[pen-tuh-ton-ik, pen-] 
| a scale having five tones to an octave, as one having intervals that correspond to the five black keys of a piano octave. |
pentatonic scale
musical scale containing five different tones. It is thought that the pentatonic scale represents an early stage of musical development, because it is found, in different forms, in most of the world's music. The most widely known form is anhemitonic (without semitones; e.g., c-d-f-g-a-c'), the hemitonic form (with semitones; e.g., c-e-f-g-b-c') occurring less frequently.
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təˈtɒn