you can play a pentatonic (5-note) scale

by taking the notes of the familiar scale - do re mi fa so la ti - and taking out the fa and the ti. This leaves you with just 5 notes: do re me so la and of course back to do.
Notice that there are 5 different natural modes of this pentatonic scale, each one beginning the scale on a different note. So you have a mode starting on do, a mode starting on re, a mi mode, a so mode, and a la mode. Each mode has a different sound.

moon lute v.4

This is another moon lute attempt - this one designed more after the dan nguyet, with a long neck and really high frets. You can see that I reused the body from version 2. The pegs are actually friction pegs, and with the fairly low string tension they work pretty well even though they aren't tapered. The strings are 50# and 30# monofilament fishing line. You can bend the strings by pressing down on them, especially the lower notes where there is more slack. It's actually pretty fun to play.

It's pentatonically fretted and I started to miss the other notes and didn't want to have to bend up to them, so I decided to make another fretless instrument.

a short list of pentatonic tunes

• Sukiyaki (Ue O Muite Arukou) - just the verse, not the bridge, which has some extra notes
• Pirate Ships (Wendy Waldman / Judy Collins / The Cure)
• Theme from "Wagon Train"
• They Call the Wind Maria
• I'm Going to Leave Old Texas Now
• How Can I Keep From Singing
• They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love
• Beech Spring (hymn tune)
• Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
• How Firm A Foundation
• Bonny Doon
• Farewell to Tarwathie