Pentatonic Scales for Piano with Fingerings!

Click here to view pdf File

Comments on White Note Major Pentatonic Scales - Fingerings

For right hand fingering of Major Pentatonic scales having all white notes (Keys of C, F and G), I first started out with 1,2,3, 1,2,3 1,2,3,4,5, with 1 replacing 5 as the fingering to continue into the 3rd octave, but then I realized that when playing the 4 octave descending Major Pentatonic it was a bit awkward to cross 4th finger over from degree 1 to degree 6 (i.e. or C major pentatonic 1 on C, crossing 4th finger over to play A). It was at this point that I realized that it is actually better to start scale with the 2nd finger, thus making smoother transitions throughout the scale. The revised fingering I decided on then was 2,3,4, 1,2,3, 1,2,3,4,5 with 1 and 2 replacing 4 and 5 as the fingering to continue into the 3rd octave.

This may appear contradictory at first, because with the revised fingering, descending, 4 has to cross over 1 going from the 5th to the 3rd degree (i.e. for C major pentatonic 1 on G, crossing 4th finger over to play E). However, since the next 3 notes (i.e. E, D, and C) are consecutive white notes, the cross over is somewhat smoother and therefore easier. This is opposed to the original fingering I had, which in C major pentatonic would have required a cross over from C on 1 to 4 on A, 3 on G, then a quick transition to place 2 on E. In general, the new fingering (starting on 2) flowed more easily and in practice took less time to achieve facility in playing the scales.

Also, a side benefit of using this new fingering (starting RH with 2) is that the fact of this being the same fingering as the minor pentatonic, makes it easier for the pianist to switch between the two scales (minor and major) without having two different fingerings for each one.

Greg P Taylor

Source of information for Pentatonic Scale fingerings

Please note: Many of the fingerings for Right Hand and the concept of a two octave fingering for Pentatonic scales were derived from the following youTube Videos by Marius Nordal.

Some changes were made to Professor Nordal's fingering based on pracice of the scales and our own professional opinion.
We also applied the concept to develop the fingerings for Left Hand on minor pentatonic fingerings and for both hand on the major pentatonic fingerings.