Minor Scales and Other Scales
Minor Scales
There are two types of minor scale. The HARMONIC minor scale and the MELODIC minor scale.
In a HARMONIC minor scale the arrangement of the notes are tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone + semitone, semitone.
In a HARMONIC minor scale the arrangement of the notes are tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone + semitone, semitone.
In a MELODIC minor scale the arrangement of the notes are tone, tone, semitone, tone, semitone, tone + semitone, semitone.
However in a melodic minor scale, the arrangement of the notes are different when the scale is descending. The arrangement becomes tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone.
The key signature of a minor key (both harmonic and melodic – ascending and descending) is the same as the major key that is four semitones higher than the minor key.
For instance, the key signature of A minor is the same as the key signature of C major, which means that A minor does not have any key signatures.
We say that A minor is the RELATIVE MINOR of C major.
When notating, we simply use accidentals to cover the black notes the key signature does not cover.
For instance, the key signature of A minor is the same as the key signature of C major, which means that A minor does not have any key signatures.
We say that A minor is the RELATIVE MINOR of C major.
When notating, we simply use accidentals to cover the black notes the key signature does not cover.
Chromatic Scale
A CHROMATIC scale is a scale where the distance between one note and the adjacent note is always a semitone.
Here is a chromatic scale starting with C:
Here is a chromatic scale starting with C:
Whole-tone Scale
A WHOLE-TONE scale is a scale where the distance between one note and the adjacent note is always a tone.
Here is a whole-tone scale starting with C:
Here is a whole-tone scale starting with C:
Pentatonic Scale
A PENTATONIC scale is a scale where there are only five notes per octave. Pentatonic scales are used all over the world.