Pygmy - Across the Decades

I first encountered a Pygmy through the original G version, introduced by PANArt in the early days of the Hang around 2002–2003: G3 / C4 D4 Eb4 G4 Bb4 C5 D5 Eb5

While it is named after the complex, polyphonic vocal traditions of Central African groups like the Aka and Baka, it is an artistic interpretation rather than a direct transcription of their music.

A very close relative to the also popular Ake Bono, it was a little less moody, a little more chill. Ake Bono is essentially the same as the relative Western minor pentatonic.

Western minor in C: C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
Ake Bono / Minor Pentatonic: C D Eb G Ab
Pygmy: C D Eb G Bb

Understandably popular, it’s a very playable, cyclical scale—forgiving, but not boring.

At its core, Pygmy is defined by a simple relationship: C D Eb G Bb

In 2005, PANArt introduced two F-based evolutions of the scale.
First, the high voice expression—the root shifted from C down to Bb: F3 / Bb3 C4 Db4 F4 Ab4 Bb4 C5 Db5

To this day, the F-centered High Voice Pygmy is highly lusted after. Just a whole step lower—it hits different. It was a perfect fit for the Hang—size, geometry, material.

Take the core of Pygmy and shift it down to F, and you get: F G Ab C Eb

That pattern became the foundation for what came next.

F Low Pygmy:F3 / G3 Ab3 C4 Eb4 F4 G4 Ab4

Different in structure than its predecessors, it’s a straight-through scale—no large jump from the center note, just a continuous, flowing progression.

I had seen it on the list but had never seen one in person—or even known someone who had played one. It became a quiet obsession. One must exist. I spent years in the quiet pursuit.

That changed in 2015, when one walked into my workshop for a retune. It was the first time I had seen or heard one in person, and I remember thinking… this is it. Simple, hypnotic, and incredibly alive under the hands.

And he left it with me.

For a month, I had a Low Pygmy. It straddled the birth of my daughter and my paternity leave. It left a major impression.

That experience stayed with me.

But the Low Pygmy didn’t.

Not long after, I built my first version—an 8-note Low Pygmy, adding a high C to open up the top end. While the Hang was restricted to a 7-note expression due to its diameter, the modern handpan was not. It begged for top-end completion, so I crafted the first 8-note expression of F Low Pygmy:

F / G Ab C Eb F G Ab C

It struck a balance between structure and freedom, and quickly became a very popular sound model. 

It had its time in the sun and eventually faded from popularity… until someone was crazy enough to shift the scale down instead of up—with the addition of an F2 center note:

F2 / F G Ab C Eb F G Ab

Yet another evolution—different from what came before. No longer a straight progression, nor a fourth-based jump from the center. This one leapt an octave and helped define a new era of scale design.

It shifted the feel from something you played…to something you could really settle into. Deeply grounded, but still carrying the original essence.

Now, over a decade later, F Low Pygmy has found new life in the era of extended scales. There are a multitude of variations—expanding and augmenting the original idea in all directions.

I’m proud to offer my take on the extended Low Pygmy—a scale I first developed years ago, now refined into its fullest expression:

F Low Pygmy 12+4: [C#3] [D#3] F3 | G3 Ab3 [Bb3] C4 [Db4] Eb4 F4 G4 Ab4 C5 Eb5 F5 G5

More range.
More expression.
But still rooted in that same simple, powerful relationship that made Pygmy what it is.

It’s funny how scales go in and out of fashion. How they evolve, almost become extinct. Then inspiration strikes—and a new idea brings them back to the forefront of the collective.

Some ideas take a decade to find their form. Curious what the next decade might hold.

If you want to see and hear more about the evolution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiF1UzmqWiA