1.1 Scales, Key Signatures, and Intervals

Scales, key signatures, and intervals form the foundation of tonal music. These elements work together to create the harmonic and melodic structures we hear in Western music. Understanding their relationships is crucial for analyzing and composing music effectively.

Major and minor scales, with their unique patterns of whole and half steps, define the tonal center of a piece. Key signatures, represented by sharps or flats, indicate which notes are consistently altered throughout a composition, simplifying notation and revealing the underlying scale.

Scales and Keys

Major and Minor Scales

Top images from around the web for Major and Minor Scales

• 

  Minor scale - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Octaves and the Major-Minor Tonal System ‹ OpenCurriculum View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Minor Keys and Scales ‹ OpenCurriculum View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Minor scale - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Octaves and the Major-Minor Tonal System ‹ OpenCurriculum View original

  Is this image relevant?

1 of 3

Top images from around the web for Major and Minor Scales

• 

  Minor scale - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Octaves and the Major-Minor Tonal System ‹ OpenCurriculum View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Minor Keys and Scales ‹ OpenCurriculum View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Minor scale - Wikipedia View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Octaves and the Major-Minor Tonal System ‹ OpenCurriculum View original

  Is this image relevant?

1 of 3

• Major scale consists of a specific pattern of whole steps and half steps (W-W-H-W-W-W-H) starting on the tonic note
• Minor scale has three variations: natural, harmonic, and melodic each with a unique pattern of whole steps and half steps
• Natural minor scale follows the pattern (W-H-W-W-H-W-W) and is the relative minor of a major scale
• Harmonic minor scale raises the 7th scale degree by a half step creating an augmented 2nd interval between the 6th and 7th scale degrees
• Melodic minor scale raises the 6th and 7th scale degrees ascending and reverts to the natural minor descending

Key Signatures and the Circle of Fifths

• Key signature indicates which notes in a scale are consistently sharp or flat throughout a piece of music
• Major key signatures can be determined by the last sharp in the key signature which is the leading tone (7th scale degree) of the key (F# major)
• Minor key signatures can be determined by the last sharp in the key signature which is the 2nd scale degree of the key (D minor)
• Circle of fifths organizes key signatures in a sequence of ascending perfect fifths or descending perfect fourths
• Moving clockwise in the circle of fifths, each key gains one additional sharp (C major to G major adds an F#)
• Moving counterclockwise in the circle of fifths, each key gains one additional flat (F major to B-flat major adds a B-flat)

Interval Basics

Perfect, Major, and Minor Intervals

• Interval refers to the distance between two notes measured in scale degrees and quality (perfect, major, minor, augmented, or diminished)
• Perfect intervals include unisons, fourths, fifths, and octaves and remain perfect when inverted (perfect fifth inverts to perfect fourth)
• Major intervals include seconds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths and become minor when inverted (major third inverts to minor sixth)
• Minor intervals are a half step smaller than their major counterparts (minor second vs. major second) and become major when inverted

Interval Inversion and Compound Intervals

• Interval inversion occurs when the lower note is placed above the upper note or vice versa changing the quality and numerical value of the interval
• Inversion of an interval can be calculated by subtracting the interval number from 9 (perfect fifth (5) inverts to perfect fourth (9-5=4))
• Compound intervals are larger than an octave and can be reduced to their simple interval counterpart by subtracting 7 (minor 10th reduces to minor 3rd)
• Intervallic content of a melody or harmony can be analyzed to determine its musical qualities and tonal implications (minor 2nd vs. major 2nd in a melody)

Altered Intervals

Augmented and Diminished Intervals

• Augmented intervals are a half step larger than their major or perfect counterparts (augmented 4th vs. perfect 4th) and remain augmented when inverted
• Diminished intervals are a half step smaller than their minor or perfect counterparts (diminished 5th vs. perfect 5th) and remain diminished when inverted
• Augmented and diminished intervals are considered dissonant and create tension in tonal music often requiring resolution
• Augmented and diminished intervals can be enharmonically equivalent to other intervals (augmented 2nd is enharmonically equivalent to minor 3rd)

Interval Ear Training and Solfege

• Interval ear training involves identifying intervals by ear and singing intervals accurately using solfege syllables or scale degree numbers
• Solfege syllables (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti) correspond to scale degrees (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) in a major scale and can be altered to represent intervals in other scales
• Singing intervals using solfege helps internalize the sound and feel of each interval in different contexts (major 3rd vs. minor 3rd in a melody)
• Interval dictation exercises require notating the intervals heard in a melody or harmony using accidentals and proper interval notation (M3, P5, d7)