Scales
A scale is a series of steps from a key center to its octave.
• 99% of the concepts in Music theory are based off of the major scale.
• Other scales could therefore be considered alterations of the major scale.
• The Key of the scale does not matter, the pattern of scale degrees never changes.
Rules for building major scales:
• Use all letters of the musical alphabet (A-G) once, and only once.
• Don't mix sharps and flats.
Other common scales:
And there are Pentatonic scales
• Penta [greek] 'five'
• tonic [greek] 'tone {note}'
We derive pentatonic scales from the major scale by removing the 4th and 7th scale degrees.
But we can also find them in the unused notes of the major scale (or all 5 black keys on the piano)
Now we can add in a 'blue' note, which is a chromatic passing tone that gives us the Blues scale
Ian Ring is an excellent resources for in-depth scale theory that may not be covered in this project.