Your command of music notation is increasing! In this unit you will learn three very important concepts: the major scale, scale degrees, and major key signatures.
Most tonal music is composed in what are termed "modes." A mode is a term used inclusive of major scales, minor scales, and other diatonic scales. "Diatonic," literally "through tone," refers to an arrangement of the musical alphabet so that each letter is used only once.
Here are examples of C major and A natural minor scales:
C major: C D E F G A B C
A natural minor: A B C D E F G A
Notice that the scale starts on the "note name" of the scale. We call that note name the "tonic." Each alphabet letter is used only once, and the order in which they appear is termed the "scale degree."
So the tonic (first scale degree) in C major is C. The tonic in A minor is A. The dominant (fifth scale degree) in C major is G. The dominant in A minor is E.
Music has many scales that use the black keys on the piano. You have already seen that we need to introduce accidentals to identify notes using the black keys. For centuries composers have used a sort of musical short hand to avoid having to write those accidentals over and over again in the music. This means of reducing accidentals is the key signature.
Take for instance an E major scale: E F# G# A B C# D# E. If I compose a piece in E major, there will be lots of sharps in every portion of the music. By showing the sharps at the beginning of each line in the music I am reducing clutter on the page and saving ink. This is a very effecient means of notating music.
Study the order of the sharps and flats. Many musicians memorize the order of the sharps and flats with little sayings. Here is my favorite for the order of sharps: Fat Cats Go Down Alleys Eating Birds. For flats the first four letters spell: B E A D.
Dr. E.
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Copyright 2018-2019 by Terry B. Ewell.