1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 of the major scale. One construction takes five consecutive pitches from the circle of fifths; starting on C, these are C, G, D, A, and E. Rearranging the pitches to fit into one octave creates the major pentatonic scale: C, D, E, G, A.

: {\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f\relative c' { \time 5/4 c d e g a c} }Another construction works backward: It omits two pitches from a diatonic scale.