You may notice that the A minor scale (in the table above) only uses the white keys! This makes it the sort of minor side-kick of C major. Check out this table of the natural minor scale in some other keys. Switch on your metronome, open up your Simply Piano app, and practice playing this scale until it’s easy on your ears and fingers.Ĭ is always a safe place to start learning scales, but don’t get stuck there too long. This minor scale uses the same fingering as the major scale. Let’s start by taking a C major scale and then flattening the third, sixth, and seventh degrees:īut don’t just sit around reading numbers and letters – get on the piano and play! In a natural minor scale, the sixth and seventh degrees are also flattened by one semitone. This changes the intervallic relationships in the scale. The third degree is always flattened (lowered) by one semitone in a minor chord or scale. The essential difference between major and minor is in the third degree of the scale. It’s also a little less straightforward than the major because there are three different kinds of minor scales! For now, let’s focus on the most basic, the natural minor scale. The minor sound is melancholy, sad, and dark. If major is the yang, then minor is the yin – the same, but different.

So enough chit-chat, let’s see how a scale looks and feels! You can trace all of the melodic and harmonic information you hear in songs back to scales.Rhythm is how the melody and harmony play in time and is sort of in a world of its own.The relationship between those notes creates harmony, and it’s responsible for the emotional content of the music.A chord is when you play two or more notes simultaneously.Harmony is about the chords you play underneath the melody.Melody is the song’s pain pattern that the lead instrument plays or the lead singer sings.The major components of songs are melody, harmony, and rhythm. But most of the time, you listen to scales in the context of songs. When you hear a scale on its own, you’ll notice it easily. You can apply this intervallic pattern starting on any note, and it will make a scale with the same personality.

A scale is a series of seven notes with specific intervals that create an intervallic pattern.Įach scale has a unique character or mood.

G flat major piano scale