Scales › man gong (minor blues pentatonic)

man gong (minor blues pentatonic) scale

Chinese pentatonic, melancholic b6

What color?

Mode 3 of the major pentatonic (R b3 11 b13 b7): a minor pentatonic darkened by the b6. A traditional Chinese sound, melancholic and airy.

Origin & history

A mode of the minor pentatonic bearing a name from Chinese theory (gong). Like the other Far Eastern pentatonic modes, it structures a large part of the traditional music.

Which chords to play it on?

Outside the functional consensus: this is an exploration color. Lay it over a vamp or a held chord to tint your improvisation with an unexpected flavor, rather than inside a cadence.

Try it in a real chart

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