Pentatonic Modes

Keep the same five notes and change the tonic: gong and zhi sound open, yu and jue shaded.

Related

Gong, Shang, Jue, Zhi, YuDiaomen (Pitch Level for Singing)Gongdiao

Time and place

The pentatonic system appears in bronze bells and texts by the pre-Qin period; the names gong, shang, jue, zhi and yu come from the Guoyu and Guanzi tradition. It is not only ancient: folk songs, opera and instrumental music still use it. Keep the same five notes and change the tonic, and the colour changes.

Musical features

Gong, on do, is steady and open; shang carries a little tension; jue is unstable and often transitional; zhi is bright and rising; yu is darker, with phrases sinking at the close. The pien tones qingjiao and biangong usually pass by without disturbing the frame. Mode is decided by the final note and the repeated tonic, and the lines often move in three-note cells and fourths.

Repertoire

Molihua, Xiao Baicai, Xiaohe Tangshui and Spring River in the Flower Moon Night are all built on five notes, but their different finals give different light and shade.

What to listen for

Find the final note of each phrase, then hear how the tonic is pressed again inside the line. Pien tones often mark the turning point of colour, flashing briefly before the five notes return.

Common misunderstandings

A common error is to think a pentatonic mode uses only five notes, or that it is uniquely Chinese. The five notes are a frame to which passing tones may be added; Scottish, Japanese and African music also use pentatonic lines. A piece may even change tonic midway.

Sources

• 《中国音乐词典》编辑部编，中国音乐词典（人民音乐出版社）— 调式条目与民歌分析核对，未引用
• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., entry "China" — framework and dates checked, not quoted

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.