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Home , Diatonic scale, Minor scale

w w & w w w w w & Dow Re Mi Faw Solw Law Tiw Dow Dow Rew Miw Fa Sol La Ti Do

& w w w La Ti Dow Rew Mew Fa Sol La & w w w w w w Law Tiw Dow Rew Me Fa Sol La

& w w w w w w w w w w w & w w w w w

bbb Aw Aw w & Afw3 w w f6 f7 & b b w w w Aw Aw w w w Afw3 w f6 f7

bbb Aw nw w Diatonic& Scalesb / HarmonicAfw3 w & Melodicw f6 Minorn7 & b b w w w Aw nw w Let’s review for just moment–w w Afw3 w f6 n7 So far, we’ve looked at the , which can be built on any pitch. Using the associated with that pitch, the notes will conform to the series of Whole Steps and Half Steps (W-W-H-W-W-W-H) which make up the Major Scale basedb on that pitch. For example: & b b w nw nw w bw bw w b w Afw3 w n6 n7 f7 f6 w Afw3 w Let’s look at the A& MAJORb b w SCALE w w nw nw w bw bw w w w It uses the Key Signaturef forw Aw, whichAfw3 contains then6 flats:n7 B , , A7 , fand6 . (W-W-H-W-W-W-H)Afw3 w w f f f f f b b w w w w w & b b w w w w w w bbbb Awf Bwf wCDwf Ewf FGAf & Af Bf CDf Ef FGAf or if we look at the SCALE it uses the Key Signature for D, in which F and are Sharp. (W-W-H-W-W-W-H) # # w w w w & # DEw Fws wGABCs D & # w w w w w w wDEw Fws GABCs D A Key Signature tells us which pitches we should assume are sharp or flat; it helps us avoid having to place an accidental in front of# #sharp or flat notes. BesidesMajor Scales, Key Signatures also define Natural Minor Scales and their pattern& of Whole# and Half Steps (W-H-W-W-H-W-W).∑ This is the first form of Scale and we will be learning the& 2 other# Minor Scales later in this lesson. We’ve∑ also learned 2 relationships between Major and Natural Minor Scales. When and Natural share the same Key Signature they are said to be Relative to each other. When they share the same Tonic (or starting note) they are said to be Parallel to each other.

C MAJOR SCALE uses the Key Signature for C. It may appear there IS no Key Signature here, but the absence of flats or sharpsalso indicates a key. (Because there’s only 1 Key Signature that HAS no flats or sharps!)

w & w w w w w & Dow Rew Miw Faw Solw La Ti Do Dow Rew Miw Fa Sol La Ti Do w w A Relative Minor& Scale begins (or has its Tonalw Center)w 11/2w Steps lowerw than the Major Scale it relates to. So for instance, if our Major ScaleDow is ,Rew its MiRelative MinorFa willSol use the Lasame KeyTi SignatureDo as C, but will begin 11/2 Steps lower on A; so A NATURAL MINOR SCALE sounds much like C Major, starting on the 6th scale step. & w w w w & La Tiw Dow Rew Mew Faw Solw La Law Tiw Dow Rew Me Fa Sol La & w w w w Law Tiw Dow Rew Me Fa Sol La A Parallel Minor Scale begins on the same scale step as the Major Scale,w but tow create thew Minor sound, it uses the Key Signature& of the wnote 11/2w Steps higher.w So wfor instance,w if ourw Major Scalew is C Major, and we begin on the same pitch, but use the Keyw Signaturew for EwMajor (11/2 steps higher than C) then we will play C Natural Minor. & f w w w w C NATURAL MINOR SCALEw w w w bbb Aw Aw w & b b Afw3 w w Afw6 Afw7 w & w w Afw3 w w f6 f7 b w w & b b w Aw Aw w w w Afw3 w f6 f7 b bbb Aw nw w & b b Afw3 w w Afw6 nnw7 w & w w Afw3 w w f6 n7 b w w & b b w Aw nw w w w Afw3 w f6 n7 bbb nw nw w bw bw & b b Afw3 w w nnw6 nnw7 w bfw7 bfw6 w w Afw3 & w w Afw3 w w n6 n7 f7 f6 w w Afw3 w w b w w w w & b b w nw nw w bw bw w w w Afw3 w n6 n7 f7 f6 w Afw3 w w b w w w w bbbb w w w w w w w & b b Awf Bwf CDf Ef FGAf Af Bf CDf Ef wFGw Awf bbbb w w w w w & Af Bf CDf Ef FGAf # & ## w w w w w & wDEw Fws wGAw wBCs D # wDEw Fs GABCs D & # w w w w w wDEw Fws GABCs D ## ∑ & # ∑ # & # ∑ DIATONIC SCALES

When all of the notes of a scale are contained within the Key Signature, with no additional modifications, those scales are considered to be DIATONIC to the Key Signature. Allw Major Scalesw are wDiatonic – they can be expressed perfectly& by a Key Signature.w Andw all Naturalw Minorw Scales are Diatonic; they also can be expressed by a Key Signature withDo wno additionalRe modificationsMi Fa to notesSol of the scale.La Ti Do

By contrast, there are 2 OTHER forms of commonly used Minor Scales– which are NOT Diatonic. That means we will HAVE to use accidentals to create their pattern of Whole and Half steps. For comparison purposes, let’s first take a look at how& C Major and C Natural Minor relate to eachw other:w Comparedw to Cw Major, C Natural Minor has a lowered (or flat) 3rdLaw scale step,Tiw a loweredDow 6th,Re wand a loweredMe 7th.Fa This is Solthe patternLa of Natural Minor Scales. C MAJOR

w w w & w w w w w C NATURAL MINOR (uses the same Key Signature as ) C, D, E , F, , A , B (and the repeated , C) aref ALL contained within the Key Signature for this scale. f f f w w & b w w w w w & b bDow Re Mi Fa Solw ALaw ATiw Dow w w Afw3 w f6 f7

TheNatural Minor Scale is Diatonic; all notes& followb the w w w w w Key Signature withoutb banyLaw Tiw Dow Re Me AFaw Solnw Law & A fw3 3 w 6 w 7 f6 n7 alterations. w w f f f 1 2 4 5 1 w w HARMONIC MINOR& b SCALE w w w w & b b w w w nw nw w bw bw w w Afw3 w n6 n7 f7 f6 w Afw3 w w w By contrast, the HARMONICw MINOR SCALE contains the same lowered 3rd and lowered 6thw as the Natural & w w w Minor, but the 7th scale step is raised. Instead of being a Whole Step lower than the tonic or tonal center of C, Dow Rew Miw Fa Sol La Ti Do it is raised to become ba leading tone, a Half Step lower than the ‘home’ pitch of C. The term ‘Leading Tone’ also describes how this raisedb b 7th scale step sounds– when you hear this Apitchw withA thew rest ofw the scale it will give a & b f3 w ww fw6 fw7 sound of increased tension,b bb ww as thoughww theA pitchww very stronglyw wants to resolve to the tonic. & Af Bf CDf Ef FGAf w C HARMONIC MINOR & w w w Not in Key Law Tiw Dow Rew Me Fa Sol La b & b b w Aw nw w # w Afw3 w f6 n7 w & # w w w w w w w wDEw Fs GABCs D & w w w w Because the 7th scale step must w w w use an Accidental to raise the TIP: 7th step, and thus doesb NOT w Harmonic Minor Scale conform to the Key& Signature,#b b w nw nw bw bw w Pattern of Steps: # w w Afw3 w n63 n7 6 f7 f6 w Afw3 w w Harmonic Minor& Scales are f ∑f (W-H-W-W-H-W-H) b w not considered to be Diatonic. 1 2 4 5 7 1 & b b w Aw Aw n w w Afw3 w f6 f7 w w w bbbb w w w w w & Af Bf CDf Ef FGAf b & b b w Aw nw w w w Afw3 w f6 n7 # & # w w w w w wDEw Fws GABCs D b & b b w nw nw w bw bw w w w Afw3 w n6 n7 f7 f6 w Afw3 w w # & # ∑ w w w bbbb w w w w w & Af Bf CDf Ef FGAf

# & # w w w w w wDEw Fws GABCs D

# & # ∑ & w w w w w Dow Rew Miw Fa Sol La Ti Do

MELODIC MINOR& SCALE w w w w La Tiw Dow Rew Me Fa Sol La The form ofMinor w Scale is also non-diatonic, including notes which are not contained in the Key Signature. You will very shortly face a pop-quiz in class which covers all aspects of key signatures, relative major/ minor, scale tone names and the forms of minor scales. Study and be prepared. TheMELODIC MINOR SCALE has one very distinctive and recognizable feature– it contains one set ofw notes whenw a melodyw or harmonic progression is ascending,& w and a differentw setw of notesw when thew or descends! The common and constant characteristic of all Minor Scales (compared to Major Scales) is that they have a lowered 3rd Step (or Minor 3rd). In the ASCENDING MELODIC MINOR SCALE, the lowered 3rd is present, but the remainder of theb Ascending scale is just the same as a Major Scale, containing the same raised 6th Step and 7th Step as a& Majorb b Scale. TheDESCENDING MELODICw w MINORAw SCALEAw containsw a lowered 7th Step, lowered 6th Step, and retainsw the loweredw A3rd–fw3 meaning that the Descendingf6 Melodicf7 Minor scale is exactly the same as a Natural Minor Scale.

Because of these characteristics, the Melodic Minor Scale HAS a distinctively minor sound, but it borrows and freely combines certainb elements of both – making this a very versatile scale. & b b w Aw nw w w Afw3 w f6 n7 C MELODIC MINOR w

bbb nw nw w bw bw & Afw3 w w n6 n7 f7 f6 w w Afw3 w w Not in Key w w

w w w bbbb w w w w w & Af Bf CDf Ef FGAf 3 3 6 7 f f f f 1 2 4 5 6 7 1 1 2 4 5 1 n n ASCENDING# MELODIC MINOR SCALE DESCENDING MELODIC MINOR SCALE & # w w w w w wDEw Fws GABCs D Related information Non-essential to your coursework.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF OUR MAJOR AND MINOR SCALES The Greek mathematician# and musician Pythagoras declared that these patterns of notes was the most natural for the ear to hear& and# produced corresponding tonal centers∑ for each pitch based on this pattern. He denoted 12 major scales and 12 minor scales. He also transcribed the as 12 tones all half steps between the intervals. It is thought that Pythagoras transcribed the pattern around 456 BC. However, this pattern could have been a natural part of everyday music that Pythagoras simply transcribed. It is now believed that the Sumerians and Babylonians used some forms of the diatonic scale as early as 900 BC. And the Chinese might have been playing patterns of the diatonic scale as far back as 1,400 BC. No matter its inception into the human cultural experience it is the pattern and tonic reference that all music is constructed upon. It is important to remember that this is a musical pattern that has been a part of the human culture for more than 3,000 years and all music and tonal centers are derived from this pattern or patterns.

See also: KEY SIGNATURES, MAJOR SCALE-RELATIVE MINOR