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Chord & Fret

Major pentatonic on cavaquinho (C)

Major pentatonic in C: C – D – E – G – A. On the cavaquinho, four steel strings pack the scale into a short, bright space — there is nowhere for a note to hide. The box shown runs from fret 1 to 3; the lowest tonic sits on the 2nd string, fret 1, and the hand stays put in the region, with no position shift. Its four steel strings give a bright, sharp attack that cuts through the mix and drives the beat.

Practice it tonic to tonic — hearing degree 1 at both ends anchors the scale's sound.

Scale diagramHorizontal fretboard with 4 strings, frets 0–3.12323561223
Frets 1–3

Read the dots by degree: 1 is the tonic (highlighted); the rest follow the scale's formula.

A scale never lives in one box — major pentatonic on cavaquinho has 4 more positions along the neck. In Chord & Fret, you drill it in Exercise mode — in thirds, pairs or sequences, with the BPM climbing every repetition; switch the dot labels between degrees, note names and fingers; and turn on the built-in metronome at the same BPM. Start free. Unlock everything with Pro. 100% offline. See it in Chord & Fret →

See the full explanation of the major pentatonic scale →