Description
Sakura flowers are falling down slowly with the sound of shamisen – that's what you hear in the voice of the G Minor Pentatonic. This scale brings in the Asian vibes and provides a calm and positive mood. This scale is relative to the G Pygmy RAV Vast and yet it has its own very specific sound.
This is a pick-up-and-play scale. It's easy to play and easy to acquire by anyone, even those, who've never tried to play the tongue drum (or any other instrument) before. If you are looking for your very first RAV drum, the G Minor Pentatonic is the best steel tongue drum for you.
The G Minor Pentatonic has something similar to the music of koto and shamisen – two traditional Japanese musical instruments. This scale provides a velvety sound, perfect for accompanying meditation or tea ceremony. If you like the traditional Chinese or Japanese music, you'll be totally hooked by the unique sound of the G Minor Pentatonic.
Its shell made of special steel is thinner (1.5 mm) comparing to most of the other RAV Vasts (2 mm). The Ding is tuned in G of 2nd octave and the rest of the steel tongues are tuned in 3rd and 4th octave.
There was a good reason for this scale to be pentatonic. The pentatonic scales are popular in tuning handpans and tongue drums because they are very harmonious. All the notes of these scales are consonant and that's what makes the pentatonic scales easy to deal with. This scale has no halftones which makes playing it as easy as one-two-three. This is especially important if you've recently started learning to play the tongue drum. There's no note that throws off the entire scale, so there's no way you can play off the key.
There is a number of other scales you get in addition to G Minor including Bb maj, F, Dm, Eb, Cm. Therefore, it provides you with a big room to experiment with note progressions when playing the G Minor Pentatonic RAV drum.
The G Minor Pentatonic has a relative RAV Vast scale – the G Pygmy. The G Pygmy has pretty the same layout as the G Minor Pentatonic, except the flat 6th "pygmy" note. And this note makes G Pygmy sound darker, while the G Minor has a brighter and sunnier feel to it.
For whom this scale will work
The G Minor Pentatonic is a great scale to start on because it's very simple. You will get a harmonious melody with any note progression you choose.
A note for pros: if you are versed well in handpan and tongue drum scales and you like the pentatonic minor sound, the G Minor Pentatonic RAV Vast is the steel tongue drum you've been looking for online to be available for sale.
If you want to pair it with another RAV Vast, opt for the G Pygmy as these are two relative sales. The G minor Pentatonic can accompany pretty any musical instrument (including piano, guitar and didgeridoo) so it will be a great tool to join a jam session.
The G Minor Pentatonic was for born for improvisation. Improvising with the RAV Vasts is really easy, but it becomes a bliss with the G Minor Pentatonic as you can instantly get some superb melodies. The Japanese pentatonic scales are a great base for improvisation and can be used to play metal, blues and jazz-fusion. This tip is commonly used by many musicians including the guitar players.
It's also a great scale for meditation and sound-healing. Are you wishing to obtain the Buddha's calmness? It's challenging to slow down your mind and thoughts. This is where the RAV Vast can help. Start from simple intuitive improvisation every day and get deeper into meditation.