Scales


Scales, while all being with different notes and different tones, all have the same basic structure. The starting note, or what is called the root note, is almost always the lowest note you play in the scale. This is also the name of the scale. For example, if the root note (the lowest note) is a C, then the scale is a C scale (Carter 82). Every note in a scale has a specific name. I will be using a C scale for all of my examples because it is simple. The root note is a C, the note after is called a major 2nd (D), then major 3rd (E), perfect 4th (F), perfect 5th (G), major 6th (A), and then the last note is the major 7th (B). Musicians also measure the distance of pitch between the notes. These can be marked as whole or half notes but more commonly, tone and semitone. "The root note is the first thing that the name of a chord lists" (Carter 82). In the past quote and paraphrase, I used both scale and chord. Scales and chords are very connected, as I will demonstrate in later postings. Going off of my example with the C scale, if I play a C chord, the notes I use for the chord are the same notes that are in the scale. A typical C chord consists of C, E, and G, which are all in the C scale (explained better later).


This video demonstrates the C scale throughout three different octaves. It shows how each octave of the scale can be built off of the previous one. (P.S. it's supposed to be "scales" not "chords" I'm just really bad with technology and don't know how to fix it).

https://youtu.be/LIuWyq-usq0

Do you think learning scales is imperative to having a good foundation for music?


Carter, Nicolas. Root Notes Explained. Music Theory From Absolute Beginner to Expert. N.p.: Nicolas Carter, 2016. 82. Print.

Melody vs. Harmony


Hi everyone! I'm Kara and I've been playing piano for 11 years. I play piano and keys, electric and acoustic guitar, ukulele, and violin. I have not taken any music theory classes besides scale books in first grade but I was just made the new leader of my church worship team. I figured it would be beneficial to understand scales, chords, and inversions. In the beginning, I initially thought this book was pretty simple and that it wouldn't help me very much but as I kept going, I realized that my teacher failed to teach me a lot of the basics. One of the things I have never learned is melody versus harmony. Melody is the relationship between pitches that forms a song (Carter 29) whereas harmony is defined as "the vertical relationship between pitches" (Carter 29). For any kind of music, having a strong melody is impertinent. When playing music, the melody should be like the chips to your guacamole, you need to be able to notice the chips at all times or else you just have a mouthful of avocado. In the same sense, you need to be able to hear the melody which is the most important part of the song. Also, in writing songs, you must understand that melody consists of tension and release meaning the pitch moves away from the harmonic center, and then finds an interesting way to get back to it again.

The pink dots are a C major third and the blue dots are a E minor third. The C third would typically be the melody and the E third would be the harmony. When you play or sing, you use the corresponding note (play C and E, E and G, or G and B). These would be the harmony and melody sets for these two chords.

(I tried showing this in a video but it wouldn't upload. Next post with probably be a video.)

Do you think a typical two step harmony sounds better than the rest? Why do you think the pitches blend together so well?


Carter, Nicolas. The Building Blocks of Music - Harmony, Melody, and Rhythm. Music Theory From Absolute Beginner to Expert. N.p.: Nicolas Carter, 2016. 29-30. Print.