building the major scale -...

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BuildingtheMajorScale

Withourknowledgeofhalfstepsandwholestepswearenowreadytobuildthemajorscale.

Amajorscaleiscreatedbythefollowingarrangementofhalfandwholesteps.

WewillusetheCMajorScaleinthisfirstexample.

Theory - Building Blocks - The Major Scale

Review:

A half step is the distance from one note to the next, with no notes in between.

A whole step is the distance between two notes with only one note in between.

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ThispatternholdstrueforALLmajorscales:WWHWWWH

Noticethattherearenoflatsorsharps(blackkeys)usedinformingtheCscale.Everwonderedhowcomeaparticularkeyhasacertainnumberofflatsorsharps?Well,that’sdeterminedbytheiroccurrenceasyouconstructthescaleusingthispatternofhalfandwholesteps.

Thus,theCscale’skeysignaturelookslikethis:

Akeysignatureisasetofsharp(#)orflat(b)symbolsplacedtogetheronthestaffthatindicatethetonic,orhomekey.Inotherwords,thekeythatthesongorpieceofmusiciswrittenin.Keysignaturesaregenerallywrittenimmediatelyfollowingtheclefsignsatthebeginningofapieceofmusic.Formorepractice,let’sbuildacoupleofmorescales.

ThekeyofGhasakeysignaturewithonesharp(F#),likethis:

Let’sconstructthescaleandyouwillseewhy.

Remembertheformula?WWHWWWH

Theory - Building Blocks - The Major Scale

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Whenyougetto“E”youneedanotherwholestep,whichtakesyoutoF#insteadofF.Thus,Ghasonesharp,F.

Inasubsequentlesson,wewillseehowthearrangementofkeysignaturesevolvesintothe“circleoffifths.”Butmoreaboutthatlater.Asweprogress,thiswillbegintobecomeclearerandclearertoyou.Fornow,youshouldfocusonlyhowhowtoconstructmajorscales.

Aspartofthelessonnotes,Iamincludingacompendiumofall12majorscales.Youwillseehowtheylookonthekeyboard,aswellasthestaff.Andifyouaren’treadingmusicyet,noworries.Aspartofthislesson,Iwillteachyouto“hear”howthemajorscalesounds.

Let’slookatonemore.

ThekeyofFhasoneflat(B)andthekeysignaturelookslikethis:

Theory - Building Blocks - The Major Scale

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Let’sdiscussonelastthingbeforewelistentohowthemajorscalesounds.

Howcomeblackkeyscanbeeithersharporflatandwhatdetermineswhichlabelitgets?

Firstofall,ascaleisaseriesof8tonesandyoumustusethelettersofthemusicalalphabetinorder.Youcan’tskipanyoruseanytwice.

So,ifyouhaveanAscaleyouwillstartwithA,thenuseB,C,D,E,F,G,andA.

Onastaff,thescalewillALWAYSbeeighttonesonneighboringlinesandspaceslikethis:

So,ifwebuildanAscale,wewillhavetousetheformula:WWHWWWH(That’sanon-negotiable)

Here’stheAscale-constructedusingourformulaofhalfandwholesteps,andsincewehavetouseeachletternameonce,weMUSTcallthethirdnoteofthescaleC#,notDb.Disthefourthtoneofthescaleandwecan’tusetheletterDmorethanonceinthescale.ThesamereasoningappliestotheF#andG#.Makesense?

Itmaybehelpfultonoticethatallthescalesthatbeginonwhitekeys(exceptF)usesharps.Scalesthatbeginonblackkeyscanbeabittrickier,becauseyouhavetodetermineattheoutsetwhetheryouwillcallthefirstnoteasharporflat,whichinturndetermineshowtherestofthenotesarelabeled.

Theory - Building Blocks - The Major Scale

MartinGureaskonakedkeyboardist.com

Evenwhitekeyscanbesharpsorflats,dependingonthekeysignature.Forexample,inthekeyofGb,usingourformulaofWWHWWWH,thefourthtoneofthatscaleisactuallyaC-flat.Youcan’tcallitaB,becauseBbisthethirdtoneofthescaleandwecan’tresumethelettername.Gettinganycleareryet?Ifnot,don’tworry.

Asweprogressthroughthesetutorialsyouwill,atsomepoint,havealightbulbmoment.Wealldid.AndIwillkeepsayingthesamethingsoverandoveragain,andapproachingthesameprinciplesfromdifferentangles,andvoila,youwillgetit.Trustme!

Okay,that’senoughforthetheory.

Let’sputitintopractice.

Whentheirrepressiblenun-turned-nannyMariataughttheVonTrappchildrentosing,shebeganwith"Doe,adeer,afemaledeer,Ray,adropofgoldensun."RichardRodgersandOscarHammersteinportrayeditintheir1959musical,TheSoundofMusic.

Theory - Building Blocks - The Major Scale

MartinGureaskonakedkeyboardist.com

Thedo-re-misongisanexampleofsolfeggio,whichisjustanotherwayofidentifyingthenotesofthescale.

Inasubsequentlessonwewilldiscussotherwaystoidentifyeachnoteofthescaleandbuildchordsusingeachnoteofthescale,whichwillleadustowardanunderstandingofchordprogressions.But….allingoodtime.

HaveyouheardtheChristmassong,JoytotheWorld?

Thatmelodyisamajorscale,playedbackwards.Inthisexample,it’sinthekeyofD,whichhastwosharps,anF#andaC#.

AndwhileweareinChristmasmode,let’slookatTheFirstNoel,whichmakesuseofthemajorscale.Itactuallystartsonthethirdnoteofthescale,whichisF#,andthemelodymakesuseoftheentirescale,onenoteafteranother.

Theory - Building Blocks - The Major Scale

MartinGureaskonakedkeyboardist.com

Theory - Building Blocks - The Major Scale

MartinGureaskonakedkeyboardist.com

Theory - Building Blocks - The Major Scale

MartinGureaskonakedkeyboardist.com

Theory - Building Blocks - The Major Scale

MartinGureaskonakedkeyboardist.com

Theory - Building Blocks - The Major Scale