Category: <span>Music Theory</span>

Flat Scales & Circle of Fourths

Posted in Music Theory, Scales & Its Analysis by admin on May 6, 2020 @ 9:05 pm

In this article, we are going to learn the flat scales & circle of fourths.

Let us, deep-dive, into major scales and its analysis. As we already know, major scales sound happy. They are one of the most common types of scales, popularly used in Bollywood music.

The 12 major scales can be further classified into –

6 sharp scales & 6 flat scales

Flat Scales: (#)

The last 6 major scales are called as the flat scales. Note that, no sharps appear in a flat scale.

The order of these 6 sharp major scales is decided by using the Circle of Fourths.

Sharp Scales

F major scale

Bb major scale

Eb major scale

Ab major scale

Db major scale

Gb major scale

What is Circle of Fourths?

For the last 6 sharp major scales, the next scale in the sequence is the 4th note from the current scale.

For Example,

1. Let the current scale be F major scale – F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F. The fourth note is Bb. So, the next scale in the sequence would be Bb major scale.

2. Let the current scale be Eb major scale – Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb. The fourth note is Ab. So, the next scale in the sequence would be Ab major scale.

All 6 Flat Major Scales in a Table

Tip: Remember the names of flats in the order of their origin i.e Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb. And these too are in the intervals of fourths.

Bb, Eb

Bb, Eb, Ab

Bb, Eb, Ab, Db

Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb

Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb

Tip:

Every new scale has only one new flat in addition to all the flats from the previous scale.
This new flat is the 4th note from the scale.

Sharp Scales & Circle of Fifths

Posted in Scales & Its Analysis by admin on April 7, 2020 @ 6:56 am

In this article, we are going to learn the sharp scales & circle of fifths.

Let us, deep-dive, into major scales and its analysis. As we already know, major scales sound happy. They are one of the most common types of scales, popularly used in Bollywood music.

The 12 major scales can be further classified into –

6 sharp scales & 6 flat scales

Sharp Scales: (#)

The first 6 major scales are called as the sharp scales. Note that, no flats appear in a sharp scale.

The order of these 6 sharp major scales is decided by using the Circle of Fifths.

Sharp Scales

C major scale

G major scale

D major scale

A major scale

E major scale

B major scale

What is Circle of Fifths?

For the first 6 sharp major scales, the next scale in the sequence is the 5th note from the current scale.

For Example,

1. Let the current scale be C major scale – C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. The fifth note is G. So, the next scale in the sequence would be G major scale.

2. Let the current scale be E major scale – E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E. The fifth note is B. So, the next scale in the sequence would be B major scale.

All 6 Sharp Major Scales in a Table

Tip: Remember the names of sharps in the order of their origin i.e F#, C#, G#, D#, A#. And these too are in the intervals of fifths.

F#, C#

F#, C#, G#

F#, C#, G#, D#

F#, C#, G#, D#, A#

Tip:

Every new scale has only one new sharp in addition to all the sharps from the previous scale.
This new sharp is the 7th note from the scale.

Also Read: Why are the scales important?

05 Apr

Introduction to Scales

Posted in Scales & Its Analysis by admin on April 5, 2020 @ 7:40 pm

We already now know that there are in all 12 unique notes as per the music wheel. That is to say,

The 7 white keys – C, D, E, F, G, A, B
The 5 black keys – C#(Db), D#(Eb), F#(Gb), G#(Ab), A#(Bb)

The 12 unique notes of music

What is a scale?:

A scale is a group of musical notes chosen from the 12 unique notes, arranged in a sequential manner.

A scale is used in composing melodies. Similarly, Raagas are used in Indian Classical music.

Types of Scales:

There are many types of scales which are used in different genres of music like western, jazz, blues, rock, etc.

However, the most common types of scales are –

Major Scales
Minor Scales

Most importantly, they are widely used in Bollywood music.

Since a scale can start from any note,
there are 12 major scales and 12 minor scales.

What is the difference between a major scale and a minor scale?

A major scale has a happy tone. So, a song composed in a major scale generally sounds happy. For example,
- Pehla Nasha (F major scale)
- Raabta (C major scale)

A minor scale has a sad tone. So, a song composed in a major scale generally sounds sad. For example,
- Tum Hi Ho (E minor scale)
- Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (D minor scale)

But, why are Scales important to learn & memorize?

Scales are the primary element in music theory. Moreover, any song is built on the foundation of a scale.

To conclude, scales are important to learn & memorize to help us –

Listen and play any song
Understand chords & structures
Create harmonies
Improvise

And much more . . .

03 Apr

Notes Naming Convention

Posted in Basics by admin on April 3, 2020 @ 6:52 pm

This article talks about the naming convention for the musical notes. It covers definitions on half notes (semitones), whole notes (full tones), sharps and flats.

Half Note: (H)

The note immediately adjacent to the reference note is called as a Half Note. They are also called as Semi Tones.

Half Note Examples

Every reference note has two half notes (semitones).

One half note is UPwards (right hand side)
Another half note is DOWNwards (left hand side)

Whole Note: (W)

Two half notes make one whole note.

Whole Note Examples

Every reference note has two whole notes (full tones) too.

One whole note is 2 half notes UPwards (right hand side)
Another whole note is 2 half notes DOWNwards (left hand side)

Sharp: (#)

A sharp can be defined as 1 half note UP.

1 semi tone towards the right hand side of the reference note.

Sharp Notes

So, the 5 black keys now have their sharp names.

But do E# and B# exist?

Special Sharps

Yes, E# and B# exist.

Since F is 1 half note UP of E, F is also called E#
Since C is 1 half note UP of B, C is also called B#

Yes, E# and B# exist.

Since F is 1 half note UP of E, F is also called E#

Since C is 1 half note UP of B, C is also called B#

Flat: (b)

A flat can be defined as 1 half note DOWN.

1 semi tone towards the left hand side of the reference note.

Flat Notes

So, the 5 black keys now have their flat names too.

But do Fb and Cb exist?

Special Flats

Yes, Fb and Cb exist.

Since E is 1 half note UP of F, E is also called Fb

Since B is 1 half note UP of C, B is also called Cb

03 Apr

Octaves

Posted in Basics by admin on April 3, 2020 @ 1:23 am

As we know, a set of 12 keys (7W + 5B) repeats on an instrument.

This repeating set is called an Octave.

Considering a standard 5-octave keyboard,
every note appears 5 times on the keyboard.

To uniquely identify and write each note, let us first give unique names to the octaves as seen from the below diagram.

A standard 5-octave keyboard

So from the above diagram, we see that the different octaves are represented with the help of dots above or below the reference note.

But can we simply number the octaves?

Can we name the notes as C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5?

Note that many instruments having different number of octaves. Few Examples:

Harmonium – 3.5 octaves
Guitar – 4 octaves
Standard Keyboard – 5 octaves
Piano – 7.5 octaves (highest among all) !!!

Hence, considering piano as the reference, the notes are numbered according to the octaves.

So, the answer is YES.

And C4 is considered as the middle octave across all instruments.

02 Apr

Music Wheel

Posted in Basics by admin on April 2, 2020 @ 6:21 pm

The music wheel consists of 7 musical notes i.e C, D, E, F, G, A, B. This music wheel is the base foundation for naming of musical notes.

We have only first 7 alphabets (7 shuddh swar) in music which forms the music wheel.

For instance – A, B, C, D, E, F and G.

The musical alphabets start with C

For instance – C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C.

Memorize this diagram in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions.

Let's take an example of a standard size keyboard

We can observe that –

The music wheel (7 white keys) repeats in clockwise direction from left to right.

Broadly, a set of 12 keys (7 white + 5 black) repeats at regular intervals on the keyboard.

Remember that the C note appears immediately on the left hand side of the 1st black key of the repeating set.

Next Read: Naming the Black Keys

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