Music Scales Galore! Major, Minor, Chromatic, Whole Tone & Pentatonic Scales
Music Scales Galore! Major, Minor, Chromatic, Whole Tone & Pentatonic Scales
Good morning, this is Duane. Today, I’d like to look at Music Scales Galore! Major, Minor, Chromatic, Whole Tone & Pentatonic Scales. All of what I was just playing, and everything you play, is based on a scale of some sort. The word “scale” comes from the Latin la scala, which means a ladder. A ladder of notes that runs from one note up to the octave note, octavo, eight higher. Octopus, eight. That’s the confines of a scale. La scala, the scale.
Now, there’s major scales, and there’s minor scales, and there’s chromatic scales, and there’s whole tone scales, and there’s pentatonic scales. Then there’s the modes. We won’t get into modes today, but we’ll look at all the other kinds of scales.
Let’s take a look at a major scale and see what it’s made out of. If I start on a given note : let me start on B : the formula for a major scale is to go up a whole step, and then another whole step, and then a half step, and a whole step, a whole step, whole step, half step. B major scale has those five sharps. Why? Because I have to go up a whole step, not a half step. That’s the formula for a major scale.
Now, that’s very easy to see when you’re starting on C, because whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step. All the notes are white, aren’t they? White keys, so it’s easy to see. But you get anywhere else, and you have to think about, “Am I going up a whole step or a half step?”
If I start on B flat, whole step above B flat is C, whole step to D, half step to E flat, whole step to F, whole step, whole step, B flat. That’s the B flat major scale, When I’m playing in the key of B flat, I’m basing my playing on that scale. Typically, most of the chords that I play in B flat will be based on that scale.
If I’m playing in the key of A, same thing. Whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step. The key of A has those three sharps, C sharp, F sharp, and G sharp, because of that rule of whole steps and half steps.
There’s 12 possible major keys you can play in. You can play in the key of C. You can play in the key of D flat. You can play in the key of D. You can play in the key of E flat. You can play in the key of E. You can play in the key of F. You can play in the key of F sharp, or G flat. You can play in the key of G. You can play in the key of A flat. You can play in the key of A. You can play in the key of B flat, as just mentioned. And you can play in the key of B. There’s 12 possible major keys you can play in.
Now, in addition to major scales, there are minor scales. There’s three kinds of minor scales, and I don’t want to confuse you with that. I’ll just mention there’s the harmonic minor scale, the melodic minor scale, and the natural minor scale.
Most of the music that we use here in the United States, anyway, in the western hemisphere, is based on the harmonic minor scale, which is based on a minor third, a lowered third, a lowered sixth, and then a step and a half up to the seventh. Here’s the formula. Whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, step and a half : see, not a whole step but step and a half : and then a half step.
That’s what gives a minor key its sound. If I play in the key of C minor, it has a different feel than when I play in the key of major, because of that flatted third, flatted sixth, and the step and a half there.
If there’s 12 major scales, then there’s 12 minor scales as well. I won’t go through those, but you get the idea.
Then there’s the chromatic scale. Chromatic means they’re all half steps. You just play the next note, whatever it is. By the way, when you play a chromatic scale, try to use your thumb on the white notes as much as possible, because use your long fingers on the black keys. I like to use my third finger. You can use your second finger or fourth, whatever you want, but I like the third finger. It’s thumb, third, thumb, third, thumb, second : because we don’t have a black key there : third, thumb, third, thumb, third, thumb, and you can end on whatever you want.
That’s a chromatic scale, all half steps. Of course, all chromatic scales are the same. The C chromatic scale is the same as the B flat chromatic scale. In other words, they’re all the same, because they’re all half steps.
Then there’s the whole tone scale. That’s just the reverse of a chromatic scale. You go up a whole step each time. If you start on C, you go up a whole step, another whole step, another whole step, another whole step, another whole step, and another whole step. If I start on C : You have that kind of feeling when you have a whole tone scale.
Then there are pentatonic scales. “Penta” means five, of course. It’s a five-note scale. Here’s the formula for it. You start on a given note, and you go up a whole step, another whole step, then you go up a step and a half, and then a whole step. It’s like the root, second, third, fifth, and sixth of a major scale. You can look at it that way. You get sort of that : The pentatonic scale is used widely in Oriental music, so if you hear that kind of sound. It’s hard to make a mistake if you’re just dealing with those notes.
Another easy way to play the pentatonic scale is just play all the black keys. Root, second, third, fifth, sixth. Just all the black keys. If I played in the key of a pentatonic scale, just use the black keys, I would have that sound. You can do a variety of things with a pentatonic scale, a five-note scale.
That’s it for today. Major scales, made out of whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step. Minor scales have a flat third, flat sixth, and then a step and a half. Chromatic scales are all half steps. Whole tone scales are all whole steps. Then pentatonic scales, made out of the root, second, third, fifth, and sixth of any major scale.
That’s it for today. If you enjoy this sort of thing, come on over to PlayPiano.com and sign up for our free newsletter. We put out things like thing most every day. Hope to see you there. Bye bye for now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woH3y7_gPus&feature=youtu.be
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