pentatonic minor
A five-note scale consisting of the first, flat third, fourth, fifth, and flat seventh degrees of the [natural minor scale](/term/natural%20minor%20scale).
In Depth
The minor pentatonic scale (1-b3-4-5-b7) is arguably the most widely used scale in popular music worldwide. By removing the second and sixth degrees from the natural minor scale, it eliminates the half-step intervals that create tension and resolution in seven-note scales, producing a collection of notes that are almost universally consonant with each other. This makes the minor pentatonic remarkably easy to improvise with — virtually any combination of its five notes sounds "right."
The minor pentatonic is the foundation of blues guitar improvisation — the iconic guitar solos of B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page are built primarily from this five-note collection. Adding the "blue note" (the flat fifth or sharp fourth) creates the blues scale. The same five notes, in various octave arrangements, form the basis of rock, folk, country, and R&B melody. Remarkably, the minor pentatonic also underlies the melodic traditions of West Africa, China, Japan, and the Celtic nations, suggesting it may represent a near-universal human musical instinct.
Bobby McFerrin demonstrated the universality of the pentatonic scale in a famous TED talk, where he got a random audience to spontaneously sing a pentatonic melody without any instruction — they instinctively knew which notes came next.