Hey Friend,
Let’s get back to melody and how notes work together.
We talked about there being specific patterns of intervals (spaces between notes) that determine what a scale will be. The first pattern we’re looking at is for the major scale.
As we saw last week, that pattern is:
W W H W W W H
To reiterate, this pattern tells us the spaces between the notes - sometimes I have to remind myself that this pattern is not of the notes themselves.
That’s because notes are normally numbered, and it’s easy to forget that this memorized pattern doesn’t correlate to a set of numbered notes.
For example, when we look at a C major scale, here’s how the numbers work:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
C D E F G A B
But the pattern addresses the spaces between each of these numbered notes, like this:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8)
C D E F G A B (C)
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W W H W W W H
See how that works? Let me know if you have questions.
Now here are the rules that govern musical scales. If you want your music to be heard, you have to follow these rules so it sounds pleasing to most people.
RULE 1: The key of C major is the master key.
Every other key (and scale) uses C major as the reference point. The reason for this is because the frequency (the sound wavelength) of each note in the C major scale is naturally spaced equally between each note. They call this “equal temperament.”
Truthfully, the spacings aren’t EXACTLY equal, but close enough for it to be the standard.
So when you hear a C major scale played, the consecutive notes you hear are roughly an equal distance from each other.
RULE 2: The pattern always works.
Regardless of what key you want to play in, this pattern of intervals (W W H W W W H) will always create a major scale.
It doesn’t matter if you would rather play in the key of A major and you start your scale on an A note. The pattern to play an A major scale is identical to the pattern you used to play a C major scale.
You’ll just have different notes in the scale. When you play the notes, it’s still going to sound like a major scale.
You really should commit this pattern to memory. Once you do, it unlocks a ton of information about how music works.
Does that make sense so far?
Peace~
Dave
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