Many of your favorite songs feature minor key notes. These songs tend to sound mellower and can often be performed more passionately than major key tracks.
Minor scales follow a unique combination of whole and half steps than their major counterparts, which we can identify by beginning on a root note and ascending the scale with this interval pattern:
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7
If you want to play in a minor key, learning the natural minor scale is an essential pattern to master. The notes found within it are identical to those found within the major scale with one exception – its seventh scale degree has been raised by half step. This pattern of whole and half steps can then be used to form chords, melodies and progressions using minor keys. To practice this pattern effectively, play up and down the scale several times so as to train your ear while becoming familiar with all its intervals.
There are other types of minor scales that use a different combination of whole and half steps, including harmonic and melodic minor scales. Harmonic minor uses the same notes as natural minor with one exception – its seventh scale degree is raised by half step to create tension within music.
The melodic minor scale differs from its natural minor cousin in that it does not contain this raised seventh, making it closer to melodic music and often used for melodic work. Its descending form possesses the same sequence of whole and half steps, except with one exception; third scale degree has been lowered by half step resulting in diminished scale which is commonly heard in jazz music.
Reminding ourselves that all minor scales follow a similar pattern to major ones is key when understanding minor scales as musical composition tools. Each major scale has its own corresponding minor scale that can be played either harmonic or melodic minor mode; frequently switching between modes during music composition. Understanding their relationships allows us to compose musical pieces using them effectively.
Notes
A natural minor scale contains seven notes and follows the pattern of whole and half steps, featuring minor third, sixth, seventh and ninth notes arranged differently than in major scale. These differences create its characteristic minor sound. Each major key has an equivalent natural minor key that corresponds with it; these relative minor keys are known as relative minor keys.
To understand how the relative minor is formed, it’s helpful to remember that minor scales begin on the sixth scale degree of any major key – hence its name “relative minor.” For example, playing C major scale and progressing up to D as its sixth scale degree will form its relative minor.
Next, recognize that both melodic minor and harmonic minor scales share the same pattern; their emphasis differs accordingly. Melodic minor is based on the natural minor scale but raises its sixth and seventh scale degrees by one semitone for more complex melodies in this scale.
Harmonic minor is slightly easier to use since it only raises the fifth scale degree, thus eliminating an interval that would otherwise arise if raising second or fourth scale degrees was used instead. Keep in mind, however, that minor keys have an entirely different tonal center than their relative major key and can make creating strong tonic chords more challenging; accidentals may help composers overcome this challenge.
Other than their differences, both scales are very similar; both contain a minor seventh and are composed from five notes, such as in a major scale. Furthermore, both scales share similar scale-degree names and solfege syllables; the only distinct feature being subtonic and supertonic notes which have been reduced for use in minor scales.
The I – BVII – V progression is one of the more frequently employed minor chord progressions and it is typically played in harmonic minor. However, natural minor can also be chosen for chords iv and vii in this progression.
Intervals
Learning intervals is a cornerstone of music theory, helping you better comprehend melodies, chords and any other musical subject matter. In this blog post I’ll describe what an interval is as well as how to work out its number between any two notes and identify its various types. Furthermore, we will look into using intervals within scales as well as manipulating them further.
Intervals are distances between notes that can be measured in either semitones (half steps) or tones (1-1/2 steps). Each scale features its own set of intervals that give it its unique sound; for instance, natural minor scale utilizes M2, M3, P4, P5, M6M7&m8, which differ from those in major scale. Furthermore, natural minor and harmonic minor scales differ primarily by using different seventh degrees; natural minor contains minor seventh notes while harmonic minor scale raises them for major seventh notes.
Staff positions correspond with diatonic scale degrees directly, making it easy to count diatonic notes to find an interval’s number and its quality – for example if B-D is a third it doesn’t matter whether the diatonic scale includes it or not! However, this method may prove misleading, since it doesn’t take account of quality when counting notes from starting note to its octave in sequence from starting note to its octave.
An interval’s quality can be measured by counting its half-steps between its lower and higher elements, counting from left to right from lower element to higher element. Major intervals represent one whole tone while diminished intervals and augmented intervals contain half tones, as does any interval with multiple whole tones, known as compound intervals which consist of multiple smaller intervals composing it altogether.
Intervals possess another useful property, the inversion feature. By shifting one or both intervals up or down by an octave, they can be transformed into entirely different intervals – for instance a minor second becomes a major third when inverted while minor seventh becomes perfect fifth when this process takes place.
Scales
The natural minor scale differs from major scales by having flattened third, sixth and seventh degrees compared to their standard intervals, creating a more melancholic sound and enabling composers to craft pieces that evoke feelings of sadness or introspection. It serves as the cornerstone of other minor scales like harmonic and melodic minors.
Practice makes perfect when it comes to learning scales! A scale book (affiliate) that displays fingerings and chord progressions will aid your learning. Once you have grasped the basic scales, try applying them across different song styles – this will foster creativity while finding your unique sound!
If you’re unfamiliar with how to apply these scales to songs, try practicing with a full accompaniment. This will give your ears time to adapt while getting used to playing together and improving them. Furthermore, try ascending and descending scales as this will develop your aural skills further and show you what each minor scale sounds like from both directions.
All minor scales consist of the same set of notes, starting from varying points on the keyboard. The natural minor scale, also known as Aeolian mode or 6th mode of the major scale. Harmonic minor adds a raised seventh; melodic minor adds flattened sixth and seventh notes for variation.
To understand how each scale operates, start by studying its interval pattern. Natural minor has whole and half steps while flats and sharps give different sounds; all have the same pattern of whole and half steps.
Once you understand a pattern, it can be applied to any note in a scale. For example, when creating an A minor scale you can start on any note and add in accidentals for that minor scale; you can also use this formula when building other minor scales; the only exception would be dorian minor which uses different patterns of whole and half steps.