Superimposition, not chord-scale
Every other scale on this site is checked for containing the chord tones. Pentatonics are deliberately exempt, because leaving chord tones out is exactly what makes them useful. A pentatonic played over a chord it does not spell produces a set of tensions, and those tensions are the sound.
The classic example: a minor pentatonic played from the root of a dominant chord gives 1, ♯9, 11, 5, ♭7. The ♯9 and the 11 are what you hear — a bluesy, deliberately unresolved dominant colour that no seven-note scale produces as cleanly. This is why the tool reports pentatonics with the degrees they make against the chord rather than the degrees of the scale itself.
| Scale | Notes | Formula | Against the chord | Usage |
|---|
| G Mixolydian | G A B C D E F | 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 | 1 9 3 11 5 13 b7 | Best choice |
| G Lydian dominant | G A B C# D E F | 1 2 3 #4 5 6 b7 | 1 9 3 #11 5 13 b7 | Common |
| G Major pentatonic | G A B D E | 1 2 3 5 6 | 1 9 3 5 13 | Common |
| G Dominant bebop | G A B C D E F F# | 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 7 | 1 9 3 11 5 13 b7 7 | Common |
| G Minor pentatonic | G Bb C D F | 1 b3 4 5 b7 | 1 #9 11 5 b7 | Common |
Project 07 · Jazz guitar
Project 02 · Jazz guitar
Project 09 · Jazz guitar
