*hypnotist’s voice again* it would be a good idea to remember that forever. So that’s a scale, a collection of notes, found in a key, played in a consecutive order. So we can think of a scale in this way! The Cs at the top and bottom are our desired ends (and as we saw with Mozart, it feels real good to get there), and the other notes are all the rungs of our ladder! They don’t feel as good to be in as C, but arriving at C after taking that trip is just the greatest. Scale comes from the Latin scala, meaning steps, staircase, or ladder. We said that every white note on the keyboard above belongs to the C Major Scale, and that’s the truth! So the collection of notes that comprise the C Major Scale are: Let’s take a look at the opening of one of Mozart’s piano sonatas (don’t worry if this looks terrifying, you can get a good idea of this concept by only playing through the right hand part): Generally speaking, a Major key is perceived as ‘positive’ and ‘happy’, while a minor key is perceived as ‘negative’ or ‘sad’. The root of these names stems from the intervals between notes in a scale (all coming up don’t worry), but they are easily distinguishable because of the way that they sound. Major and minor are words that we use to describe key signatures. GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM – WHAT DOES THIS MAJOR BUSINESS MEAN ANYWAY?Īh yes, I’d not forgotten. When we hear a piece of music using the notes of the C Major Scale, no matter how far away we stray from him, we always feel the pull back to earth – AKA the tonic of C. So even though, in a C Major scale we have 6 other notes, we ‘hear’ C as the most important note, and all other notes are heard as subordinate to C.Īnother way to think about this is to imagine that the central tone, or tonic, is the centre of gravity in a key. When we call a key ‘ C’, or any other of the available letters, we are referring to the central tone, this can also be called the tonic. You’re so inquisitive today, and I love it! You’re right you know, there are so many white keys above (A,B,D,E,F,G) – why should this pack belong to C?! ‘But why should all those white notes be regarded as C Major?’
For now just keep thinking C *said in a hypnotist’s voice*). the white keys) on the keyboard, belong to C Major (or A minor – that’s another article. ‘Simba, everything that the light touches is yours’Īnd everything that is white (i.e. Well let’s take a look at a keyboard for guidance: There are some exceptions to this where certain pieces of music are without a key (see Schoenberg), but for the most part, and particularly in pop music, this generalization is true. The first of these is the key, or key signature.Ī key or key signature is a group of notes/pitches that generally form the basis of a musical composition. How will we navigate this unfamiliar terrain? Luckily many explorers before us have trod this path, and they left us lots of handy hints, tips and clues to navigate the way. Here we are again mon ami, at the boarders of music theory looking into a vast jungle of dense knowledge. How in the world can we apply this chap in our day-to-day musical lives! What is a scale? And for that matter what is a key?! NB: This article will be using the keys of the piano (or any other keyboard you fancy) to illustrate wondrous little beast – but you’ll be happy to know that the knowledge (other than the specific fingering exercises for piano) transfers to any other instrument you like extremely smoothly! Fear not! So if you’re feeling down to learn, grab your appetite for knowledge and we’ll meet at the piano! No don’t be scared, this journey is fun! And once you’ve got C Major down you are going to find the following guys easy as pie. Maybe you don’t know this yet, but scales are one of the best foundations for learning and navigating any instrument you so desire to learn! And the C Major Scale happens to be the best foundation to learn all of the other scales – and believe me, there are many *said in scary voice*. Hi there! In this article we’re going to be examining the wonders and delights of the C Major Scale!
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