Scales are the basic building blocks of music. Each scale has a combination of notes that sound good together. (Note that what sounds good is in part universal to many musical cultures because of the physical properties of sound; the five note scale (called the "pentatonic" scale by musicians) is fairly universal in folk music.) However, the details of how these notes are used vary from culture to culture, which is a large part of why Chinese music sounds Chinese and Arabic music sounds Arabic and a southern fiddle tune sounds like a fiddle tune, even though they may use many of the same notes.
In western music, there are 12 major scales and 12 minor scales.When a piece of music uses notes and chords taken from that scale, it is said to be "diatonic." However, many pieces of music use chords and notes borrowed from other scales to modulate (move into another key) or to ornament and color the sound of the piece.
Why Practice Scales?
Scales are one of the constant friction points between teachers and students. While some music students enjoy the routine and logic of scales, others hate them with equal intensity. However, practicing scales is essential for several reasons:
- They develop finger strength and speed.
- The teach an ergonomic and efficient way to move through fast passages, and commit these finger patterns to muscle memory.
- They help students understand how music is constructed, which helps with interpretation and memorization.
- They tell improvisers and composers which notes and chords sound good together.
How Major Scales are Built
Each different note on the piano has its own scale, with its own unique combination of white notes and black notes. The specific sequence that makes a major scale involves a set pattern of whole steps and half steps. (Whole notes and half notes are best understood by looking at a piano keyboard; A half step is the distance from any note on the piano to its nearest neighbor. A whole step, as it implies, is simply two half steps.)
The pattern for the major scale is to start on the tonic. (The 'tonic" is the note that is the name of the scale; for example, in the key of C, the tonic is C.) Then go up the keyboard according to the following pattern:
From tonic (in this case, C), go up a whole step (to D), a whole step (to E), a half step (to F), a whole step (to G), a whole step (to A), a whole step (to B), and a half step (to C).
There is one major scale for each note on the piano. Learning each of them requires learning which sharps and flats are in a given scale.
The Minor Scales
Each major scale has a related minor scale. Just like two siblings are related because they have the same parents, a major and a minor scale can be "related" because they share the same notes (including sharps and flats). The minor scale is easy to find once you know the major scale: It uses the exact same notes, but instead of starting on the note the major scale starts on, the minor scale starts and ends on the sixth note of the major scale. So, in the key of C, the sixth note of the scale is A, so the A minor scale starts and ends on A. The "minor" sound is caused by the different distances between the notes.
Scales can be confusing at first. Using a keyboard can help, even if piano is not your primary instrument, because the notes are laid out visually in repeating patterns, making scale patterns easier to see and understand. The best way to learn scales is one at a time: After a little practice, your mind and fingers will start understanding and feeling the patterns, and the rest of the scales become progressively easier to learn.
Karen Berger - Karen Berger is the author of 15 books. Please click on her name to read her full bio.
