About the D Suspended Pentatonic scale
D Suspended Pentatonic is used for modal, folk and Asian-flavored melodies. Think of it as a five-note scale with no third, all open fourths and fifths. It is D Minor Pentatonic with the third lowered.
Its notes are D, E, G, A, and C. The formula is W 1½ W 1½ W. It is the second mode of C Major Pentatonic.
Also called Egyptian and Neutral Pentatonic.
E, A, D, and G are open guitar strings that sit inside this scale, ready to drone under a riff. On guitar, the deepest D within reach is the 5th fret of the A string. A full root-to-root octave of D Suspended Pentatonic fits within the first three frets, so it has a real open-position box.
Positions
Playable shapes for this scale up the neck. Tap any note to hear it.
Pentatonic boxes
The five shapes blues and rock are built on, the first scale most guitarists ever solo with, one box per note up the neck.
Notes and intervals
| 1 | DD | Root |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | EE | Major 2nd |
| 3 | GG | Perfect 4th |
| 4 | AA | Perfect 5th |
| 5 | CC | Minor 7th |
| Steps | W 1½ W 1½ W |
|---|---|
| Semitones | 2-3-2-3-2 |
| Degrees | 1 2 4 5 ♭7 |
Shapes
Chromatic
Circle of Fifths
Related scales
Suspended Pentatonic in other keys
Modes
The same notes, starting on a different note.
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