Major pentatonic scale in C on ukulele
Major pentatonic scale in C: C, D, E, G and A, the degrees 1–2–3–5–6. The box shown is in open position, from the open strings up to fret 5; the lowest tonic sits on the 3rd string, open, and the hand stays put in the region, with no position shift.
On the ukulele, the high reentrant G reshuffles the pattern — the scale climbs and falls in compact regions. Its soft nylon strings sound warm and mellow, light enough to float gently over a song.
Climb it slowly and name each degree out loud before speeding up.
Text description
Open strings and frets 2 to 5, 4 strings. Root (C): string 3 open, string 4, fret 5 and string 1, fret 3.
- String 4 (G): open, G, fifth; fret 2, A, sixth, finger 1; fret 5, C, root, finger 4
- String 3 (C): open, C, root; fret 2, D, second, finger 1; fret 4, E, third, finger 3
- String 2 (E): open, E, third; fret 3, G, fifth, finger 2; fret 5, A, sixth, finger 4
- String 1 (A): open, A, sixth; fret 3, C, root, finger 2; fret 5, D, second, finger 4
Read the dots by degree: 1 is the tonic (highlighted); the rest follow the scale's formula.