RAV Vast G Pygmy

The G Pygmy is a mysterious scale. The melodies composed with the G Pygmy are full of heavy rainy clouds and the smell of ozone before a storm. This RAV drum is made of 1.5 mm special steel that provides a deep acoustic sound with a great number of harmonious overtones to this musical instrument.  

The Pygmy scale has a very nice-sounding chord progression that is highly popular among the handpan music players. Just like the B Celtic, the G Pygmy is a pentatonic instrument. Nevertheless, the G Pygmy RAV drum has a different and very unique flavour. It’s originally tuned in G minor. However, you can also get some other scales - Bb maj, G Phrygian, Bb Mixolydian – if you switch the keynote and change the note progression a little. This scale has a variety of chords available to it.

The bassy Ding is tuned in G2 and the rest of the tongues are tuned in 3rd and 4th octave. The G Pygmy has only one halftone (D3-D#3) and is a very harmonious scale. The fields above the steel tongues are well-tuned and at the same time there’s no too much noise of your fingers playing, the sound is still warm and thick.

The G Pygmy is sometimes called as the “day-and-night” scale. It has both major and minor tones and can create two distant moods. The higher notes provide a diurnal sunny feel, while the lower notes bring in the nocturnal dramatic and meditative sound. You can switch between these two moods and create stunningly sophisticated and contrasting compositions. The G Pygmy is great for both slow and fast playing that’s what makes it really versatile.

For whom this scale will work

Being one of the most popular RAV Vast scales, the G Pygmy has a lot to offer for both beginners and advanced players.  If you choose the G Pygmy to be your first tongue drum, you’ll never have a chance to fail in playing. Just like the B Celtic Minor, it’s a great scale to start your RAV journey and to easy adapt to right away. You can experiment with melodies based on moving a single note, and then try to fill them in with some percussive elements, slowly moving forward to adding chord progressions – dyads and triads. And at the same time, the G Pygmy is perfect for advanced creations and making more complicated compositions throughout your growing abilities.

The Pygmy scale lovers will appreciate their favorite scale retranslated by the amazing RAV tongue drum. If you are choosing between the E Low and G Pygmy scales, put a note that the E Low Pygmy has a really low sound, and that’s what makes outdoor playing and recording more challenging (compare the online audio samples to get this difference between two scales).  The G Pygmy RAV Vast has a higher voice and has an incredible acoustic potential. It will become a perfect tool for meditation thanks to its minor sound which helps you to get deeper into a special state of mind.

The G Pygmy pairs well with another G Pygmy, E Low Pygmy and G Minor Pentatonic. Playing these scales you’ll feel the togetherness with the magical music that they create.