Thus, every major scale has an A, but it might be plain A, A-sharp or A-flat. E# ("E-sharp") is physically the same key as F C-flat is the same as B Fx ("F double sharp") is the same as G. Note that some sharps and some flats, and some double-sharps and double-flats, are white keys. "Double-sharp" and "double-flat" are a half-step further in each case. "Sharp" means the note a half-step higher (to the right) "flat," a half-step lower (to the left). Possible variants are "sharp" and "flat," and occasionally "double-sharp" and "double-flat." The white keys are given the unadorned note names. Rule 2: Every major scale has one and only one note of each "note name," and they occur in (cyclic) alphabetic order. To remember the structure of a major scale, play an ascending C major scale by playing any C and then the other white keys moving upward, ending on the next C. "Middle C" is the C nearest the middle of the keyboard. "To the right" is called "higher" because it's higher in pitch.) D is the white key to the right of C, while E and F are the next two white keys. C is any white key just to the left of a group of two black keys. (To find C, notice that black keys are grouped in twos and threes. The interval E to F, by contrast, is a half-step, because no other keys intervene. From C to the black key is 1/2 from the black key to D, another 1/2. Thus, C to D (see next paragraph for how to locate these keys) is a whole step, because there's a black key in between. A half-step is the interval between any two immediately adjacent notes, whether white key to black, or white to white. Major-scale intervals are either "half-steps" (1/2) or "whole steps" (1). A "descending" major scale is the same set of notes but in the opposite order.Īn "interval" is the distance between two notes. Rule 1: The intervals in an ascending major scale, in order, are 1, 1, 1/2, 1, 1, 1, 1/2.Īn "ascending" scale is one that moves from left to right on the keyboard. (A major scale is the kind explored in the song, "Doe, a Deer.") I give two rules here that let you play a "major scale" starting on any note on the piano keyboard, and let you name the notes correctly, given the name of the starting note. ![]() Naming the notes of musical scales (October 12, 2000) James Boyk Home | Book & articles by James Boyk ![]() ![]() Rules for Naming the Notes of Musical Scales, by James Boyk Music Lab Home |
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