applied, it is necessary to mention that as always, the most important practice is listening. What is explained here is purely technical and theoretical, and may sound meaningless and dull if played without any musical intentions. Therefore it is very important to listen to the players who have come before us and have used pentatonics in their playing.