gung1 soeng1 gok3 zing1 jyu5宮商角徵羽宫商角徵羽

Jyutpinggung1 soeng1 gok3 zing1 jyu5

Yalegūng sēung gok jīng yúh

Definition

The five basic notes of the traditional Chinese pentatonic scale, roughly corresponding to Do, Re, Mi, Sol, La.

neutralother

How it's used

These terms originate from ancient Chinese music theory and represent the five degrees of the pentatonic scale. While they are often compared to Western solfège, they do not map perfectly to fixed pitches because traditional Chinese music often uses relative tuning based on the fundamental note. You will mostly encounter these in academic discussions about traditional Chinese instruments or music history.

Examples

le1呢sau2首kuk1曲jung6用zo2咗gung1宮soeng1商gok3角zi2徵jyu5羽ng5五go3個jam1音。

This piece of music uses the five notes of the pentatonic scale.

nei5你sik1識m4唔sik1識gung1宮soeng1商gok3角zi2徵jyu5羽dim2點joeng2樣faat3發jam1音aa4呀？

Do you know how to pronounce the five notes of the pentatonic scale?

Common phrases

ng5五sing1聲jam1音gaai1階

pentatonic scale

Common mistake

Learners often mistakenly assume these correspond exactly to the seven notes of the Western major scale, but they specifically represent a five note system that omits the fourth and seventh degrees.