Ableton Forum

Inversoundzzz wrote:this is the C Major scale, it starts on C, the white key to the left of the two black keys.....not the THREE black keys...that;s F

the C major scale uses all of the WHITE keys on the keyboard'

there are 7 notes in the C major scale.......

the C major chord is made up of 3 notes....C E and G

shlomo wrote:

Inversoundzzz wrote:this is the C Major scale, it starts on C, the white key to the left of the two black keys.....not the THREE black keys...that;s F

the C major scale uses all of the WHITE keys on the keyboard'

there are 7 notes in the C major scale.......

the C major chord is made up of 3 notes....C E and G

hehehe, nice try...
that is definitely NOT the way to learn harmony and basic chord relationship
BUT circle of Fourths/Fifths should be a nice couvert....bon appetite!

Inversoundzzz wrote: chords come from scales. if youwant to understand chords...you must first understand scales...

but i'll assume your lack of music theory knowledge and let that comment slide.

both chords and scales are built from INTERVALS.

Inversoundzzz wrote:

both chords and scales are built from INTERVALS.

ummmmm ok? so what.....whats your point...? what isn't built from intervals....? every cell in your body is built with intervals too?

schlomo?

shlomo wrote:

Inversoundzzz wrote:grasp concepts not particulars

Music Theory Intervals

Question: I have a question about intervals. My assignment is to write the full name of each interval:

D to C-sharp?
F to E-flat?
B to G-sharp?

I’m very confused. Can you help me?
Beibei (Singapore)

Albert’s reply: While initially they can be among the more confusing elements of music theory, intervals are actually pretty basic once you learn a few techniques.

First, it’s important to know all of your piano scales. We’ll use all the major scales as references.

Second, you’ll need to know how to read sheet music—at least the basics. The reason is that you can determine the interval visually, just by counting lines and spaces.

For instance, the following interval is a third, since the notes are on adjacent lines, with a single space in between:
third

We don’t actually know which notes they are or what kind of third (major, minor, diminished, augmented), since there’s no clef.

Scales:The building blocks of music

Scales are merely a sequence of notes. The chromatic scale has all twelve of the available notes. From the chromatic scale we can pull notes out and create other scales. The chromatic scale should be thought of as our tool box. We can build our own scales from these twelve notes. Earlier we learned that the distance between any two tones (notes) is called an ‘interval’. With 12 tones available we will measure distances from one note to the next with 2 basic types of intervals ‘half step’ and ‘whole step’. A half step is a movement up(+) or down(-) one note from any note. A whole step is the movement up(+) or down(-) two notes from any note. All scales are based on a starting point known as the "root" note and have an ending point which is usually the higher root note. In scale formation this root note is also the ‘key’ name for the scale. For example, if our scales starting point is the C note then it’s a scale in the key of C. Now from the root, when we move up a half step we come to the next available note. Or we can move up a whole step (which is up two notes) or a whole step and a half step which is three notes etc. Again, a scale generally starts on a note and ends on it’s higher note. So when creating a scale we have a starting and ending point and we pick the notes we want to use in between. Then we write out a fomula based on intervals using variables; W=whole tone, H=half tone, W+=whole tone+half tone,2W=two whole tones.

A whole tone scale would be writen simply W+W+W+W+W+W
In this example we chose a starting note and move in whole steps 6 times bringing us to the higher root note. This scale has six different notes. We call this a hexatonic scale, hex meaning six. When we play the scale from beginning to end we start on the root note and end on it’s next higher root note. So with this whole tone scale we play seven notes.

Once you have your scale formed you can start it from any of the twelve notes. The scale intervals do not change. The starting note will be key name of your scale.

Note: even though the intervals of one scale do not change regardless of where you choose to start your scale… each of the twelve keys have a uniqueness of their own. This is partly due to the fact that the ear is hearing the scale melody at different frequencies. That is why some songs are said to sound better in certain keys. However, this is all a matter of personal opinion.

The natural major Scale (Ionian)

stringtapper wrote:Understanding intervals does not constitute "an advanced understanding.".

They are, as shlomo said, the building blocks and pretty much any serious music theory text is going to introduce them before scales and chords.

Yes, one can "learn" scales in terms of their sounds and where they lie within a pattern on an instrument, but ultimately if one is going to truly understand the structure of scales then they will have to have a grasp of intervals. At the very least some texts introduce minor and major seconds concurrently with the major scale so that the student can understand how those intervals lie among consecutive pitches within the scale. So saying scales absolutely must come before everything doesn't hold water

Working out music intervals is easy once you know how, and this page tells you how! The key to working out intervals is to learn about them step-by-step. Having some knowledge of scales is essential and if you don't already know how to work out a major scale you need to learn. I am working on a page about scales at the moment so there will be a link here soon!

How to study music theory

The first thing musicians should learn about music theory is notation: the staff, clefs, note names, rhythms, rests, intervals, meter and time signatures, key signatures, and dynamics.
The next things musicians should learn are scales and chords (harmony).
The next things to learn are melody, phrases, and musical forms.
If you have you learned all of the above then you will have a firm grasp of music theory.

Language of Music

3rd to 5th grades

This class continues the Orff based Music Fundamentals Class Language of Music Level 1. Students will use the keyboard in order to interact musically with the concepts being taught.

This class will cover Major and Minor scales, all the intervals, Diatonic Triads, rhythm and meter, and Solfege, as well as the training of the ear. Improvisation and composition will continue to be an integral part of the curricula. The material covered will serve as preparation for the Theory Exam, for those enrolled in the MTAC Certificate of Merit.
Semester classes: 16 weekly classes
Location: SOL-LA Music Academy, 1812 Stanford Street, Santa Monica

Learn the scales first (all of them), then the intervals. When I see two random notes out of context, I guess I would just think of the first one as the tonic, and then since I know that key from practicing scales, the interval to the second one is obvious.